Man loses his wife sometime fairly recently. (The kids aren't grown up yet, but the wife has been buried already, so I don't think it's a murder).
He gets angry one night and wants to drown himself. He drops the kids off at the tavern, and has them tell everyone that he's drowned.
He heads off to the river, where he tries to drown himself, but something happens after he's in the water. Maybe he panics, or realizes the value of life, or his wife's angel stops him.
In frustration, he tromps off to the church in his muddy boots, where he creates a huge mess, kicking hymnals around, and leaving mud prints everywhere.
For some reason he wants to vandalize the church, but wants everyone to know it was him. He grabs the only thing nearby (a table fork) and carves his name above the door. Maybe he feels forgotten in his misery, and is crying out for attention.
-- The rest is pretty much what everyone else has said, except for the murder bit.
Here's my storyline:
Man loses his wife sometime fairly recently. (The kids aren't grown up yet, but the wife has been buried already, so I don't think it's a murder).
He gets angry one night and wants to drown himself. He drops the kids off at the tavern, and has them tell everyone that he's drowned.
He heads off to the river, where he tries to drown himself, but something happens after he's in the water. Maybe he panics, or realizes the value of life, or his wife's angel stops him.
In frustration, he tromps off to the church in his muddy boots, where he creates a huge mess, kicking hymnals around, and leaving mud prints everywhere.
For some reason he wants to vandalize the church, but wants everyone to know it was him. He grabs the only thing nearby (a table fork) and carves his name above the door. Maybe he feels forgotten in his misery, and is crying out for attention.
-- The rest is pretty much what everyone else has said, except for the murder bit.
@krackerdog Perfect. I agree
@krackerdog Perfect. I agree