Last time on Miss Fisher's Murder mysteries:
As Jack was about to read the letter out loud, the telephone rang in the foyer, startling them all a little. Mr. Butler was quick to answer it and joined them in the parlor after a "Just a moment Hugh" to the person on the telephone.
"Inspector, Constable Collins is on the telephone for you. He says it's urgent"
Almost swearing Jack rose and went to answer the call from Hugh.
Revelations - part two
"Robinson here, what is it Collins?" Jack said into the telephone.
"Hello sir, just got a call, there has been a fight down at the docks, seems to have been quite extensive. Wilson and Jones are down there requesting your presence, as one of the men has allegedly died from his injuries"
Jack sighed, duty called "All right I'll go from here, meet me there Collins" Jack answered and went to the parlor to make his leave.
"I have to leave, police business" at these words Phryne peeked up "It's just a minor skirmish nothing serious" he said directed at Miss Fisher, who to his taste looked a bit too eager. He turned to Rosie and pointed out once again that she shouldn't worry about the letters and that it was just someone's idea of a bad joke.
"Miss Fisher I will be back later to discuss the issue on which I original came here for, that is if you have the time?" Jack addressed Phryne
"Of course, you a welcome to join me for supper this evening if you like" Phryne asked looking slightly in Miss Sanderson's direction.
"That will be perfect. Good day Miss Fisher, Rosie" he said with a little tilt of his head and went to the foyer where Mr. Butler waited with his coat and hat.
"Thank you Mr. Butler" and with that Inspector Robinson was out the door and on his way to the docks.
In the parlor Miss Fisher turned her attention back to her female guest and the matter at hand.
"Can I see the letter Miss Sanderson?"
Rosie nodded and handed her the letter Jack had given her back before he went to answer the telephone. Phryne took it and began reading it, it started more or less the same as the one before but at the end it took a different approach.
Chain of happiness, Good health, Good luck.
Continue this chain. Write nine copies of this letter and send the copies to nine different people. Wish them happiness, within nine days following the day that you send this letter an event will occur that will overwhelm you with joy. If you take this chain for a hoax, unhappiness will befall you. This chain was begun by five ladies of the American army A. E. D. , and it has made the circuit of the world five times. It has been translated into every language.
Mr. Putz, of Michigan, owes his fortune to the fact that he scrupulously followed these instructions.
Mr. Owen, from Sordt (Victoria), won the first prize of the Michigan lottery, 1,200,000 pounds sterling.
Sentos of Stroo, along with many others, not having taken this chain seriously, saw his home ruined within eight days . . . Continue this chain*.
Write your name in the chain below so it can be seen that the chain is continued…
Mary Williams, Evelyn Walker
Dorothy Smith, Ruth Kelly
Margaret Taylor, Eleanor Harris
Mildred Johnson, Patricia Anderson
Elizabeth Jones, Bessie Robinson
And here was where the similarities with the first letter ended and it took on a new style.
… or you will suffer great loses.
It is no longer enough to send out letters, to be certain of great fortune to you and the ones you love you most also do the following. Make a potion mixed of water, dirt from your garden, the flowers of eight lavenders, a pinch of sage and one of your own teardrops. Let it rest beside you in sleep and on the eight night let a window be left open so the luck can flow in. Pour the potion out around your doorstep on the following day and great fortune with befall you and yours.
But it will only work if you continue this chain. Failed to follow an unhappiness will befall you.
"I got this letter from a woman who had followed the instruction in the first letter I showed you. She received this two months or so after she had received the first one. She chose not to follow the instruction given at the end of this letter and nine days after she found her dog dead in her garden and all her plants as well" Rosie said and continued.
"Another woman she knew followed the instruction and on the day she poured the so called 'lucky potion' out on her doorstep she received a postcard from a long lost aunt. When her maid went shopping she received groceries for free and then later her husband came home early and told her he had won a trip to the Vue Grande Hotel in Queenscliff** in a raffle at his office. He didn't even have a recollection of joining the raffle! Of course it could all be a coincidence but I think it sounds just a little too good to be. I trust this friend of mine to speak the truth." Rosie finished relieved to finally have gotten the hold story out.
Miss Fisher looked thoughtful a while and then asked Rosie if she had ever sent any letters herself
"No, and I never got the second letter myself."
"Curios. Has anything bad occurred to you or any one you know after the first type of letter flourished?"
"Not really no, someone complained about missing their trains or running out of sugar and similar things but that's hardly anything new. A few had a bit of good luck but again nothing out of the ordinary" Rosie answered and continued,
"I have heard similar story's, as that of my friends, been whispered around at tea parties and other functions recently, they are getting more and more elaborate" Rosie told Miss Fisher.
"Do you know if these people had received the first letter?" Phryne asked, a pattern was beginning to emerge in her head.
"I can't be sure, some have mentioned the first letter but others just talk of this last one. So Miss Fisher do you think this is worth looking into, or do you also believe it to be a harmless hoax or a matter of hysteria?" Rosie asked of her, looking a bit anxious but with a smile on her lip when she said the word hysteria.
"I must admit on behalf of the letters and your accounts of events, that there does seem to be a different design to this latest chain of letters that wasn't present in the first. But I must talk to this friend of yours and the other lady to make a more accurate opinion on this matter" Phryne replied her.
"Of course all you need and whatever fee you are accustomed to get I of course will endow. I'm quite anxious to see a stop to whatever this is if possible" Rosie complied.
Phryne chose to overlook the part of payment.
"I will try contacting some of my relations and hear if they have any experience with these letters. Would it be possible to meet with your friend tomorrow?" Phryne asked.
"Yes I think that would be possible. Here is the address" Rosie said and gave her a card from her purse with the name and address of her friend, a Mrs. Johnson Phryne read.
"I will telephone later with the time when I have spoken with her" Rosie concluded.
"Please do" Phryne said and gave Rosie her number.
"Thank you Miss Fisher, Phryne, for listening I look forward to tomorrow. Give Jack my regards tonight" Rosie said while standing up and giving her hand to Phryne who as well rose up, taking notice of the use of her given name for the first time. They went to the foyer where Mr. Butler came and helped Miss Sanderson with her coat and gave her, her hat. They said their goodbyes and Miss Sanderson was on her way again.
"Thank you Mr. Butler" Phryne said "You have been most helpful, would you go tell Dot that we are going out in a while?"
"Certainly Miss" Mr. Butler answered and went to go find Dot.
Meanwhile Miss Fisher had a telephone call to make.
* Texts that appeal to superstition to encourage their copying or publication have circulated for over a thousand years. Beginning around 1900, copy quotas and deadlines were added, and claims of divine authorship and magical protection were removed. The first chain letter to cheat money out of people ("Send-I-dime-letter") is from 1935. This scam worked by asking people to send money to the person at the top of the list and then add themselves to the list when they mail the letter on.
The first part of the chain letter I have used here in the story comes from a real letter found in France 1928. In that time period most letters sent where of the so called "Luck chain letters". Luck chain letters appeal primarily to superstition, promising good luck if the letter is copied and distributed and bad luck if it is not.
** Wiki on Queensclifff as a tourist spot: Queenscliff became a tourist destination in the late 19th century, with visitors arriving from Melbourne after a two-hour journey on the paddle steamer, Ozone. The opening of a railway line to Geelong in 1879 brought increasing tourists to the area, and numerous luxury hotels (or coffee palaces) were built to accommodate them. The Vue Grande Hotel was built in 1883.