Malcolm's murder

[groinkick]

So I was thinking about how he could have been murdered.  From what I've read, Harry, and Malcolm moved around a lot.  Wouldn't this mean that he wouldn't have much protection in the form of a barrier at home?

Didn't he die with a smile on his face? 

I know we've discussed it at length before but thought maybe people have had new ideas on the subject.

[Kindler]

I've often thought that Malcolm died similarly to Shiro: he took Harry's place. From what, I have no idea. But I'm pretty sure he was protecting Harry.

[Cozarkian]

Didn't he die with a smile on his face? 

That would suggest White Court vampire. It's quite plausible that Lord Raith ordered his death because he was pissed about Maggie's death curse and decided to kill her family as punishment. If Raith assumed Harry died in child birth, he could have just given orders to kill Malcolm Dresden without realizing there was also a child to kill. It also could have taken Raith awhile to discovery that it was Maggie that was the cause of his curse, which would explain why he didn't go after Malcolm immediately.

[wardenferry419]

My thought was that Malcolm died from a weak variation of the heart-bursting spell that was used in Book 1, that same heart-bursting spell seems to be a weak variation of the Bloodline spell from Book 12.

[Mr. Death]

Officially, it was deemed an aneurysm, so if that's anywhere close to the actual, physical cause of death, that eliminates the heart exploding spell.

My money is it's on an entropy curse, cast by Justin -- possibly with HWWB's help. He did die overnight, yes? How much you want to bet his time of death was about 13 minutes from midnight?

[wardenferry419]

That is why I thought weakened form of heart-popper. Instead of popping the pump, they popped a valve that leads to the heart.

[Con]

There's a possibility it was Leanansidhe according to WOJ whatever the godmother deal was, it's something Harry will duel Leanansidhe for. Could be Malcolms murder.

[groinkick]

There's a possibility it was Leanansidhe according to WOJ whatever the godmother deal was, it's something Harry will duel Leanansidhe for. Could be Malcolms murder.

I thought that had more to do with the deal his mom made.  But I guess Malcolm could have gotten involved.

[Mr. Death]

That is why I thought weakened form of heart-popper. Instead of popping the pump, they popped a valve that leads to the heart.

I don't see how a weakened heart-exploding spell would have anything to do with the brain.

It's just two completely different methods, targeting two completely different areas of the body.

[Cozarkian]

Aneurysms are a problem in the circulatory system. They don't necessarily have anything to do with the brain. It actually makes a lot of sense that a weak heart-popping spell might look like a ruptured aortic aneurysm.

My problem with the theory is it is boring. We already had the story where an earlier event was practice for a larger version of the spell. Why do it again?

[groinkick]

There is also the whole mortals trying to rationalizing the supernatural thing.  They may have just told Harry what his father died of without really knowing what killed him.

Also an aneurysm is a weak point in a blood vessel in the brain.  An entropy curse could have killed him that way if he was already at risk for something like that.

[Mr. Death]

Aneurysms are a problem in the circulatory system. They don't necessarily have anything to do with the brain. It actually makes a lot of sense that a weak heart-popping spell might look like a ruptured aortic aneurysm.

My problem with the theory is it is boring. We already had the story where an earlier event was practice for a larger version of the spell. Why do it again?

Also, the heart exploding spell was not a "cause problems with the circulatory system" spell.

It did one thing: It rips your heart physically out of your chest. It grabs the big hunk of pumping muscle in your chest, specifically and exclusively, and makes it leap out of your chest.

Busting a blood vessel in a totally different part of the body is not the same thing. I'm pretty certain that Harry says his dad died of a brain aneurysm.

It's like you have one guy who was shot with a rifle that ruptured his lung, and another who choked to death, and concluding the one who choked was killed by a weaker version of the rifle because they both died because they couldn't breathe.

[peregrine]

Correct, it was a brain aneurysm.

I always thought the smile was because he was thinking of, or possibly even seeing, Maggie when he died.  Maybe she gave him the "you're not alone on the other side" speech he gave Harry.

[groinkick]

Also, the heart exploding spell was not a "cause problems with the circulatory system" spell.

It did one thing: It rips your heart physically out of your chest. It grabs the big hunk of pumping muscle in your chest, specifically and exclusively, and makes it leap out of your chest.

Busting a blood vessel in a totally different part of the body is not the same thing. I'm pretty certain that Harry says his dad died of a brain aneurysm.

It's like you have one guy who was shot with a rifle that ruptured his lung, and another who choked to death, and concluding the one who choked was killed by a weaker version of the rifle because they both died because they couldn't breathe.

The spell was completed by stabbing a living rabbit in the heart (and probably scooping out the heart).  In theory the wizard could have done something else to cause a person to die that would resemble an aneurysm...  I don't know what it is but who knows.  An icepick stabbing into the animals brain?  A puncture mark should show up, but the heart exploding spell made it look like the explosion happened from the inside, and not that something had stabbed into the chest, and ripped the heart out, so maybe the damage to the brain could be done without showing the puncture mark.

Correct, it was a brain aneurysm.

I always thought the smile was because he was thinking of, or possibly even seeing, Maggie when he died.  Maybe she gave him the "you're not alone on the other side" speech he gave Harry.

I like that!  That does sound like something that could have happened.

[Cozarkian]

Also, the heart exploding spell was not a "cause problems with the circulatory system" spell.

It did one thing: It rips your heart physically out of your chest. It grabs the big hunk of pumping muscle in your chest, specifically and exclusively, and makes it leap out of your chest.

Busting a blood vessel in a totally different part of the body is not the same thing. I'm pretty certain that Harry says his dad died of a brain aneurysm.

It's like you have one guy who was shot with a rifle that ruptured his lung, and another who choked to death, and concluding the one who choked was killed by a weaker version of the rifle because they both died because they couldn't breathe.

Yeah, you're right. I was thinking of it as a spell that super-pumps the heart so suddenly it explodes.  A lesser version of such a spell might cause the heart to work hard enough to rupture an aneurysm but not to explode the heart. However, such a caffeine-overload spell doesn't really explain the hole in the chest. It is a heart-ripping spell, not a heart-popping spell.