[The Saucepan Man]

OK, my thoughts on the other villagers will have to wait, because I think that we have found a Wolf. Nay, I do not think. I am certain of it.

Eomer of the Rohirrim is a Wolf. He always has been.

I know that I said that this was not a Day for hasty accusations and early votes, but with such certainty in my mind, I have no alternative but to set out the case against him so that others will hopefully see what I am now able to see.

He seized on my early suspicions of Formendacil on Day 1 and tried to create a bandwagon against someone who was not here to defend himself. When he saw that, quite sensibly, many villagers were prepared to give Formendacil the benefit of the doubt, he backtracked and categorised Formendacil’s early vote as a ploy, designed to stir things up. He claimed to have fallen for it himself. Of course, he had. That’s why he had to quickly backtrack.

When I called him out on it, he was all very amiable about it and pointed back to his earlier claim to have “rumbled” Formendacil’s ploy.

Nothing much changed concerning the Formendacil situation. Yet, on Day 2, Eomer came out fighting. He claimed that I had been picking on him. As I have already made clear, I had been doing no such thing. I had merely questioned why he was backtracking on his earlier suspicions of Formendacil. An entirely reasonable question to ask, I believe, and it featured among a number of thoughts concerning possible Wolfish behaviour that I expressed that Day.

My initial reaction was to believe Eomer innocent but misguided, because I felt that a Wolf would not take such an extreme position in response to what was simply a request on my part for him to explain his behaviour further. And when Boro (pretty much out of the blue) and then Azaelia followed suit and voted for me, I (wrongly I now believe) assumed that one of them was a Wolf, trying to use Eomer’s misguided but innocent (as I saw it then) accusation against me to get me lynched and then use that to go against Eomer.

But that was not the case. I had it right when I pointed out that Eomer’s early vote for me had put me in a precarious position. He had to come out strongly against me because, to have any chance of getting me lynched that Day, he had to pin me with the first vote of the Day. And he hoped that people’s seeming natural distrust of one, such as me, who is so vocal, would attract me a few more votes, possibly sufficient to condemn me. He nearly succeeded.

A bold move for a Wolf, definitely. But, as long as others voted for me, he would be in a position to deflect the criticism of me onto those others. Eomer is one of the villagers present who is more than capable of pulling that off.

Then there is the small matter of certain things that have been said concerning Eomer which convince me of his guilt. Unfortunately, I do not feel able to elaborate on this, but I hope (from his earlier comment) that Boro at least will know what I mean.

And the icing on the cake is Eomer’s vehement attack to-Day on Cailin (who is one of the villagers I suspect the least) based on the flimsiest of evidence. He has seized on a comment by Cailin which I regard as fairly innocuous (and most certainly not Wolfish). Cailin was merely saying that, in her opinion, Eomer was unlikely to have launched such a strong attack on me if he is innocent, but was more likely to have done so if he is a Wolf. Sentiments which I now agree with. He backs this up by asserting that Cailin’s suspicions of him are unfounded and that she is merely accusing him of being a Wolf without evidence to back her accusations up. Not so. Cailin has outlined why she suspects Eomer on a number of occasions. And if she suspects you so strongly, Eomer, she is quite within her rights to call you a Wolf. As I am doing now.

Eomer’s attack on Cailin is another bold move, particularly as she has not come under much suspicion. Again, however, it is something that Eomer would feel he had a good chance of pulling off. He also links Cailin and me, presenting a possible Wolf pairing to the village. A move, no doubt, designed to divert votes away from those who actually are Wolves. And also, I believe, there is some desperation creeping in as he is concerned that he is in danger of having his Wolfish nature unmasked to-Day (and I sincerely hope that it is). A bold move, therefore, for desperate times.

One further piece of evidence against Eomer. He makes very few accusations. Indeed, he makes one accusation per Day and sticks with it. Similarly, he has rarely, if at all, expressed a view on who he feels able to trust. Save for those he targets, he is leaving very little in the way of a trail.

So I’m going to make a bold move and vote right now.

++ EOMER OF THE ROHIRRIM

If Eomer is not a Wolf, I will eat my axe. Though I doubt I shall need to as, in the unlikely event that he proves innocent, I shall be facing the lynch mob. So be it. I am prepared to take that risk, as I am certain that I am right on this.

And I fully accept that this early vote is likely to attract a few votes for me to-Day. if I end up being lynched to-Day, I will be proven innocent, and you will know who to go against to-Morrow.

I would add that I doubt that more than one Wolf voted for me yester-Day, although it is possible. Nevertheless, my firm belief in Eomer’s guilt assuages my suspicions of Boro (further) and Azaelia.