The Saints
Mario Lanza = Poor Mario = HE |
James Mason = The James = HIM |
Harry Lime = Harry III = IT |
Mel Ferrer = The Angry Man = THIS |- THEY
Suie Bjuling = The Last One = THAT |
Guy Rolfe = King John = HIS |
WHOSE + THEY = THEM
THEY + WE = US
WHOSE + WE = WHICH
Monsieur de la Tour d'Azyr = Gervais = WHAT
Rupert of Hentzau = Rupeit = WHO
[note: PYP did not refer to Orson Welles by name, but as his character name 'Harry Lime' from "The Third Man." Crown Prosecutor Alan Brown knew who Harry Lime was, but it was clear from trial testimony that neither Medlicott nor Bennett did. 'Suie Bjuling' is probably the tenor Jussi Bjorling, who was a popular recording artist around that time [sb,lfr]. It would appear from PYP's diary entries that James Mason was the principal Saint in real life. G?, (on p. 62) claim that the Ceylonese students were referred to as "THEM" which does not seem consistent with these data. Perhaps they are "WHOSE." jp]
[note: Quoted by G?, p. 77, as an example of a misleading quote taken out of context during the trial. In context, it was part of a description of PYP's helping to 'muster sheep' while visiting a farm, through the Methodist Church PYP and Wendy attended. G? noted the allusion to Churchill's 'famous speech' though didn't identify it or give the original quote. It was:
Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.Winston Churchill
Tribute to the Royal Air Force,
House of Commons, Aug. 20, 1940.
which followed Britain's triumph over Goering's L?ftwaffe in the "Battle of Britain." Note that PYP used the same allusion in an ironic sense when Nicholas was caught in her bed by HD Rieper. jp]
[note: This is such an important point, but G? don't discuss it. Was this the beginning of the boarders? I don't know what "Training College" refers to, though there is a Teachers Training College now located just west of Ilam in Christchurch. If this is what PYP was referring to, it would be very significant in terms of PYP's academic environment at home, and in terms of giving her role models. It is possible that the boarders were, on the whole, quite an intellectual bunch if they were all University students and teachers-in-training. jp]
"Mother kicked up a fuss about the way I always insist on doing the dishes and not letting anyone help. She says it worries her to think I'm working too hard."
[note: Jackson & Walsh used John as the model for 'Nicholas' in "Heavenly Creatures." Note the comment about 'damn.' jp]
[note: This is Juliet's first quoted appearance. Jackson & Walsh use this as the basis for the "Meet the Riepers" scene. jp]
[note: From Medlicott's trial testimony. Was this when PYP wrote "The Ones That I Worship"? jp]
[note: There actually is a small island offshore at Port Levy. "Genii" is being used as a logical, though unusual, plural for genius. G?, p. 62, quote "...on two days every year we may use the ray..." and "...which we are lucky enough..." They also note that PYP recorded in her diary that she was menstruating at this time (unfortunately not quoted--PYP's slang reference or 'code' for menstruation could be important in the context of recent statements made by Anne Perry. Ms Perry claims that PYP did not sneak out at night to see a 'lover' named 'Nicholas' but used a male name as a slang for visiting the bathroom.). PYP's menstruating at Port Levy was interpreted to be a very significant fact by a Maori Tohunga G? consulted for a traditional interpretation of the events (pp. 147-8). The Port Levy (Puaui) area contains several sites of particular spiritual significance to the Maori. jp]
[note: Fact and approximate date from trial transcript and Medlicott. Source of quote "HC" voiceover. In context of the correct timeline it is clear that "not lost.." refers to the previous attempt halted at PYP's request and not the incident which led to Nicholas' expulsion from the Riepers as implied in "HC". jp]
[note: G? p. 64 noted the part about the disagreement with a boy but left off all mention of wiping out people, which was Medlicott's observation. jp]
"I rose late and helped Mother vigorously this morning. Deborah rang and we decided to use a rock in a stocking rather than a sand-bag. We discussed the moider fully. I feel very keyed up, as though I were plan ning a surprise party. Mother has fallen in with everything beautifully and the happy event is to take place tomorrow afternoon. So next time I write in this diary Mother will be dead . How odd -- yet how pleasing. I have discussed various odd saints w her today as I thought it would be interesting to have her opinion . She loathes That & It. I washed my hair this afternoon. I came to bed at 1/4 to 9."
[note: This entry has been transcribed by me from a published photograph of the actual diary entry. The content of each line is the same as the diary, and the margins and spacing within the lines have been made roughly consistent with the lines in the diary, although the right margin is even for lines 1-5, indented 2 spaces for line 6, indented 6 or 7 spaces for lines 7 and 8, then aligned with the margin again for lines 9-11. Comparison with the 'official' version quoted by G? (p. 75) reveals several errors in their version, either original transcription errors made by the police or errors introduced by G?, since they mentioned that they had access to these photos and they corrected some errors here and elsewhere. Published versions also differ from this one.
Points of note: "sand-bag" was hyphenated. This has always seemed such an odd choice of weapon, but the Concise Oxford Dictionary offers this definition: "sandbag. 4(c) as ruffian's weapon inflicting heavy blow without leaving mark." Leather coshes filled with lead shot were popular weapons in crime films from the 30s and 40s; in American popular culture these were referred to as "saps" and being "sapped" was the same as being "sandbagged," both popular expressions in pulp fiction for being hit and rendered unconscious from behind.
The "keyed up" sentence was obviously seen to be an important one to get right because it was edited twice. First, the beginning of 'was' was crossed out and the subjunctive "were" was written above it. "Planning" was written as a hyphenated word (with no hyphen) because it came at the right-hand edge of the page, yet it wasn't simply written beginning on the next line, to save space. The word "surprise" was inserted above the line, falling between "a" and "party" but there was no editing mark.
The word "Mother" immediately following "party" was written slowly, with exceptional care and penmanship for PYP (who tended to be a slightly sloppy writer). The "M" was beautifully done and, unlike her custom when she was in a hurry, the "t" and "h" in the "th" were clearly separated and the "t" was crossed. (PYP's "th"s often look like tall and skinny "U"s in these passages), and it was dead level on the page and there is a large space between "Mother" and "has." The "the" before "happy" was also written above the line, after crossing out the beginning of some other word that might have been "hap," so the sentence may have originally ended after "beautifully" and been added to, piecemeal.
The next two sentences are critical, of course, but looking at them carefully indicates that they were written almost hesitantly, or at least slowly and with several pauses. The details are, to me, very poignant. Based on the changes in slope and spacing, it looks as if the first sentence was written: "So" "next time I write in this diary" "Mother" "will be" "dead" "." The word "dead" stands out as the one by far the most out of horizontal on the whole page and the slope is in the opposite sense to "will be." To me, this says that Pauline stopped writing, shifted her position and adjusted her book at the very least before writing that last word of the sentence. And there was even a pause after writing it, before the period. The most obvious period on the page is the one after "dead." It is set off far from the word "dead," all by itself between the sentences, and it is particularly dark.
The next sentence beginning at "How odd" is not in line with "be dead" but it is once again straight, parallel with the rest of the text and fluid in its penmanship. It is also noticeably generous in the space allotted to the words, and it includes a rather long dash. There is a large blank space after "how," which puts "pleasing" by itself, for emphasis, at the beginning of the next line. It looks to me like Pauline paused and thought again for some moments at least at that preceding isolated period. Then she came to some kind of forward resolve, and the whole next sentence is just a kind of punctuation mark or bravado. The following sentences are back to a trajectory that returns to the extraordinarily, eerily mundane.
PYP did not hyphenate "to-morrow" or "to-day" unlike the press accounts of the day. The sentences after "pleasing" look cramped, a little messy and rushed. The word "saints" probably does not have a capital "S" here, as the "s" is very similar to the one at the beginning of "sand" and "surprise," and is smaller than the one in "So" and "She." The contraction "w" is used for "with" in the next sentence and it may have an acute accent above it (or a random ink mark)--the 'standard' way of symbolizing the word is a small "c" (abbreviation for the Latin 'cum') with a bar over it. Only the first letters of "That" and "It" were capitalized, and the symbol used for "and" was similar to a small script "e." The words "hair this" were joined at the far right of the page because the page may have lifted with the pen. The next "to" almost looks scrubbed out. The periods for the last two sentences are either very faint or absent. PYP used numerals and a proper fraction in the last sentence.
Though there is always the danger of over-interpretation, it is really a pity that the bulk of the original diary pages are no longer available for study. This actual entry was so informative compared to second- and third-hand transcripts. jp]
1954, June 22 (Tues). [sb,mk] "The Day of The Happy Event."
"I am writing a little of this up in the morning before the
death. I felt very excited and 'The night before Christmas
ish' last night. I did not have pleasant dreams though. I am
about to rise. |"
[note: This version was transcribed by me from a clear photographic image of the actual diary entry, found in the literature. The wording of the lines exactly matches the lines of the actual diary entry. "The Day of The Happy Event" was printed in small, neat, upright script across the very top of the page, above the "June 1954" that ran at the top of the pages for that month. The police mis-transcribed the third sentence as "'the-night-before-Christmassy'" and that is how it was entered into testimony and widely reported in the press. The phrase was actually not hyphenated, and it was enclosed in single apostrophies. PYP did not hyphenate words which ran over a line in this or the previous day's entry, so there was no hyphen after "Christmas" or before "ish."
Curiously, after making an issue of "ish'" in several places in their book and stating that they, too, used the photographs of this key entry as a source, G? (p. 75) also misquote many details of this very important diary entry.
The entry for June 22 was written on the morning of June 22, before the murder, counter to PYP's habit of recording events after they happened. It was cramped up at the top of the page exactly the same way the previous day's entry had begun, leaving lots of space below. The vertical line after "rise." was probably PYP's way of indicating pauses within a day's entries. Hence, there was every indication that she expected to return later to write up the events of the day. The police transcript interpreted it as an exclamation mark, but that is clearly an error. The penmanship in this entry was not studied or different from the entry of June 21, except the letters are a little less-well defined. The lines are parallel, square and evenly-spaced, the left margin ramrod straight. There is no evidence of long pauses or shifts in position in this entry. The entry doesn't look like a careful 'farewell' note in the least. This was the last diary entry. jp]
Other references and quotations not dated (though probably all come from the period Feb. - June 1954, from their content):
"Mother gave me a fearful lecture along the usual strain. I rang Deborah immediately as I had to tell someone sympathetic how I loathed Mother." ["HC" voiceover, approx. early April '54 by "HC" time line. jp]
Referring to a new purchase being made by Dr Hulme for the Hulme household, PYP wrote: "we are getting a radiogram worth sixty pounds." [G?, p. 66. Very, very unfortunately not quoted more extensively or dated. This is potentially an extremely important quote, being one of those which could indicate that PYP identified with being a member of the Hulme family. jp]
There were other references to shoplifting (at Woolworths).
During her interrogation at the police station, a piece of paper was confiscated from Pauline. Later, during a subsequent interrogation session, she grabbed it and threw it into the fire. It was only partly recovered. Courtroom speculation was that Pauline intended to put the piece of paper into her diary later that day. She herself never made a public statement about the paper. It was enormously important in terms of defining the course of the investigation, of course. On it had been written the following:
The detective stated that the note commenced with a reference to Pauline finding herself in an unexpected place. She then made reference to having committed her 'moider'. She then went on to write about the treatment she had received: "All the Hulmes have been wonderfully kind and sympathetic. Anyone would think I've been good. I've had a pleasant time with the police talking 19 to the dozen and behaving as though I hadn't a care in the world." There were then several sentences he couldn't remember but the final sentence was: "I haven't had a chance to talk to Deborah properly but I am taking the blame for everything." [Medlicott]
7.4.3.1 Current location of the diaries
Although the official word is that the diaries were destroyed, an intriguing, anonymous comment was posted to the Heavenly Creatures discussion group a few years ago that claimed, in a circumspect and roundabout manner, that the diaries were"safe" and being well taken care of! While this person's identity was (and remains) a mystery, it raises the possibility that the original diary was not destroyed, but is safe and sound. Of course, it may be years - or never - before it's made public, but in the meantime one can only hope...
