Did they commit a crime?
At the end when the policeman tells them they could get 15 to 20 years depending on their lawyer, it made me think, what law did they break? The only death involved was a heart attack, and that's not murder.
shareSay more. To me, it's patently murder. You have an elaborate plan (i.e., premeditation), specifically intended to kill someone, which is then executed exactly as planned. That her heart attack isn't the result of any physical touching is immaterial.
I was thinking, though: Did Vera commit any crimes? She thought she had commit some crimes, specifically assault (the poisoning) and then was accomplice to the murder (drowning), but neither actually happened. Perhaps attempted assault and murder? Well, the 'victim' was a willing participant in all of it, so there's an argument that there was consent. Conspiracy? Well, usually conspiracy requires that the conspirators agree to the plan, but while the Mistress agreed to a plan, it wasn't the plan Vera was thinking of.