2-3-4 Challenge Book Discussions #1 discussion

Upchurch died of cyanide poisoning after drinking from the communion cup. When did you suspect he’d died by his own hand?

I'm not sure, maybe around when they couldn't find the poison in the kitchen. At first I hoped it would be a Murder on the Orient Express kind of murder.

Lol! When everybody kept confessing I did start to drift towards an Orient Express situation. But, when the point was made that anyone from the congregation might have been at risk if they came up and took communion, I began thinking Upchurch did himself in. I couldn’t imagine that anyone else would have risked poisoning another church member, especially when I learned they hadn’t collaborated on staying seated.

~ Giulia ~ wrote: " At first I hoped it would be a Murder on the Orient Express kind of murder."

I though that too! It would have been so appropriate :)

Frank's questions about the decision not to take communion made me realize that no one had planned this and that whoever put the poison in the cup wanted to make the entire congregation sick. Only Upchurch had a motive to do this.

That said, I was surprised that he committed suicide. It seemed out of character. The man had a humungous ego and sense of self-importance.

Lauren wrote: "That said, I was surprised that he committed suicide. It seemed out of character. The man had a humungous ego and sense of self-importance...."

I think it was that ego that had him drink the poison. He knew in that moment he was absolutely ruined. He’d counted on the congregation sweeping the situation under the rug and they surprised him. There was nowhere he could go. And, maybe there was a part of him that thought they’d get blamed for his death.

I suspected it when he drank the whole cup instead of just having a sip. But then I thought I was wrong because I could not explain the fact that no one knew the congregation were not going to drink from it too.