The death penalty.

Let's get straight to the serious stuff shall we?

A picture of poison.  Ironically the poison is in two senses.  Alcohol is of course a poison, drunk a lot though, and generally, although incorrectly so, not considered terribly dangerous.  But the other poison is in both the writing, and I recognise the handwriting ... Not mine.  Definitely not mine.  And also in the deliberate misspelling.  And also mislabelling in one sense.  Evidence perhaps of a poisonous mind at work?  Or in this case I suspect several.  A veritable witches' coven of nastiness perhaps.  But I shall be generous.  Some illness or brain damage of some kind.  Or genetic trait.

In theory I am completely opposed to the death penalty.  But perhaps not for the reasons you might presume.

The state differs from the individual in many ways.  But perhaps the most important way is in having the right to kill when it chooses.  Sure, there are tricky nuances of international law and treaties limiting the use of force, and the whimsical declaration of war ... Or not.  But in the end it is a fact that the state, our state, our wonderful democracy in the UK, and I do not jest here ... Our state can and does get away with "murder".  But it is not defined as murder because the state defines murder.  There is, by definition, legal killing of humans in wartime.  In fact the state can and has in the past executed people who refused to kill others and tried to retreat from the front line of war.

Either it is completely wrong to kill in peacetime, in which case even the state ought not to do it.  OR murder is not so bad in which case why do we need to go as far as the death penalty for anyone or anything?

We have a very curious state of affairs at the moment where some countries refuse to sell the drugs for what is probably the most humane way to kill, by which I mean administer capital punishment, lethal injection, thus condemning some poor folk to painfully slow incompetent methods of execution.

The theory is one thing of course, but murder is often a very personal affair.  Men are more often violent in the moment serving fiery hot emotions in the heat of battle.  Women on the other hand plot and plan and serve revenge at a much cooler temperature.

Women read and write murder mysteries far more successfully than men.

Do I want to kill anyone?  Oh yes.  I am extremely angry with one person who not only assaulted me but then told others that I had actually assaulted him and he was merely defending himself.  That lie was so despicable and did so much damage to my relationship with someone very very dear to my heart that I could happily kill them.  In fact I think of a very slow painful death for that person.  On the other hand perhaps I can torture them in ink ... Let them suffer for years alive ...  When I really think it through I have better things to do.

I do wish to write murder stories though.  I need villains in my mind to be part of the game.  The plotting game.  I need bad characters for my stories.  I chuckle when I remember not wanting to write any violence when I first started.  Oh how this process of thinking about writing has changed me.  I have met my Jungian shadow and become best friends.