The Otto Loser Mysteries

The Scarlet Godwins - Five

Long before she met her 'cleverer sister', Marley was called Jenny. In this episode not only does Marley claim that Jenny died of a drugs overdose and was resurrected, but she tells the story of her stay in hospital, and how she came to find out she was Charlotte Godwin's sister. Of all the accounts of Charlotte, it is her poetry from 'the missing years' that intrigues Otto most. As he strolls, he recalls that following the breakdown of their relationship, it took five years for Charlotte to come back into Louise's life.

The Scarlet Godwins - Six

Between the accounts of her many escapades and claims, Marley tries to explain why she needed to escape from hospital, despite the bonus of free food and board; and how she set about looking for her sister. Otto's walk takes him to reflections on Charlotte's condition, after she came back into Louise's life. There was a relationship with a man called Julius Haft, who Charlotte said she was afraid of. Whether it was the alcohol, Louise didn't know, but in the end, Charlotte's fear seemed delusional, until it came to a breaking point, Otto recalls.

The Scarlet Godwins - Seven

In her seventh letter, Marley discusses her relationship with the Almighty. She speaks angrily of the abuse she suffered as a child. She reveals her stormy relationship with a Greek financier, and recalls that innocent time when she was still eager to find her long lost sister. In the end, she swears to Otto that from now on, she will stop using foul language. Otto meanwhile, has arrived by the seaside, where he'd always intended to go. As he walks his reflections turn to Charlotte's recovery in Cambridge, and how Louise came to realize that it hung by a thread.

The Scarlet Godwins - Eight

In this episode Marley's letter reveals how she found and finally made contact with Charlotte Godwin. Meanwhile, Otto is walking along the seashore, thinking about the time in Charlotte's life when she decided to meet with her long lost sister.

The Scarlet Godwins - Nine

In this pivotal episode, Marley's letter covers the period immediately after she first meets her sister, when she spots the tall person lurking in the street, she comes to regard as 'the beanstalk with the broken arm'. She doesn't mention how she and Charlotte would soon be springing a surprise. Otto finds himself wandering along a beach. He too, is preoccupied with the twins' meeting, but his reflections are concentrated on a day soon after they got together, and the bombshell they had in store for Charlotte's family.

The Scarlet Godwins - Ten

Marley continues with her version of how it came about that the twins should introduce her to Charlotte's family dressed the same, in scarlet frocks. She develops the theme of Charlotte's stalker, the tall man with a broken arm. In an aside, she formally requests that Otto release her from her vow never to use rude words. It is plain for his part, that Otto is addressing someone important, albeit in his own head. Taking a more birds-eye view of Charlotte's life, as he strolls along the beach, he goes over the account that Louise Gross gave him, about how she first found out about Marley.

The Scarlet Godwins - Eleven

Marley writes a confessional letter explaining that her relationship with Charlotte was descending into alcoholism. On determining that Charlotte was mentally unwell, she tells how she followed her sister to London, only to be able to barge in on a clandestine meeting with Louise Gross. Otto's thoughts have taken him to the same juncture in the story. He recalls his conversation with Louise, long after the event, when she told him what happened when she met with a panicked Charlotte at a railway station. On the day he had that conversation with Louise, Otto was excited about meeting the person he's been talking to in his head all along. 

The Scarlet Godwins - Twelve

Marley prays for the strength to tell Otto all she knows. She laments the fact that she made a vow not to use foul language; she could have made use of a few choice words. In this letter she manages (more or less) without them, as she recounts, from her point of view, what happened on the last day of Charlotte’s life. Still walking along a beach, Otto is thinking about a day in 2016, when he was left for dead. From her prison cell, Marley had been denying that she'd had anything to do with the murder of her sister. As Otto’s mind wanders to the most damning evidence against Marley, he reflects on the reasons why he finally decided to correspond with her.

 

The Scarlet Godwins - Thirteen

In this letter, Marley thanks the Lord that Otto has finally become her solicitor. She starts by letting him know who her former solicitors were, so he can obtain her papers. Lingering on the beach, with the sounds of a merry-go-round in the distance, Otto continues with his retrospective of the evidence ranged against Marley. He recalls how he’d spent one afternoon, after taking her on as a client, drafting the definitive letter informing her of the hopeless of her case, when he suddenly began to see things differently. All the while, he wants the person he’s talking to in his head to know, that he’d been seeing things differently, ever since he was attacked on a beach and left for dead.

The Scarlet Godwins - Fourteen

Marley’s response to a second letter from Otto, asking for Louise’s full name, takes many turns. For a while, she’d been asking Otto to release her from her vow not to swear. She berates him for ignoring these requests. At the same time, she reveals that ever since she’d died and was brought back to life, she hadn’t been able to feel pain. Before telling Otto Louise’s second name, she cheekily shares one of her poems. Otto’s ambles meanwhile, take him more directly into the relationship his has with the person he’s been talking to in his head; it is apparent that Marley’s case was to become essential to this relationship, and that all the while, he’s been rehearsing how to engage with this person about how he came to be the way he is.