Unikum mars 2021

MY ACCOUNT
“During the break, I stayed inside the Lecture Hall for
its entirety. Nadia left first, followed by Julian and Judy
and thereafter Charlotte and Daniel. Stew sat for a few
moments viciously scribbling in a notebook. After some
time had passed, he ventured outside the lecture hall, I
presume to get a cup of coffee. He did not return to the
Lecture Hall until only a few minutes were left of the
break. Stew came first, then Julian and Judy, and finally
Nadia, Charlotte and Daniel.”
“Nothing peculiar happened during the lecture. I have
an unfortunate tendency to face away from an audience
when lecturing, my attention focused on writing on the
whiteboard. However, the few glimpses I saw was usually
of Julian and Judy whispering to each other, Charlotte
and Daniel snickering and pointing to their computers,
Stew attentively taking notes between chews of
his pencil and Nadia absorbing every word uttered, not
needing notes.”
CONCLUSION
After delivering their testimonies, I summoned the group
one final time, the police already alerted to the situation and
on their way. Yet, before they could arrive, I would unravel
the mystery for which we found ourselves entangled in. I
summoned them all, and with hopes, fears and nervousness
in their eyes I laid before them the only conclusion I could
draw:
“This mystery is as tragic as it is illusively intricate. Going
over your testimonies several times has revealed but a single
fact: If you all are to be believed, not a single person had the
opportunity to poison Stew’s coffee, nor had the motive to
do so. However, it is only by believing you all that the truth
is unveiled.
This was not a murder, but an unfortunate accident.
Last week, during the lecture, I suspect that Charlotte may
have confused her pencil for her stirring rod, coating the
pencil in a layer of poison, unknowingly creating a murderous
time bomb. Daniel would usually disinfect whatever
toxins her utility absorbed; however, he was absent that day.
Thus, the present day. Stew asks Charlotte to borrow a pencil,
she complies, and throughout the lecture he slowly chews in
more and more poison, ensuring his own death.
The break comes, everyone does their ritual, and return. The
poison reaches a stage for which he is paralyzed, and slumps
over. And right in front of us all, Stew dies, without being
able to call for help, or any of us noticing.”
Silence. What I have learned from observing Dante conducting
this symphony of truth is that while it is a ravishing melody,
it often leaves the audience melancholy instead of fulfilled.
Yet, we must dare to listen to it, otherwise, we would
be deaf to the other wonderful notes of life. I imagine neither
me nor Dante play this for the living, but rather for the dead,
so they can hear the symphony of life one last time.
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