From: "Strong, Lee" <StrongL at MTMC.ARMY.MIL>
To: "WSFAList (E-mail)" <WSFAList at keithlynch.net>
Subject: [WSFA] Murder at the Clone Convention
Date: Tue, 11 Feb 2003 08:09:03 -0500
Reply-To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at keithlynch.net>

	The cloning discussion thread seems to have died down so I will
attempt to stir things up.  The following is a germ of a story idea that I
never turned into a novel.  I offer it as freeware to anyone who wants it.
The original idea was inspired by a Larry Niven article, "The Theory and
Practice of Teleportation."
	A future police detective is called to the "Fred Neff World
Convention" to solve a murder.  The detective knows that the original Fred
Neff was and is a world famous science fiction author who was the first
person to be successfully cloned.  Each year the 400-500 Neff clones gather
for a major reunion/convention and a parallel con of Neff's multitude of
readers.  When the detective arrives, the body is identified as that of
Lincoln Logan, a notorious critic of the Neffs and a sf author in his own
right.  Most of Logan's novels are thinly disguised attacks on and/or
parodies of the Neffs' tremendous volume of literature.  The detective
immediately places all 400+ Neffs and 14,000+ Neff-fans on his list of
suspects since they have an obvious reason to hate Logan.  However, Neff 002
suggests that the detective remove Logan's toupee, fake nose and elevator
shoes.  The detective does so, and discovers that "Logan" is actually one of
the Neffs!  Stunned, he asks Neff 002 to explain.  Neff 002 says that many
authors come to dislike their own characters and cites Arthur Conan Doyle's
attempt to kill off Sherlock Holmes as an example.  The Neffs were no
exception and created "Logan" as an emotional release to critque their own
work.  The various Neffs took turns being "Logan" altho Neff 002 states that
Neff 336 played "Logan" most often.
	Questions:  Who killed "Logan" and why?  Was "Logan" really Neff
336, another Neff, or a non-Neff entirely?  Where is the original Neff 001
and what is his role in this situation?  What is the fan reaction to the
murder?  Assuming that the murderer is a Neff, how does the detective
identify the correct Neff?  If the detective was assigned to the case
because he is a sf fan himself, is he a suspect?