WV WV - Sodder Family - 5 children, Christmas eve 1945 - #4

[readingrain]

On what was Marion's role in what happened that night you must remember that she had worked a very long day and was exhausted so not surprising she went right to asleep.

I think it is more likely that Marion knows something, why I already wrote above (the light was on, the moment with the phone), but most importantly because no one asked her about it and she did not try to tell. And because everyone was focused on the insurance agents, the Mafia, Morris, Sodder Sr.'s strange behavior...

Yes, most likely, she did not participate in the kidnapping of children or the arson of the house, in this situation it is very strange... Simple version: she woke up somewhere between 22.30 and 00.30, there were no children, she started looking for them, went upstairs, did not find them, went outside, it was dark and cold, how can she find the children?Then she got scared and felt guilty, so she didn't tell anyone and, of course, she hoped that the children would come back. She left everything as it was, lay down and waited, but the children didn't come. And after what happened, it became even more difficult to tell about everything, but the main thing was that she could know whether there were children in the house or not.

Another version: The children were in the house, but not upstairs, but, let's say, in the basement or some kind of storage room, where Marion locked them as punishment for their noisy behavior. Then it's strange why they didn't ask to be let out and didn't call their mother for help, but it's also strange why they didn't scream when they were upstairs during the fire, five is a lot, someone should have woken up... Maybe because they really did something wrong, or maybe they didn't want to, maybe it was an adventure for them to hide somewhere.

Perhaps it was a game of hide and seek and Marion just wanted to get rid of the children and sleep in this way, and they liked it and they sat somewhere in the dark and waited until the whole house started running and looking for them...but they were not upstairs.
In any case, I think that the fact that the light was on, the curtains weren't drawn, and the door wasn't closed indicates 90% that the children hadn't finished playing (or whatever) and hadn't gone upstairs to sleep. Because they were generally responsible - if their mother left the chickens and cows with them.