Isabel Two being killed? Did she tip off the O'Banion brothers somehow? I know it was an accident but they caught them on the way back to the ranch. Maybe she knew they were going to go after them and didn't warn them? Does the novella explain this in more detail than the movie? I was never sure but I guess she meant she wanted her dead and then it happened.
shareI have wondered that too. When she visits Tristan in prison, she admits she wanted Isabelle Two to die. Then we the film goes into the montage of Deckard and Tristan avenging Isabelle Two's death, they added Susannah killing herself. Almost like she was just as bad as the ones who murdered her.
shareI don't believe she tipped them off, but the movie neither says she did or didn't. The reason I don't believe she did is that I don't think she would want something to happen to Tristan. Susannah clearly still had desire for him being that her marriage to Alfred sucked badly. We know she also later visited Tristan in the jail. Since Isabel Two's death was clearly portrayed as accidental, we know that she couldn't have conspired to have her killed by plan as well.
We do know that the O'Banion brothers were linked to Alfred. They (or one of their gang) were likely in eye shot of Tristan when he met Alfred in town. They likely even saw him make a delivery of booze during that visit.
I love how this movie leaves questions like this up in the air to be pondered. That is one sign of a very good movie.
That wouldn't make sense for a few reasons.
First of all, the O'Banions and the cops weren't actually trying to do anything to Isabel Two, she just happened to be in that car and the bullets just happened to ricochet and hit her. When that happened, it was clear that it was just an accident caused by that one cop's carelessness
So if Susannah was out to get Isabel Two, why would tipping off the O'Banions been how she went about it? I mean, how could she have predicted that Isabel would have accidentally been killed when they stopped the car?
And the O'Banions were out to get Brad Pitt anyways as they already knew he was bootlegging. They had seen him doing it. And they knew where he lived and where he would be driving. Why would the story have needed Susannah tipping them off about anything?
Finally, the idea of Susannah actually taking steps like that to cause Isabel Two harm is just completely out of character.
I would say unequivocally no to the idea that Susannah had taken any steps to tip the cops off with the intention of getting Isabel Two killed.
No, Susannah's confession about wanting Isabelle Two to die was just her jealously talking.
The truth is she loved Isabelle Two, remember she knew the girl since she was a child. I don't think Susannah ever truly wanted harm to come to her, she was just jealous of what Isabelle had (Tristan and Children).
Susannah's "I wanted her to die" confession was just jealously, sort of like a child lashing out at their parents and saying "I wish you'd drop dead!"...doesn't mean they really want their parents dead.
Hence that was why Susannah was so guilt stricken and tormented over the idea that she had even thought such a thing, because now Isabelle really was dead.
If Susannah had really wanted her dead she would have been happy not upset.