Sim.
De acordo com este artigo em Time Out Magazine , a viúva de Roald Dahl confirmou explicitamente que Miss Trunchbull era uma assassina. A implicação clara é que ela realmente assassinou Magnus.
‘In the first draft, I probably enjoyed Miss Trunchbull too much. Roald Dahl’s widow was really supportive, but she said “You must remember Miss Trunchbull is a murderer.” She was right – you’ve got to keep a bit of darkness there. I wasn’t sure about having a man play Miss Trunchbull in case she wouldn’t feel genuinely scary. But when I saw a bloke playing her in workshops, I was converted.
Embora eu não consiga encontrar uma fonte direta do livro para respaldar isso, ficamos com poucas dúvidas. Quando Matilda faz o giz escrever, Miss Trunchbull está inicialmente chocada, mas não realmente aterrorizada. É só quando "Magnus" faz alegações específicas (" eu vou vir te pegar como você me pegou ") que ela entra em colapso de medo.
"What the blazes is this?" yelled the Trunchbull. It had shaken her to see her own first name being written like that by an invisible hand. She dropped Wilfred on to the floor. Then she yelled at nobody in particular, ''Who's doing this? Who's writing it? The chalk continued to write.
Everyone in the place heard the gasp that came from the Trunchbull's throat. "No!" she cried, "It can't be! It can't be Magnus!"
Miss Honey, at the side of the room glanced swiftly at Matilda. The child was sitting very straight at her desk, the head held high, the mouth compressed, the eyes glittering like two stars.
For some reason everyone now looked at the Trunchbull. The woman's face had turned white as snow and her mouth was opening and shutting like a halibut out of water and giving out a series of strangled gasps.
The chalk stopped writing. It hovered for a few moments, then suddenly it dropped to the floor with a tinkle and broke in two.
Wilfred, who had managed to resume his seat in the front row, screamed, "Miss Trunchbull has fallen down! Miss Trunchbull is on the floor!"