Five at 'The George' - Summary

https://crimereads.com/books-to-read-when-winter-isolation-sets-in-and-cabin-fever-takes-over/

Five at “The George” by Stuart Ready tells the story of five people who had some association with the murder of their friend, an Indian Army Colonel Foster. Three years back, he was found dead under mysterious circumstances one night in bed after a meeting at Colney Lodge. Now they all receive a telegram asking them to meet the sender at an inn not far from the scene of the colonel's death. Each of them comes to the inn - the George – Crewsworth, responding to the anonymous telegram unknowingly about the presence of the others at the exact place. They meet there and their discussion rotates around the murder. All of them had been with him at his house on the night he died. The climax of the play reveals the real murderer who blabbers out the truth out of his foolishness. The scene opens in the entrance hall of the George Inn in a small country. The first one who arrives to the place is Captain Standish. He enquires the landlord of the inn and comes to know all about the place. He also finds that the Colney is ten miles away from George. He is followed by Mrs Vane and Mr Merridew. They arrive at the place to meet a person who sent each a telegram which was signed by one Mr. ‘L’. These three come into contact and remember each other for they had met once at Colney in the meeting hall arranged by Colonel Foster. Standish too informs about his own telegram. He just came to see the person behind it as he is in the town for some reason. Soon Mr and Mrs Weir join them as they too received the same type of letter signed by the same person ‘L’. The three recognizes Mr and Mrs Weir as they too attended Foster’s meeting that night. They all now have a curiosity of being there at that odd hours in the snowy night. The appointed time of the meeting by the anonymous is 9. 30 and they all assembled there by 9.10. They order their drink and they have a continuous discussion of the murder and the outcome of the case. At first, they thought that death was due to heart failure but now they realise that it was not, and it had some foul play. They start to look for the motive behind the murder. Mrs Weir is the sole heir of Colonel Foster, Mrs Vane was once engaged with the Colonel, but the idea of marriage was dropped for some reason. Mr Merridew was a business partner of Colonel and Standish gave up his ex-lover in marriage to the Colonel for money, but he was deprived of money. So, each one had a motive to go with the act. They decided that someone is planning to trap them, and they doubt an Australian named Mr Larner, a close friend of Colonel who vowed to take revenge on the murderer. But Standish knows well that he got drowned on his way to England. All the five get terrified and smell some danger behind the scene. When the exact time arrives, they all plan to leave finishing their drink. On their leaving, they see a glass of drink untouched on the tray which none ordered for. A policeman on duty who is on rounds enters the place and suspects them all for being there at late hours. He accuses them of trespassing as the inn where they are drinking has been closed for several weeks. The truth is discovered that there is no landlord for the inn as he had left the place three weeks before. He asks all the five to follow him to the police station for further enquiry. Out of his weariness, he goes to have the drink which remained on the tray. When he was about to drink, Standish blabbers out that the drink is poisoned. Thus, the truth is revealed. Throughout the play, mystery and suspense over the death of Colonel Foster go hand in hand and the writer at the end of the play brings out the true murderer all by his own without many difficulties.