Delphi Complete Works of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (Illustrated) (1246 page)
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Authors: SIR ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE
EDWARD DILLON (
Police-sergeant, K 19
). On Friday, 17th August, I was called by a man, of the name of Emm, to No. 9, Grove-road — I went there and found Mr. Rose, Mr. Faith, Mr. Whitaker, and Mr. Biggs, waiting outside the house — I gained admittance at the next door, and passed over the back wall to the back yard of the deceased’s house-I found the back door shut, on the latch — the front door was shut on the spring-lock, but not double-locked; it would double-lock — there were no bolts drawn — a person going out and pulling the front door after him would leave it securely latched — I next went into the back parlour, and saw the back window raised up four or five inches — the shutters were closed but not fastened; not bolted — I saw the front parlour window shutters down and the curtains drawn back — I went into the front parlour; the curtains were drawn back and the shutters open; the window was fastened by a catch above — I next proceeded to the first floor front room — I saw a bed there which did not appear to have been slept in recently; the bed was not made-the right hand window-blind in the room was drawn down and the left drawn up-I then went into the back room on the same floor, which was filled with lumber and a quantity of paper hangings — I then went up stairs, and saw the deceased lying dead in the front room — that was on the floor above the front bed-room — the left hand window in the room was raised up a few inches, the right hand window was down — the deceased was lying on her left side, with her head against the door-post; her face was towards the boards, downwards, on the left side — there were a quantity of paper-hangings in that room and a quantity behind the deceased’s back; there were several pieces near her head — I noticed the floor of the landing outside, and observed a footprint in the blood — I was not present when the piece of board was cut out — Dr. Gill was then sent for — I remained there till he came — everything was left in the same state as I have described it until Dr. Gill made his appearance — from the direction of the footprint the foot would be coming from the room — I examined all the bolts of the doors and shutters in the house — I discovered no marks whatever of any violent entry having been made — I afterwards made a search of the rooms below, and found a gold mourning ring between the bed-tick and mattress — the ring is in Court; my inspector has it — I found that in the first-floor, in the bed room; it bore the inscription of Samuel Emsley, Esq. — I also saw three half-pence in coppers on a chair — I gave the ring to Inspector Kerrison — I remained on the premises till I was relieved — the garden of the house is surrounded by walls — the gardens of the houses at the back of the houses in Grove-road abut on the garden of the house of the deceased on either side — there is no road between — the houses in Grove-street are at the back of the Grove-road houses — the back door of No. 9 has a glass window in it.
Cross-examined
.
Q.
You went to this room where you found the deceased lying, did you observe whether there was much blood about it?
A.
A great quantity of blood — there were a great many splashes about the floor and the wall, as if the blood had spurted out from the person who had been struck.
MR. SERJEANT PARRY.
Q.
Did you notice the direction in which the blood appeared to have flowed?
A.
It appeared to have flowed in front of the woman from the position I found her in, and a great quantity splashed behind her.
SAMUEL LAWRENCE GILL. I am a member of the Edinburgh College of Physicians, and a surgeon of London — I was called in to see the deceased — I found her lying at full length on her left side, with the face turned a little more to the left, towards the boards — she was dressed — there was no sign of her having made any preparation for going to bed — the first wound which presented itself to my notice was a large opening in the back of the skull, extending deeply into the brain — I think that was the result of repeated blows — that wound alone was quite sufficient to account for death — there were a great number of minute portions of the skull carried completely within the brain and packed under the other portion of the skull, into the interior of the substance of the brain, and deposited within the upper portion of the skull — the posterior portion of the cerebrum would be immediately exposed to that injury, the posterior portion of the big brain, and of the little brain also, the opening was so large — there were several other wounds which would have caused death besides that one — the wound over the left ear would have caused death — it was a contused wound, and the whole of the temporal bone on that side was driven in; that also being in small fragments — there was also a blow above the other ear, that was a contused wound — there was no wound in the scalp on that side, but there had evidently been a heavy blow on that side — there was also what we should almost term a lacerated wound above the left eyebrow, and another, wound in the left ear, also a lacerated wound — before I saw this hammer (
produced
) I had formed an opinion as to the character of the instrument with which these blows were inflicted — the wound, which was the result of repeated blows, might have been inflicted with the blunt side of this hammer — I had an opportunity of seeing whether the hammer fitted the wound on the eyebrow; the blade, of the hammer corresponded with the length of that wound — I consider it was. such a wound as might have been inflicted by the thin end of that hammer — I noticed a quantity of blood; there was a pool on the floor which had flowed from the body, from one point, passing away from her into the room from the doorway — from the place where the head was, the room was. inclined — I noticed a mark of blood on the under part of her petticoat, but, of course, external, as the petticoat was drawn upwards over the head — it was a superficial smear — it appeared to me as if something had been wiped on it
Cross-examined
.
Q.
Could you form any opinion from the appearance of the wounds which wound was inflicted first?
A.
It would be a mere, matter of opinion, but I should rather think that the wound on the temple had been inflicted first; that appeared to have been one blow — the body was slightly decomposed when I saw it — the face was very slightly decomposed — I don’t think the incised wound on the eyebrow was as. much decomposed as the opposite side of the face — there were indications of decomposition going on, certainly — the effect of decomposition, under some circumstances, would be to cause a wound to expand, to gape — I don’t consider that it was at all distended from decomposition, because it was comparatively dry — in this case the wound would gape slightly, certainly — I forget how long after my first examination this hammer was shown to me; I should think a week, perhaps more — I have not the slightest recollection; it might have been a fortnight; I don’t bear it in mind — I did not compare the hammer with the body — I measured the wound over the eyebrow, and probed the depth of it with my finger — I form my opinion as to the instrument which inflicted the wounds from the appearance of the wounds and from being accustomed to see wounds inflicted by all sorts of instruments — a piece of iron, an iron bar, sharp at the end, would, undoubtedly produce such wounds as these — I should think it possible, certainly, that the wounds at the back of the head might have been done with a larger instrument than this — I considered they could have been done with a hammer — the wound at the back of the head was considerably greater than this part of the hammer; it was some inches in size — I should imagine that whatever instrument was used there would be a considerable quantity of blood on it.
MR. SERJEANT PARRY.
Q.
Could large wounds, larger than any single wound, have been inflicted by that hammer by repeated blows?
A.
By repeated blows — I measured the wound on the eyebrow; it was an inch and a half long — all I say is that this hammer might have inflicted the wounds — I gave it as my opinion when I saw the body that she had been dead, in all probability, three or four days — I saw her on Friday in the middle of the day — what I saw and observed was quite consistent with an attack on Monday, 13th August.
COURT.
Q.
You say her appearance was consistent with her being wounded on the Monday; that what happened to her might have happened on Monday?
A.
Quite likely — I could not fix within a day either way — it might have been on Monday evening, or Tuesday morning, or on the Sunday — it would depend on the state of the atmosphere.
ELIZABETH PASHLEY. I reside at 16, Grove-road, immediately opposite No. 9, where Mrs. Emsley used to live — I have lived there twelve years — I last saw her alive on Monday evening, August 13th, between 7 and 8 o’clock, sitting at her first-floor window — she usually went to bed about 10, or even before, I have seen her, but usually about 10 — the shutters of her house were always closed by dusk — I never saw them open after dusk — I noticed her house about 12 o’clock on the night of 13th August — the shutters were open — my attention was attracted by it; I thought it remarkable — I observed the house early the next morning, about daybreak; it was not quite light — the shutters were not closed — the blinds were just the same as they were on the Monday — the first floor blind was down — the window even with it was up rather more than half-way — one blind was pulled down and the other blind was rather more than half-way up — there were no blinds on the second floor — one of the windows of the second floor was slightly open — I saw a person on the Wednesday knock at the door three times — I observed other persons knocking, but I do Dot know which days they were — when persons knocked at the door of the deceased she would open the first-floor window, where she usually sat, and look out and speak to them from the window — she would sometimes speak to them from the area, which is grated over — there was no access into the house by the area — she would only let those persons in who were in the habit of going there, or who worked then — if she knew them she would come down or answer them from the window, but she always looked out from the window first
Cross-examined
.
Q.
There was nobody in the house with her?
A.
No; she never kept any servants in my experience — I do not know how many persons were in the habit of visiting her during the day — she was generally out in the day — only a very few work people went into the house — I can’t say how many; not so many as a dozen — she never had any tradespeople — I have seen a paperhanger go in — I have seen Mr. Rowland go in, and Mr. Emm — I do not know Mr. Wilson, or Mr. Wright — I have seen others go in but they would be persons who were bringing things to the house, and I know she knew them.
ELIZABETH FRANCES MUGGERIDGE. I live at 17, Grove-road, nearly opposite the house of the deceased, Mrs. Emsley — On Monday, 13th August, I saw her about 7 o’clock in the evening, sitting at her first-floor bedroom window — I did not observe her doing anything — I noticed the house again that night between 10 and 11 — the parlour shutters were open and one of the curtains was drawn further back than usual, and the first-floor bedroom window was half-way up; the shutters being open at that time was an unusual circumstance — I had noticed it was her habit to close her shutters at dusk, had also observed that when persons called on her she would look out at the window or answer them up the area — on Wednesday morning, about 11 o’clock, I saw a man and woman call at the house — they knocked several times at the door and gained no admittance — I did not observe any one else particularly after that
WILLIAM SMITH. I am in Mr. Linsell’s service, a draper in the Mile-end- road — I did not know Mrs. Emsley myself — I remember having to take a message there on Tuesday, the 14th August, about half-past
JOHN COOK. I reside at Peckham, and am a builder — On 14th August, a little after
Cross-examined
,
Q.
Had you known this old lady before?
A.
About two years — I had not had dealings with her for paper-hangings before this — I am building on her ground and therefore she often came to see me — I think it was the last day in July she was at my house.
EDWIN EMM. I am the son of Walter Thomas Emm, a shoemaker, living at Mr. Emsley’s brick-fields, Bethnal-green — I knew the deceased — on Monday, 13th August last, I was sent by my father to her house for some brass taps — I did not go that day, I went on the following day and knocked at the door of the house.
RICHARD TANNER. I am a sergeant of the detective police — I know the prisoner; I have only known him since the murder — I was employed to investigate this murder, with Inspector Thornton and Sergeant Thomas — I had seen the prisoner previous to his making a communication to me, about 28th August, as near as I can recollect; it was the latter end of August — he was fetched from his lodgings by Sergeant Thomas, and Mr. Thornton and myself had a consultation with him in reference to the murder of Mrs. Emsley — we sent for him for the purpose of making inquiries — on Saturday, 8th September, about 6 o’clock, he came to my house in Wood-street, Westminster — he did not wear spectacles when he came to me — he said, “I am come to give you some information; I have been to Mr. Thornton’s and he is out” — I asked him into my room and he said, “You know, Sergeant Tanner, that since I saw you and Inspector Thornton, I have had my suspicions about the man who committed the murder, and I have been watching him” — I said, “Before you go any farther, Mullins, who is it 1s.; he replied, “Emms” — I believe his name is Emm, but he said “Emms” — he said, “This morning I went to Emsley’s brick-field at 5 o’clock, and I remained there watching Emms, pretending to be picking herbs, and between 8 and 9 o’clock I saw Emms come out of his house and go to a ruined cottage about fifty yards in front of his house; he brought out from then a large parcel, took it indoors, remained about ten minutes, came out again, appeared to be looking about him, and he had a small parcel in his hand about the size of a pint pot; he went to a shed or a lean-to adjoining big own house, went inside, remained about two minutes, came out again with, out the parcel and went indoors” — I said, “What do you think the parcel contained?” — he said, “I can’t tell” — I then left my own home with him and went to Mr. Thornton’s residence which is close by — he said nothing else before we went to Mr. Thornton’s — he said nothing about where the parcel was put, further than what I have stated — he did not then give any information about where the parcel was put — we went to Thornton’s — he was not at home — I walked with him then as far as Palace-yard — I asked him if he would have some refreshment and he did; we had a glass of ale — when we came out, on parting he said, “Now don’t go without me” — he desired to go that night — I said, “No, I can’t go to-night” — I had a motive, Mr. Thornton was not there and he had charge of the case — I think I said, “Mr. Thornton is not at home; I can’t go without him” — he then said, “Now don’t go without me” — I said, “No, you know I have taken down the substance of your statement, in writing in a book, and no advantage shall be taken of your information; I hope you think we are beyond that” — he said, “Very well” — I said, “I will go with you tomorrow morning; I will send a sergeant for you, where shall I send for you?” — he said, “To 17, Oakum-street, Chelsea” — a reward had been offered at that time — I have got a bill (
producing one
) similar to those which were posted and placarded about — it was posted all over London; first a reward of 100
l.
and then of 300
l.
— Mullins was aware of the reward having been offered — he said on parting, “Don’t go without me; if it comes off all right I will take care of you” — that is the substance of what passed between us that night — I went the next morning to Emsley’s brick-field with Inspector Thornton, Sergeant Thomas, and the prisoner — we went in a cab — nothing passed with me, I was outside; Thornton and Thomas were inside with him — this plan (
produced
) appears very correct — there is a shed by the side of Emm’s cottage in which ultimately the parcel was found — there is a ruined house shown here; that is about fifty yards from Emm’s cottage — it was about midday on Sunday morning when we arrived there — the ruin is a perfect wreck; it is a very old dilapidated cottage, in fact, there is a hole in the wall where any person ean go in — there is a door to the shed by Emm’s cottage, but the lower half of it is gone, there is only the top portion complete — it was open — it appears that anybody, at any time, could have got into that shed — at the time we arrived on that morning the shed was open, and there was a slab of stone just against the side of it — that is shown on the plan — this field, which is called Emsley’s brick-field, is an open field; persons have no right there, but they can get in very easily — the palings appear to be knocked down — there is room enough for any person to go in — there is a gate also which I found open, but independent of that, there are gaps in the palings which appear to have been knocked down, and any person can get in — we arrived in Bonner’s-lane, myself, Thornton, and Thomas were walking down Bonner’s-lane, and through a gap in the place we saw Emm and a man standing in conversation — they were at the other end of the field from Emm’s house, at the extreme end, I should say quite
pointing to the plan
), out of the field entirely so as not to be seen — we all three went to Emm; he was called aside, and Mr. Thornton made some communication to him in my presence — he was told the accusation in substance, that Mullins had made — we did not tell him that Mullins had made it — I then went, by the direction’ of Inspector Thornton, to Emm’s house and searched it — I spoke to Mrs. Emm — Emm was not there then, he was left with Mr. Thornton — we looked in the shed and at that time found nothing — we then went back to Mr. Thornton to report the result of our mission, and at that period Mullins appeared in the field, within fifty yards of us — I found Thornton and Emm had advanced to the ruined cottage; they were standing in front of it — at the time I saw Mullins in the field I went to him, and on my approach he said, “You have not half searched the place, she (meaning, I suppose, Mm. Emm) had her back to you all the while; come, I will show you where I think it is put” — I said, “No, not now; we don’t want Emm to know you are the informant,” and in the conversation we walked round between a stack of bricks and another old shed which is in the field — we halted four or five yards in front of the identical shed which he alluded to as where he saw Emm put the parcel, and he said, “There, look now, go and pull down that b — slab and turn up those bricks” — I looked at him and retired with him from the spot — I did not go towards the shed — I came back some twenty yards — I spoke to Sergeant Thomas and desired him to go and pull down the stone, at the same time telling Mullins to go to the Rising Sail and wait for me — Thomas went to the stone and returned to where Thornton, Emm, and I were — Thornton and Emm were still in front of the ruin — I saw Thomas pull the stone on one side, and saw him bring out the parcel — the slab is shown on the plan, we had simply to pull the stone forward and take it out; anyone could have placed it there without going into the shed — the parcel was opened in the presence of Emm — I cannot speak to its condition so well as Thomas; he handled it and undid it — I did not handle it in its original state — I saw it opened and saw what it contained — this is the outer paper; it was tied round the same as it is now, with this piece of tape — it is a piece of tape which might form an apron string or anything of that sort; besides that there was an inner parcel — this is it, it was tied as it is now, with a piece of shoemaker’s waxed string — it contained some pieces of newspaper, some blotting paper, one metal table spoon, and three metal tea spoons, and these two lenses or magnifying glasses; two of the spoons are lettered “W. P.” — besides these there was a cheque for 10
l.
on the Bank of London — this is it — that cheque is described in the handbill as a cheque drawn by Pickering and Carrier on the Bank of London, dated August 14th, 1860 — those were all the contents of the parcel — I was then directed to fetch Mullins back from the public-house, which I did, leaving Thornton, Thomas, and Emm still in front of the ruined shed — Mullins came back and stood in front of an old waggon that was there — he said, “Have you found anything?” — he appeared delighted, rubbed his hands, and laughed, and said, “Have you found any b — money?” — I said; “Thomas has found something, I cannot tell you what; Emm is very ill” — he appeared to laugh, rubbed his hands and said, “Oh, of course he would be” — I was then told to take him to the station in Arbour-square, which I did — Emm was also taken — he was there charged and Mullins also — he was charged by Inspector Thornton, in my presence, the charge was taken down in writing — the charge sheet is not here — it would be at Scotland-yard now — upon being charged, Mullins said, “Is this the way I am to be served, after giving information?” — I searched him — I found that his shoe was tied with a piece of waxed string — I have it here; it is waxed with cobbler’s wax — the string round the parcel is waxed with cobbler’s wax — I also found on him a pocket-book and some spectacles, but nothing material to this case; the spectacles were in his pocket — I afterwards went to 33, Barnsley-street, where he occupied a room — I there found a piece of tape, which 1 produce.