A murder gone cold
From the Journals of Dr John Watson Player A
During a quiet period in
Holmes’ affairs, we heard that Ferdinand Finder had succeeded in solving the
mystery in Transylvania. Tragically Miss Higginbottom of the Occult Verification
Society had been killed by a Rumanian bandit. Holmes and I with Detective
Inspector Hastings attended the commemoration Service in her honour in Chelsea.
I saw there Madam Hsing Song and some other Chinese as well as the OVS in force.
From the way they were glared at, I think Miss Higginbottom’s mother and her
friends blamed them for her daughter’s death. Her ashes had been returned in a
green glazed urn which was placed on a table in front of the altar. Seeing the
OVS reminded me of a letter that had been sent to Holmes shortly before.
It was from Constable Timothy Lymington
the village constable of Ploughstead in Norfolk.
Dear
Mr Holmes ,
I have been Village Constable of
Ploughstead in Norfolk for a year now and am very uneasy in my mind. You may
know that the Honourable Jasper Coulter was murdered some months ago after the
Strip Willow harvest. The Norfolk Constabulary investigated this and as a result
Miss Fay Strangeholm was tried and hung in March. Well sir I have been getting
these nightmares about it. In fact I would go as far as to say her ghost has
come to me. She mimes to me that she was innocent and mimes these ghastly
screams and I wakes up in a sweat. In the village it seems to me that there is a
good many other people that had cause to do in Mr Coulter what were not
investigated. I mentioned these things to my superiors in Norwich but they said
‘the jury found her guilty lad, case closed’! I heard that you was an expert
detective what could weevil out facts. I don’t have much money but I reckon if
you could prove the Norwich boys wrong it would add to your glory so to speak?
PC Timothy Lymington
Holmes had passed it to me,
“You will not like this one Watson. A village Constable wishes me to investigate
a closed case purely for my rather uncertain glorification!”
I replied that cash paid
more bills than glory any day of the week. Besides I knew that without other
worthwhile cases to hand Sherlock was again seeking out Moriarty. Since the
Paradys Hall affair it seemed that he had vanished from human knowledge. The
Baker Street Irregulars and Holmes’ many other contacts had failed to obtain any
current mention of ‘The Prof’. I say current because there were plenty of
rumours of his involvement in past misdeeds. Many of the London gangs started
their nefarious activities as a result of his guidance. Tolls were paid by them
indirectly to Mr Archon but he too has disappeared. Pathetically it seems the
gangs are keeping the toll money in hand against the day Moriarty comes back
demanding them. They fear the extent of his wrath should they default. Anyway
with Holmes’ permission I passed the letter to Mr Ronald Helping. He said he
thought his members would be interested in it.
Then came another two
letters, which led Holmes to change his mind and take an interest in the
Ploughstead murder after all. They were sent by Inspector Hastings:
Dear
Holmes,
I enclose
this letter from my cousin Mrs Flintworthy as it may give a lead in your hunt
for Professor Moriarty. She thinks that the criminal elements in Norwich are
being controlled by a Mr Oliver Lynn. Mr Lynn used to live in London and at one
time employed the services of Mr Archon, Moriarty’s book keeper. As you know I
have been trawling through past associates of the beloved Professor. Another one
is the Honourable Jasper Coulter the victim in the Darbeyfield Barn case.
Apparently he went to school with him! His murderess, Fay Strangeholm was a
woman of low repute who had lived in Norwich. Jasper Coulter was thought to be
friendly to Mr Lynn but they may have fallen out. It seems to me that one or
both of them were in contact with Moriarty. It may even be that Coulter was
murdered on Moriarty’s orders. In court it was alleged that Strangeholm killed
Coulter because he had ruined her reputation and moved on to other women. In
fact her reputation had been ruined before she met him and he had abandoned her
more than a year before. I suspect that there must have been another reason. As
I have informed Mrs Flintworthy, at Scotland Yard we can do nothing unless the
local police call us in. Mr Lynn probably is organising the criminals in Norwich
with or without Moriarty’s controlling hand but it is up to the Norfolk
Constabulary to deal with him.
Harold Hastings
Dearest Harold,
Now that you are at Scotland Yard I think it possible that you might initiate
some action, to alleviate the situation we find ourselves in in Norwich. As you
will know for several years I have been a member of the ‘Lady’s League for the
Monitoring of Servants References’. This was set up as a result of several cases
of servant’s misconduct, where the references given were found to be forged! We
established a series of genteel contacts in many of the villages in the North of
the County. In the cases of persons seeking employment, our League categorises
them as Gold for those of proven excellence, Silver for those against whom
nothing is suspected, Grey for dubious characters and Black for those plainly
unfit. The criterion for putting persons into these categories is entirely up to
the Member of the League making them.
I am afraid that some members are less lenient than others in these matters. I
have become a little concerned about our Honorary Secretary Mrs Chelsea Lynn.
She seems only too avid to ‘Grey or Black’ persons in the Norwich area whether
they are applying for servants places or not. She is the wife of a prominent
Bank Manager so it is difficult to criticise her. However Captain Charity Hill
of the Salvation Army has brought this to my attention. Under the local
Commander Major Juniper, her unit is devoted to the restitution and
rehabilitation of women fallen into poverty and degradation in Norwich. She has
told me that an unnaturally disproportionate number of ‘Fallen women’ have been
domiciled or have been seasonal workers at the small village of Ploughstead. Our
Member for there is Lady Anthelia Coulter who has sent Mrs Lynn many Black and
Grey references. Charity Hill is particularly upset because she helped Fay
Strangeholm, a Grey from Hainford , to set herself up as a rush basket maker at
Ploughstead. She does not believe that Fay did murder Jasper Coulter as she
thought her too docile to do such a thing. She thinks Fay was being pressured to
join the night women in Norwich and framed because she would not co-operate. I
can offer no definite reason why Jasper Coulter was killed but he is known to
have ruined the reputations of many working class women. Despite our
representations, the Norfolk Constabulary seem uninterested in dealing with
these problems! I hope you can provide a solution.
Your admiring Cousin Ermintrude Flintworthy
“Watson! Have a look at
these! I think we will answer that village policeman’s call after all! I sense a
falling out amongst the thieves of Moriarty’s organisation. Who knows but that
we may find some leads to his present hide away!”
So ever dutiful I packed
ready for a foray into the wilds of Norfolk. I warned Holmes that Mr Helping had
told me his Society were going to seek the constables ghost.
“My Fault Watson, I admit it. I should
never give you any information on matters smacking of the occult. Now I expect
that they will be damnably in the way! Goodness knows what stories they may
concoct about this ghost!”
“My dear Holmes I think you do them an
injustice. They admit that often their hunts for supernatural beings are in
vain.”
“It is not what they do not find, but
what they claim to have found that disturb me! Watson, there are no such things
as ghosts!”
“And you a Christian! What about the
Holy Ghost eh? If the good book mentions them they must surely exist!”
“You must remind me of that when we next
see one!”
Holmes then went to read up
the newspaper reports of the trial and gave me a copy of The Times account.
Ploughstead’s
Darbeyfield Barn murder Case
The prosecution alleged that Miss Fay Strangeholm did
lay in wait for the Honourable Jasper Coulter within the
Darbeyfield Barn on the night of Friday 26th November.
She then stunned him with a blow to the head, and
stabbed him in the chest four times with a potato fork
resulting in his death. She then rolled him onto a potato
sack and dragged him outside to bury him in a potato pit.
Mr Coulters watch was damaged by one of the fork
prongs and stopped at 1127. At around 1145 Mrs Tillie
Tulip and Miss Agate Primfield saw Miss Strangeholm
heading towards her home at 1 Toft Row.
She acted in a
furtive manner and was coming from the direction of the
Barn. Miss Strangeholm a rush basket maker, claimed that
she had stayed at home all evening plying her craft. She
admitted that had had a ‘romantic involvement’ with the
deceased some time before. She admitted to a dispute
concerning the price and quantities of rush baskets she had
sold to him for the coming Strawberry harvest. She denied
ever seeing him that night but a key to the Darbeyfield barn
was found in her house. Unable to produce any witnesses for
her defence or even good character, the jury found her guilty!
Holmes forbade me to have
any contact with the OVS as he hoped to beat them to Ploughstead village. So the
next day we were packed and ready to depart when the second post brought us
another letter from Constable Lymington. Being in some haste we did not read it
until safely aboard the train.
Dear
Mr Holmes,
I am afraid that I
have just been posted away to become Village Constable of Westhorpe a
considerable distance from Ploughstead. I believe this has been arranged at the
instigation of Sir Benjamin because of the awkward questions I have been asking.
I am being replaced by PC Valance a Norwich man that I know who is not over
bright I fear. However I will give a summary of my investigations so far.
On Saturday 27th
November it was reported to me by Zebedee Hanger that he had found the body of
Mr Jasper Coulter. It had been hidden in the potato pit beside the Darbeyfield
barn. Mr Hanger checked it because the willow stripping workers would be leaving
that day and they were prone to stealing potatoes. The body lay face down half
covered by the potatoes and the turves placed on top. When we got it out It’s
chest was covered in congealed blood from sixteen prong penetrations. These were
undoubtedly from one of the two potato forks found propped inside the barn.
There were traces of smeared blood on the floor nearby. Four times had the
murderer plunged it into the supine man. Later examination found a bump on the
side of his head where he had been struck and almost certainly knocked
unconscious. One of the prongs had struck his pocket watch stopping it at the
time of eleven twenty-seven. His money, handkerchief, silver match-case and
cigars were still in his pockets. Sir Benjamin sent a lad to Norwich who brought
back Inspector Yale and some men of the constabulary. I told them that it had
been the night of the Willow-strippers dance, held in the Ploughstead Barn. This
was near to Coulter House which is where the victim lived with his brother Sir
Benjamin. These dances are held for the workers both local and seasonal, at the
end of each of the harvests. The seasonal workers live in two nearby huts built
for them. They are supervised by the Agent Mr Wordsworth Primfield and his
sister Agate Primfield. The dances have punch and a buffet meal and run from
eight till midnight. Entrance and exits were controlled by Mr Jonathon Leke and
his sister Ivy Leke who manned the cloak rooms. According to them the only
person they could remember leaving the dance was a seasonal worker, Miss Rowena
Cowl. It was a few minutes before the church clock chimed eleven. They
remembered her because she was known to be Mr Jasper’s current favourite. She
returned five or ten minutes afterwards. All the seasonal workers from the huts
had attended the dance. Miss Cowl was questioned and said that she had had an
assignation to meet Mr Jasper Coulter at the Darbeyfield Barn. On the way
however, she met a local man who warned her against going there. He said that
one of his daughters had done so and was now walking the Streets of Great
Yarmouth! He told her that others had wound up the same, so she went back to the
dance. If her story was true the times did not fit. Miss Cowl had come for the
willow stripping from the nearby village of Mundham and was staying with her
aunt. Her aunt too had warned against her getting involved with Mr Coulter. Miss
Agate Primfield then came forward, saying that she had heard about the murder
and thought she had a suspect. She had gone escorting a Mrs Tillie Tulip to
retrieve an umbrella that the latter had left hidden in the village. Mrs Tulip
had had too much punch and was set on the idea, as she was returning to Norwich
on the morrow. Miss Agate saw Miss Fay Strangeholm walking furtively to her home
from the direction of the Darbeyfield Barn. She thought nothing of it at the
time but she knew Miss Strangeholm had been in a dispute with Mr Jasper. This
was about money for the rush baskets that she made for strawberries. Inspector
Yale went and arrested her and took her to Norwich. Then she was tried and hung
and I starting seeing her ghost. I started asking around about any other enemies
Mr Jasper might have had and there are hosts of them. Many were no longer in
Ploughstead so I do not mention them. Neither do I mention those that were at
the dance.
Mr
Jim Edshaw Seaman caught stealing by Mr Coulter and served six months jail. Mr
Hob Jukes labourer caught poaching several times and fined heavily. Gregory
Ullswater labourer and poacher has his sister Gail streetwalking in Norwich due
to Mr Coulter. Mr Earnest Leaven the baker, father of Bunny Leaven,
streetwalking in Norwich. Edmond Pennyworth Seaman and poacher, whose sweetheart
Aline Barker is streetwalking in Norwich. Also Mr Harvey Barker Basket-maker
Aline’s father. Mr Joe Happenshaw moler and father of Dorcas Happenshaw, who was
at the dance but whose reputation was tarnished by Mr Coulter. Mrs Nelly
Henderson, whose husband left her because of Mr Coulter.(He is now at sea.) Mrs
Susie Allington widow on the parish, who was refused at least two housekeeping
jobs because of Mr Coulter tarnishing her reputation. Miss Jessica Clarke Shop
assistant forced to have a late abortion by Jasper.
It is difficult to get
people to talk and some are downright un-co-operative but I obtained most of
this information from Miss Ivy Leke housemaid to Miss Victorine Darbeyfield.
(She is known as Cross Ivy because she is cross-eyed.)
There
may be others from times past but I hope this will be of assistance to you
tracking down the real murderer.
PC
Timothy Lymington
“It is a pity he has gone but I suppose
we can carry on where he left off Holmes?” I commented being unsure as to
whether he would still go to Ploughstead. “We may not have a policeman to make
our questioning official. There will be children of course.”
“Certainly Watson! To have so many
suspects makes the trip something of a challenge! Especially as so long has
elapsed since the body was found.
And we must bear in mind that the worthy constable may well have missed a few
more. I cannot expect with any certainty that we will discover the murderer but
we will give the matter a thorough investigation. Hopefully we will also find
trails leading back to Moriarty anyway. As for questioning the children, since
they no longer have to pay a penny a day, they will probably be at school.”
So we arrived at Norwich
railway station and after lunch took a hansom cab out to Ploughstead. It dropped
us off at the Nelson Inn and smartly headed away back to Norwich. Our
information was that this was the only Inn in Ploughstead so we expected to be
staying there during our visit. We entered the premises and asked for
accommodation. The landlord said, “Oh I am very sorry sirs but we are full up.
Normally we have few guests at this time of year but we are booked for a week by
some people from London. Perhaps if your business is urgent Sir Benjamin might
be prepared to allow you to stay in his house. It is a fine large mansion and
few in it at present. You look to be gentry like and perhaps Sir Benjamin might
be glad of your company. He owns Coulter House and most of the property around
here. You could leave your bags here to collect later.”
Wednesday 10th April 1892. It is 1330
and the weather is dry and fair what are you going to do?
Sherlock Holmes
Act, LEA, Mo 7”, Fa 2/3/5, Ag +2, Th +1, Me +2, revolver Bst –2.
Firing 3” 4+ Pst 0,
6” 5+ Pst 0, 11” 6+ Pst 0, 18” 7+ Pst –2, 5 rounds, Magnifying Glass
Class VI, PI
Respectable, Charm M0, F+1, Coercion
+1. MC £15 – 12s – 9d
Police whistle 24”,
Penknife, watch, Bullseye lamp
Dr Watson
Activist, Vle, Mo 6”, Fa 2/3/5, Ag +1, Th +1, Me +1, revolver Bst –2.
Firing 3” 4+ Pst 0,
6” 5+ Pst 0, 11” 6+ Pst 0, 18” 7+ Pst –2, 5 rounds Doctors Bag 1st
Aid
Class VI, PI
Respectable, Charm M+1 F+2, Coercion
0. MC £13 – 10s – 8d, Watch Lamp.