[Mithalwen]

The trouble is Mr Pan Man is that what is there to say so early in proceedings? Unless anyone has concrete evidence, our choice will be random, at best based on hunch or suspicion.

Alas due to my well known posting schedule, I will perhaps not be able to speak enough or frequently to satisfy you ( I can reach the "parish pump" but once a day at weekends - those goats are such a tie.) Nevertheless I will offer what I can in the short hours open to me - hunch and suspicion though it be.

My initial instinct is that those who speak first may be eager for a reason. To get in quick with sorrow for the dead and to manipulate opinion. And when the person who speaks first defends the murderers of the innocent Oddwen (though with his warped sense of priorotes perhaps his main grief was for the chicken....) my suspicions are redoubled. Perhaps he has very good reason for his sympathy with animals..... I am not being spiteful, even though he does want me to change the name of my plain cheese from mousetrap to "nutrition for humanely detained rodents while awaiting their release into the wild" ......

Boromir also spoke swiftly.... given that this village has been so peaceful until now, it hasn't given him much in the way of employment opportunities, maybe he has been on a work creation scheme. And how does he know so much about bears... Well I will think more on what others have said, before I decide, but as I said I must cast my vote early..... nevertheless since we are many. at least I may vote in the knowledge that my vote may not be too significant given that it cannot be based on all the evidence. These are indeed serious matters - none are more serious than life or death. I have no hard evidence these are observations only.