A Murder

(A building in Dalton Square, Lancaster. Bear with me.)

Perish By The Sword.

OK. I guessed the murderer right but was not sure and was misled when suspicion seemed to fall on another character. I find the detailed and complicated explanation of the solution the least interesting part to read in a detective novel.

A fictional murderer has not just killed someone. He has also practiced an ingenious and intricate deception which the fictional detective is clever enough to unravel, then to explain to his fellow characters and, incidentally, to the (intrigued?) readers. The deception in Perish By The Sword involves:

psychological manipulation, as in Poirot's last case;
a ladder at a window;
a tape recorder connected to an intercom;
a samurai sword stolen, then hidden inside laboratory equipment;
a scene acted out at a window by the murderer and a prostitute;
the simulation of a ghost...

In an interview, Alan Moore explained that:

he wanted to write graphic fiction about a murder as a human event with complicated causes and consequences, not as an Agatha Christie/Cluedo parlor game ("Colonel Mustard in the conservatory with the candlestick");

he though that the Whitechapel Murders ("Jack the Ripper") were too old hat;

therefore, he considered Buck Ruxton, whose former house is in the image (we would have read an Alan Moore graphic novel set in Lancaster, not in London);

however, the Ripper Anniversary came around, sparking a lot of new literature and speculation;

thus, it became easier to research the Ripper;

the result was From Hell.

For one recent human consequence of Ruxton's murders, read:

Ms Rogerson’s family still live in the area and were seriously unamused when a city centre pub round the corner from the Ruxton house decided it would be fun to retheme itself as ‘Ruxton’s’ back in the ’80s. The change didn’t stick (neither did the two themes after that) and the pub is currently called The Boar’s Head.
-copied from here.

(A short comic strip by Alan Moore tells exactly the same story about a London pub that briefly called itself "Jack the Ripper.")

I cite the fictional treatment of real murders to contrast with the novelistic treatment of fictional murders.

Please remember these names:

"Polly" Nichols;
Annie Chapman;
Kate Eddows;
"Long Liz" Stride;
Marie Jeanette Kelly.

We do not know his name. We do know theirs.

Now back to Poul Anderson's fictional murderer and a question for blog readers. Given all that has been said, what would be an appropriate fate for this sword-stealing and -wielding villain?