No you said:
"Sheila's going crazy with a gun"
According to JB's first wit stat NB said:
"Sheila's going crazy she's got the gun"
The meanings are different.
That doesn’t make sense though, does it?
Firstly, Nevill was ex-RAF and would have been trained in the correct terminology. In the RAF use of correct terms is very important — especially when talking on the radio. I know he was a pilot, but I suspect he was trained in firearms too. So it would have been ingrained in him to be precise. Remember, a gun is artillery, cannons etc. Something you CARRY is a rifle, a pistol or a weapon.
Then he spent around 30 years on the farm, shooting prey and going to shoots. He also had a collection of firearms throughout the years.
In shooting circles a Gun is what they call the person who’s holding the firearm; so whereas we, who don’t shoot, refer to firearms as guns, that isn’t actually correct. Nevill was educated, experienced in shooting, and mixed in the same circles.
So I doubt he ever referred to any of his firearms as a gun.
He’d have said something like: “Im going shooting with the Anschutz” or “I’m taking the semi-automatic”
Had Sheila been going berserk with that rifle, Nevill wouldn’t have said to Jeremy: “Sheila’s gone berserk — she’s got a gun”
It’s difficult to imagine what he’d have said, as it’s too ridiculous to even perceive he’d phone anyone at all leaving Sheila “going crazy with a gun”, but let’s suppose he would have phoned Jeremy instead of 999 or one of his neighbours, or farm workers two minutes away, he’d have most likely said: “Jeremy, get over here NOW! Sheila’s got hold of the Anschutz and is going hysterical”
He would not have said “Sheila has a gun” or “Sheila has the gun”
He just wouldn’t have.
But even trying to imagine what he’d have said is difficult, because it wouldn’t have crossed his mind to phone Jeremy — what could Jeremy have done that Nevill couldn’t? Nevill would have, and easily could have disarmed Sheila as soon as he saw her holding a rifle and going “crazy”. And he’d hardly leave her upstairs in that state, with a loaded weapon.
Jeremy claimed Nevill said Sheila was going crazy: he never said Nevill told him Sheila had shot anyone, so why wasn’t Nevill overpowering her upstairs before she started shooting? Why waste precious minutes phoning Jeremy of all people, leaving his wife, grandchildren and Sheila herself in grave danger, when he could have easily thrown himself sideways against the barrel and Sheila, and simply disarmed her in one swift manoeuvre?
Whichever way you try to fit the pieces together, they just don’t add up. None of it fits.
