Southern Discomfort

It’s a hot summer day in 1897, when renowned millionaire industrialist Henry Bowens invites family, friends and acquaintances, including the investigators, to a wedding between his son Eric, and Amelia the lovely daughter of a banker.

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Henry, who pays for the entire wedding, has arranged for the celebration to take place on a riverboat cruising the Mississippi river for a couple of days.

But halfway through the dinner party, the lovely bride suddenly pours a bottle of liquor on herself and ignites it with a lit candle. Quick-reacting family members and guests extinguish the burning bride, but it’s too late; Amelia succumbs to her injuries and dies.

As they are witnessing the bride’s death, a mutual question is asked by the horrified family members and guests; what made such a lovely lady do such a horrid thing to herself?

Possibilities

1 A man bent on revenge and skilled in voodoo made Amelia kill herself. But poor crisp Amelia was not the vengeful man’s target. Her father-in-law, Henry Bowens, was.

The man, Raymond LeManeux, is the sole survivor of a bloodbath on his family during the American Civil War. A bloodbath that was ordered by Henry Bowens when he was a high-ranking officer in the Union army.

For several decades, Raymond has plotted to track down and exact his revenge on the murderous Henry. And now, armed with a vengeful heart and dreadful skills in voodoo - which he learned from a small band of runaway slaves who cared for him - Raymond has finally succeeded.

Raymond infiltrated the wedding party disguised as a cook. He now exacts his vengeance on Henry Bowens and his family, using his voodoo spells through the cooking. But even though his first victim, Amelia, went up in flames, Raymond believes that “Revenge is a dish best served cold”.

2 Forbidden love drove Amelia to kill herself. Even though Amelia was marrying Henry Bowen’s son, her heart belonged to another.

The marriage was arranged - Eric Bowen became smitten with Amelia and even though he realised that she didn’t return his affection, he got his father to exercise his wealth and influence on Amelia’s family. Soon after, Amelia was engaged to marry Eric. She was also forbidden to see her true love, Frederic Jones - a young man of meager status and wealth.

Despite her family’s plans and prohibitions, Amelia continued to meet with Frederic, in secret. Unfortunately, Eric found out and, once again, he ran to Daddy. He informed Amelia’s family and a few days later, a fatal “accident” befell poor Frederic. Distraught to learn about her lover’s fate, Amelia quickly realized the sinister truth about his death. But instead of confronting her family about her suspicions, Amelia conspired a plan all by herself. A suicide plan.

With hopes of an eternal reunion with her lover in Heaven, Amelia poured the liquor over herself and ignited it, setting herself ablaze.

3 Mental illness drove Amelia to kill herself. During her teen years, Amelia began to show signs of a progressive mental illness - brought on by her father’s molestations of her during her childhood years. Worried about her wellness, or rather, what the local gossip mill would say, her family arranged for her to be married to the son of a business friend, Henry Bowens. The family also hoped that the marriage would banish Amelia’s mental illness.

But the family’s plans and expectations did not banish anything. It only made it much, much worse. But no one took time to notice her deteriorating mental illness.

Amelia’s mind finally snapped moments before she turned herself into a human torch.

© Tim Deer