The London Murders: Howdy's Flashback

“Eliza! Verga! Get down here!” Howdy Redder was losing his patience- and his voice.
The two German exchange students had been sent to London to further their studies in English, and also (supposedly) to help the Redder family with their business of watch-making. However, neither of those goals seemed to have been achieved in the 6 months they had been there.

“Vee are bizzie, Fatther!” Came a shouted reply from upstairs, and then some giggles.
Howdy Redder hated it when they laughed like that. “Tee hee! Tee hee!” It always got on his nerves.

““I mean it this time! So help me! I’ll… I’ll….!” Mr. Redder didn’t know what he’d do.
Probably nothing, except get redder in the face and raise his blood pressure. Those girls were absolutely impossible! If they weren’t at school supposedly learning English, they were flirting with the boys at school. And if they weren’t flirting with boys, they were talking about them. If they weren’t talking about them, they were either asleep or had their mouths full. And sometimes, even that didn’t stop them. They were impossible!

“Eliza and Verga, you will both come down here this minute and speak to your father! I do NOT want to have to come up there!”
Howdy Redder’s wife, Justina Redder, was no laughing matter. She was tall and lean, mighty lean. She was also rather pompous, and possessed quite the ego. She liked to let people know it, too. If she wasn’t lecturing the girls on their lack of virtues or work ethic, she was lecturing Howdy on his. Her one droopy eyelid, normally half-closed, sprang open when her temper flared.

Their marriage was farimly normal, if also a bit comical. Howdy was short and skinny, and his eyesight had never been very good, which necessitated the use of extremely thick glasses. Over the years he had developed a bit of a pot-belly, and quite recently his hearing had started to decline as well. Whether that was because of the incessant, blabbering chatter of the German exchange girls, or an unconscious physiological defensive reflex, was not clear.
Some would have described him as a silly little man, but that would have been before they knew his profession- Watchmaker.

Yes, for all their drawbacks, many and varied though they were, Howdy Redder and his wife Justina were famous all over England, and indeed the world, for their watches.
German clockmakers had nothing over this couple when it came to making things tick! They could wind circles around the competition, and indeed had, in the last World Clock and Watch Makers Jamboree, held in Munich, Germany. That’s where they had met Eliza and Verga, the daughters of a German clockmaker by the name of Mikhail Nollenkopf. (Little did he know, but a great-great grandson of his would have quite a romantic and tragic affair in WWII…. but that was years down the road.)

The London couple had won first place – again – and many Germans had come forward to pay them their respects, and also to get a closer look at their watches. Mikhail was one of them, and shook hands enthusiastically with Mr. Redder.
“Amazing, amazing!” Mikhail said over and over. “Vee haff never seen anything like ziss in zee Fazzerland! I vill look forward to seeing your verk in zee next yearz Jamboree!”
Howdy and Justina thanked him very much, but mentioned that this would most likely be their last Jamboree, since they were thinking of retiring from the business.
“Ach! Mein Leiben! Mein shiesserkopf poopie!” Mikhail had said “You are zee best in zee biziness! You cannot retire! Your work must continue… I cannot allow zis!”

He took off in a frenzy, and soon returned with two bratty looking girls. They were beautiful and ravishing in their skimpy Lederhosen, and Mikhail was practically beating the young German boys off with a stick.
“Here!” Mikhail said “Zees are my two beautiful and talented young daughters, Eliza and Verga. Zey haff helped me for many yearz in clock-making! Zey vill help you vith your biziness! Zey haff been vanting to learn English for qvite sum time now!!” Mikhail’s own English was getting worse as he spoke, and a sort of wild, frenetic look had come into his eyes. He looked like a caged animal that had just seen a chance at freedom.

Howdy and Justina, suddenly hopeful at the thought of gaining some help, were all too ready to listen. For indeed, they had never had any children, and though the idea of adoption had come up, Howdy had never been certain that Justina would not have beaten a child or two to death if it had not been her own. She had quite the temper, and a strong right hook to match. “Why, yes! We would love some help!” Justina said quickly. Though Howdy looked doubtful, she would not be deterred from this sudden prospect of good fortune. It was like a sign from God…

“Now, zey know some English, but zey haff been…” Mikhail suddenly stopped and glared at his two daughters. “Vell, zey vere doing well in their studies until zey reached zee age of sixteen! Suddenly, other subjects in school became much more interesting! Zey need to be beaten!”
“Ha!” Laughed Howdy. “You don’t have to worry about that in my house! Hahaha… *ahem* "
He coughed and looked away under Justina’s intense glare.
“Vell zen, I vill get everything here taken care of, and you may expect zem to be arriving shortly!” With that, Mikhail Nollenkopf and his daughters, more sullen looking then ever, departed.

*********

That had been almost a year ago, and Eliza and Verga arrived several months afterwards. They had proven helpful at first, it was true, but their productivity kept slipping and slipping until finally, Justina and Howdy were at the end of their rope. It seemed that things just couldn’t get any worse!

“Eliza! Verga! Right this MINUTE!!” Justina’s voice was getting shrill. That was a bad sign.
The German girls came downstairs, all pouty and huffy.
Howdy’s wife glared at them.
“Now, you two girls are going to help Mr. Redder with the new gear reduction assembly he is working on! This promises to be a revolution in the watch-making industry, and you might just learn a thing or two about it to take back to your father in Germany! Wouldn’t that be nice of you? It would indeed, and that’s probably why you won’t do it! The trouble with young people today is that they have no appreciation for hard work and sacrifice! What do you think I do all day? Yes, it is all about sacrifice and being miserable! If you are happy in this life, then you are doing something wrong! I got into the watch making business because I hated it! Why do you think I married Mr. Redder?
Justina was on a roll. It was going to be awhile, so Howdy went down into his workshop.

A few hours later, Eliza and Verga showed up. They weren’t really in any mood to help, so they didn’t. This was the usual order of business recently! Howdy wondered just how much longer they could continue like this… he wanted to send them back, but Justina would have none of it.

“No matter how bad it gets, they have to live out their end of the bargain! Furthermore, it is our responsibility to send them back to Germany better than when they came, or not at all!” This was Justina’s take on the situation, and that was that! Unfortunately, it also turned out to be a self-fulfilling prophecy. How guilty the both of them would soon feel...!

Poor Howdy! Since he was Anglican, his prayers really didn’t do that much good, and his suffering was all but wasted. He desperately needed a solution to his problem, but little did he know just how soon he would get it… and how terrible it would be!

Oh, the horror of it all!