Murder at the Cottage | Sky

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Regarding you posting, I don't see it fantasy land at all. It is speculation, and deductions, unanswered questions, doors left open, etc.. Sure, you can call that fantasy land if you want to. What makes this case so interesting, is that there are so many unanswered questions.

I don't know how often Sophie would have been at the house, and if so how long. I would suggest it would have been long enough to make the house worth while, enjoy this part of Ireland, frequent the pubs, hike around the countryside, be friendly with the locals, some more than others in many senses, whatever that meant....

To anybody in the drug business any outsider would have been the biggest threat, I'd say. Somebody from a different country, somebody from a big city not country life, somebody a bit naïve to certain things, and somebody with a bit of a financial background, not depending on local structures or the economy.

Same goes for Ian Bailey. His job involved having contacts, knowing things, connecting dots and getting things out into the open. To anybody in the drug business he would also have been a red flag.

It's totally possible that Sophie has seen something or gotten into contact with something she shouldn't have no matter how often or little she was at the cottage. It's also possible that she believed in the police, same as she was used to in Paris, but instead dealt with possible corrupt Gards.

And to your question, yes, I would also suggest that Shirley may have known a lot more as to what Alfie was up to than she publically stated. After all, she lived with him. Thus it doesn't surprise me that she sold the house, she wanted to move on, put things behind her.

Or to the question, why bring a rock? Or a brick? It was the murder weapon, after all and if the murder would take place in the darkness, it would make a difference if the murder was planned or not? Or would the murderer waste time to look around the property first for a decent size stone or a lose brick ? So looking for answers to this question isn't exactly out of this world. If the murderer would have stabbed her with a knife, there would certainly be the discussion, did he bring his own, or did he use Sophie's kitchen knife....etc...

Maybe it wasn't the White Lady she saw on her walk but someone she knew smuggling...

Great Post!

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Shirley knew what Alfie was up to, which was absolutely nothing, just living out his later years in the place he loved.

Maybe a bit of recreational weed now and then, if the goats hadn't been.

The reason she put the house up for sale should be obvious.

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Coals to Newcastle?;

During the 1980s and certainly up to the mid-1990s, bales of hash used to regularly wash up on the shorelines of West Cork. The LE Eithne and LE Aisling used to be on almost constant patrol along the south coast from Kinsale Head to Valentia from May to September.

How much would a slab of hash have been worth in 1996?

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/crime-and-law/courts/high-court/ian-bailey-nominated-as-good-suspect-four-days-after-body-found-1.2100206

"Earlier, retired a Garda detective chief superintendent, Ted Murphy, disputed as “totally incorrect” evidence from Robert Sheehan, an official in the DPP’s office, that he asked Mr Sheehan, on the night of Mr Bailey’s first arrest on February 10th, 1997, to direct that Mr Bailey be charged with the murder of Ms Toscan du Plantier."

Interesting. Is it possible Bailey was painted as a suspect to force him to stop reporting on the story.

@tinytobe We know that the house was a holiday home for Sophie. She occasionally visited and stayed for a week or two at most. On this occasion she was only staying for 4 days. She wasn't particularly well known in the area.

I would think that someone who is living in the area permanently is more of a problem because they're not going away. Why do you think someone who is only there occasionally is more of a threat?

As for the rock, again, I think if someone was planning on going there to murder Sophie, they would have brought a more conventional weapon. It's pretty clear to me that the rock was an impromptu choice, after all she was first struck with a poker or other blunt object.

@OwlsZat I'm not sure you understand the meaning of woke... but I'm all for theories. I just feel some of the stuff that got thrown around today was too far fetched. Alfie Lyons was painted as some sort of Cannabis Kingpin with a massive grow operation, and Bailey his sativa expert assistant. I mean if we're not talking about an operation big enough to involve considerable amounts of cash it wouldn't warrant a murder to protect it, would it? So where is the evidence of the trappings of drug fueled wealth in Schull? Alfie lived a modest life, as evidenced by his house which wasn't at all lavish.

Let’s get back to the facts. Sophie could speak some English, that means it’s very possible she heard CIA agents on holiday planning false flag attacks: “OK, so Ruby is all in for the thermite, Oswald is still plugging for old fashioned TNT. It’s his last job before he retires so he wants a big blow out” “wait, I thought she was French but she just asked the barman for a tea in English, we’re compromised guys”

Welcome back Moonunit,

I knew all those maky-uppy theories would draw you out.

Why do I think she was more of a threat? Well, first of all, her way of making a living and her financial situation clearly didn't depend on anything in West Cork. Thus she had nothing to fear in terms of her livelihood, if somebody may have verbally threated her or tried to "reason" her as to what she might have heard, or seen, or thought she had seen..... The situation would have been different if you were local, making your livelihood locally and somewhat had an idea that the Gards were in it as well. And if Sophie wouldn't have gotten anywhere with the local Gards, the way she would have to be from the Gendarmerie in Paris, what would have happened, if she would have involved somebody higher up, in say, Cork or Dublin? Or even worse, but far-fetched, would have gone back to Paris, and mentioned the matter to the Irish embassy maybe?

If Sophie really had seen something she shouldn't have, she would have to be eliminated. This idea brings me to the murder weapon of choice. If she had to be eliminated the planning would have to have been rather short. Maybe one or two days at most. Stabbing or strangling would have been one way, but the rock or the brick were used to send a message, I'd say. The brutality of the murder would certainly imply a drug connection.

I'm just thinking of this scene from "The Guard"

Is this one of Jules' exes?