The Maze

Detective Inspector Syme then arrived with the divisional surgeon and took charge.

Thank you, Sergeant … Are there any further questions which the jury would wish to put to this witness at this stage? … No? … Very well. Thank you, Sergeant; you may stand down …

Call Inspector Syme.

II

DETECTIVE INSPECTOR JOHN SYME

WHAT is your full name?

John Syme.

Will you please take the oath?

I swear by Almighty God that what I shall say in evidence in this Court shall be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

You are a member of the Metropolitan Police Force?

Yes. I am a Detective Inspector of L.I. Division.

Will you please tell the Court, Inspector Syme, the circumstances under which you were called to 44 Rajah Gardens on the morning of Thursday, 12th July?

I was called on the telephone by Sergeant Crawley at 2.55 a.m. on Thursday last. Sergeant Crawley reported that there was a death at 44 Rajah Gardens, the deceased being Maxwell Brunton, the leaseholder of the house. Sergeant Crawley stated that the circumstances of the death were indicative of murder. I immediately called a car and fetched the Divisional Surgeon, Dr Crosby, and I then proceeded at once with him to 44 Rajah Gardens, reaching there at 3.12 a.m.

You heard Sergeant Crawley’s evidence, Inspector Syme?

Yes.

When you entered the house I assume that you went to the study and inspected the body?

Yes. I found everything as described by Sergeant Crawley and as shown on the plan which you have before you.

Were you able, Inspector, to form any theory as to whether death was caused by the deceased himself, by accident, or by some other person or persons?

I came to the definite conclusion that death could not have been caused either accidentally or by the deceased himself.

Will you please tell the Court, in your own words, Inspector Syme, what you did after your inspection of the study?

I followed the usual routine. I took official charge of the premises, put a constable on duty outside the study, sent for the Police photographers and notified the Divisional Chief Inspector, who asked me to notify Scotland Yard, which I did. I then questioned the inmates of the house. The statements made by them, both to Sergeant Crawley and myself, are with the Police papers which you have before you.

One more question, Inspector. I realise that it is unnecessary for us to get you to inform the Court as to the substance of the statements which you obtained from the members of the household since the gentlemen of the Jury have these statements before them, and, further, will hear the persons themselves giving evidence in due course. But I should like you to tell the Court in what state you found the various inmates when you did question them … We must bear in mind, gentlemen, that when Inspector Syme arrived he had his investigations to make of the scene of death and various other official duties to perform before he entered upon his questioning, and that, therefore, some considerable time would have elapsed between the time of the first questioning by Sergeant Crawley and the second questioning by Inspector Syme … How long would you say that time was, Inspector?

I should say roughly three-quarters of an hour.

Thank you. Now, if you would go on to answer my main question?

I saw the witnesses in the following order: Mrs Brunton, Mr Adrian Brunton, Mrs Bayford, Mr Harrison, Mr Hargreaves, Miss Lamort, Arthur Jennings, the butler, Mrs Jennings, his wife, Jeannette Bocquet, Mrs Brunton’s maid, and Violet Burrage, the kitchenmaid. Mrs Brunton, though much distressed, was quite lucid in her answers. Mr Adrian Brunton was lucid enough but in a nervous state which had reacted unfavourably upon his temper. Mr Harrison was nervous and slightly confused and only made himself clear with some difficulty. Mrs Bayford was suffering from severe shock and could only answer questions. She did not seem able to make any voluntary statement. Mr Hargreaves’s behaviour seemed normal. Miss Lamort was in an extreme state of collapse. I could not ask her as many questions as I should have wished, as, shortly after my arrival, I found that her medical adviser, Dr Fothergill, had been summoned. When he came he advised me that it would not be well to continue with any attempt to question Miss Lamort that night. Accordingly I got her full statement, which you have before you, the next day. In regard to the servants, Arthur Jennings and Mrs Jennings were normal. Burrage seemed half stupefied by shock and Jeanette Bocquet highly excited.

Thank you, Inspector. Now, another point, and a very important one. It is, I know, dealt with in the Police papers which we have, but I think should also be discussed in Court. Was there any indication that No. 44 Rajah Gardens had been entered by any person other than the inmates during the night?

No indication whatsoever.

In your opinion, Inspector, would it have been possible for any other person to have entered the house, make their way to the study and then leave the house?

I am satisfied that such an entry would have been impossible; impossible, that is, without the assistance of some person or persons within the house.

Upon what grounds, Inspector, do you base your certainty upon this point?

The front door was bolted by Jennings as early as 10.15 p.m.—a fact to which various witnesses testify. The windows on the ground floor were also locked and shuttered immediately afterwards—a fact also testified to. The basement windows and door were locked and bolted as usual by Mrs Jennings and Violet Burrage at 9.30 p.m. The construction and position of the house make it entirely improbable—in fact, sir, impossible—for anyone to obtain access to them without the use of ladders. Certainly no entrance could be made through any window without traces being left, and there were no traces. In regard to the study windows, as Sergeant Crawley stated in his evidence, the idea of entrance and exit through them need not be entertained.

Thank you, Inspector … I don’t think we need trouble Inspector Syme any further—at this stage, anyhow …

Call Dr Richard Crosby.

III

JAMES RICHARD CROSBY, M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P., PRIVATE PRACTICE AND DIVISIONAL SURGEON L.I. DIVISION, METROPOLITAN POLICE.

WHAT is your full name?

James Richard Crosby.

Now will you take the oath?

I swear by Almighty God that what I shall say in evidence in this Court shall be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

You act, I believe, in the capacity of Divisional Surgeon to L.I. Division of the Metropolitan Police?

Yes.

Will you please describe to the Court, Dr Crosby, your visit to 44 Rajah Gardens in the early morning of Thursday last?

I was called out at 3.5 a.m. I went with Detective Inspector Syme of the Division to Number 44 Rajah Gardens. I was taken to the study and there found and examined the body of the deceased. I found death to have been caused by a blow which had pierced through the cavity of the right eye into the brain. Internal hæmorrhage had immediately set in; death must have taken place within a very short time after the blow was received. I was then shown a large lump of mineral quartz which had projecting from it at one end a long jagged spur. The end of this spur was caked with blood and tissue. I formed the opinion that it was beyond doubt this lump of quartz which had been the weapon causing death.

It was, I understand, approximately 3.30 a.m. when you examined the body?

That is correct.

In your opinion, how long had life been extinct?

Not more than six hours had elapsed since death had transpired.

Doctor, in your examination of the body, did you form any opinion as to the deceased’s general health?

I should say it was very good. Magnificent development. Obviously kept himself in very good condition. More like, in fact, the body of a man of forty than fifty-five, which I believe is what he was.

Did you form any opinion, Doctor, as to how the wound might have been caused?

Yes. With, as I have said, the quartz. A strong, stabbing blow was probably struck.

Is it at all possible, Doctor, that the wound was self-inflicted?

In my opinion, absolutely impossible.

I do not think there are any other questions, gentlemen? … No? … Thank you, Doctor. That is all.

Call Sidney Harrison.

IV

SIDNEY FOLJAMBE HARRISON, PRIVATE SECRETARY TO THE DECEASED

WHAT is your full name?

Sidney Foljambe Harrison.

Will you please take the oath?

I swear by Almighty God that what I shall say in evidence in this Court shall be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

You were, I believe, private secretary to the deceased?

Private and confidential secretary. I was secretary to Mr Brunton for a considerable period, over which he and I got to know each other, if I may say so, extremely well. I was fully conversant with Mr Brunton’s—

One moment, Mr Harrison. I should be glad if, at this stage of your evidence, you would confine yourself to answering my questions.

Certainly, certainly. I have no wish to be of anything but assistance.

Quite! … Perhaps you would tell me, Mr Harrison, how long you held the position of secretary to the deceased?

I was private and confidential secretary to Mr Maxwell Brunton for eleven months. That is, to be precise, Mr Coroner, I should have completed my year upon the fifth of next month. If I may say so, the eleven months were—

Thank you. Will you please inform the Court of the time at which you last saw your employer alive?

Certainly I will. Let me see … I was with the rest of the household—excepting, of course, the servants—in the drawing-room after dinner. We had all been in the room for the whole of the time since dinner … There had been bridge—

One moment.—Do I understand you to say, Mr Harrison, that everyone in the house was in the drawing-room after dinner, excepting the servants?

No, no, no! Everyone with the exception of Mr Maxwell Brunton himself.

Thank you. Please continue.

At 11 p.m. exactly—I happened to just have looked at my watch—Mr Maxwell Brunton, who had retired to his study (to work, he said) immediately after dinner, came down and joined the party. He chatted a few moments and then bade everyone good-night, saying that he would be working late and telling me, incidentally, that he would not require my services. When he left the drawing-room—the last time I saw him alive—the time would be, I should say, about five minutes past eleven; perhaps a little more.

Now, Mr Harrison, will you please describe to the Court your discovery of Mr Brunton’s body?

Yes. At 2.30 a.m. on Friday morning it suddenly occurred to me that there was an important engagement which I had omitted to note on Mr Brunton’s desk pad. I was at that time, of course, in my bedroom, but I was not in bed. I was studying, as I commonly do, until the very early hours. I do not believe in putting things off, and so I decided to go along to the study and remedy my error without delay.

My bedroom is on the same floor: that is, the second. I accordingly walked softly along the passage, being very careful to make no noise at so late an hour. I did not switch on the passage light, as I know my way so well. I was therefore in the dark, and I saw, as I approached, a light beneath the study door. I assumed that Mr Brunton might be engaged and so knocked upon the door before entering. No reply came to my first knock or to my second. Not wishing to disturb the house, I did not knock again but softly turned the handle. I then made the shocking discovery.

The body, as the sergeant described, was lying on the hearth-rug. The head was pointing toward the window, and the feet toward the door. I was, as you may imagine, horrified and aghast, but I flatter myself that I wasted no time. It needed no expert eye to see that Mr Brunton was dead. I went quietly out of the study, shutting the door behind me; ran as fast as my legs would carry me back to the stairs and up to the top floor and waked Jennings the butler. In a few words I told him what had happened and sent him out for a policeman. The disturbance had apparently wakened Mrs Brunton, for as I came downstairs after Jennings she was on the landing. I had to break the news to her, and she insisted that I should rouse—er—bring to her her son and daughter, Mr Adrian Brunton and Mrs Bayford. I called Mr Adrian Brunton. Mrs Bayford, taking matters into her own hands, called Mr Hargreaves, who was staying in the house. Sarah Jennings, wakened when I called her husband, came downstairs. Mr Adrian Brunton and Mrs Brunton wished to go at once to the study, but I managed to dissuade them from taking this step until after the police had arrived. I was seconded in this by Mr Hargreaves.

We all went downstairs to the hall. All the members of the household, that is to say with the exception of the kitchenmaid, Mrs Brunton’s maid and Miss Lamort, the third visitor. We had not been downstairs more than a moment when Jennings came back with the sergeant. After that events transpired as he told you in his evidence.

I trust, Mr Coroner, that I have been clear in my statement. I try always to make a habit of orderly and incisive thinking.

Yes, yes, quite. Now, Mr Harrison, one or two questions …

At your service, Mr Coroner.

When you were describing just now how at Mrs Brunton’s request you fetched her son and daughter, you started to use the word ‘rouse’ and then apparently changed your mind.

Exactly, Mr Coroner. I felt, as I said it, that perhaps ‘rouse’ was not the correct word. It might imply that Mrs Bayford and Mr Adrian Brunton were asleep, whereas in fact they were not.

Did you enter their rooms?

Mr Brunton’s, yes. I gave one tap at the door and entered rather unceremoniously. Mr Brunton was kneeling upon the window seat looking out of the window. He had a dressing-gown on but had only substituted this, I saw, for his dinner jacket.

What did he do when you came in? Can you tell the Court his reaction to your entry and your bad news?

Certainly. When I went in—as I have said, rather unceremoniously, I fear—Mr Brunton got up and turned round to face me. Before I could speak he said: ‘What the hell do you want?’ I should perhaps explain that Mr Brunton has always seemed—for what reason I am sure I cannot think—to dislike me.

Did he seem excited when he said this?

A difficult question, Mr Coroner. Mr Adrian Brunton is a young man of—er—mercurial temperament. He is normally excitable. It certainly did not strike me that there was anything unusual—for him—in his reception of me, though naturally I resented his incivility.

You say Mr Brunton was looking out of his window? If my recollection of the plan is correct, this would mean that he was looking out over the gardens to Rajah Square—

That is correct. Mr Adrian Brunton’s room is at the back of the house; that is, the northern side—

Please let me conclude my question before answering, Mr Harrison. I was about to ask you if you gathered from Mr Adrian Brunton’s position as you entered the room any indication of whether he was merely idly looking out into the gardens or looking out for, or at, any particular object?

I am afraid it is impossible for me to say. No sooner had I entered the room than he was off the window seat and had turned to face me.

Thank you. Please proceed. You were about to tell the Court in answer to my question what Mr Brunton’s reaction was to your bad news?

He seemed dazed. In fact, for a moment I wondered whether he had heard me. I said ‘Don’t you understand, Mr Brunton? Your father is dead—has been killed! …’

Yes, Mr Harrison? Please don’t hesitate. What then?

I suppose that in this Court I must repeat the exact words which were used. After I had told him a second time Mr Brunton caught me by the shoulder and shook me violently. He said: ‘You bloody little bastard! That’s a lie!’ I managed not to allow my very natural resentment to overcome my good sense. I managed to make Mr Brunton understand that I was in deadly earnest. He then put out his arm and brushed me aside. I followed him out into the corridor. He had opened the study door, which of course was just at his right as he came out of his own room, and was standing on the threshold, staring. I said: ‘Mr Brunton! Mr Brunton! We must leave things as they are until the Police come.’ He muttered some oath or other which I did not catch and I think was going into the study, but at that moment he heard Mrs Brunton’s voice calling him from the other end of the corridor. She was just outside Mrs Bayford’s room. He turned and ran back. I followed.

As I passed the stairhead Mrs Bayford came out of her room. I think she was following her mother. She was fully dressed, but not in the gown which she had worn at dinner. I remember she had in her hand a fountain pen, because I offered to take it from her and put it down. She had obviously already heard the news. She stared at me as though I were not there. I repeated my offer, but she turned away without a word and began speaking with her brother.

So you are not in a position, Mr Harrison, to tell us Mrs Bayford’s immediate reaction to her father’s death?

No, sir. As I was breaking the dreadful news to Mr Adrian Brunton, Mrs Brunton must have been with her daughter.

I see. Now, you say that when you did see Mrs Bayford—when she came out of her room—and you and Mr Brunton and Mrs Brunton were standing in the corridor, she seemed dazed when you spoke to her?

I did not use the word ‘dazed,’ Mr Coroner. Mrs Bayford certainly was not in a normal state, for, as a rule, she is a lady of most charming manner, and, as I have explained, she did not seem to hear my offer of assistance. But although she was not herself, I do not think it would be right for me to use the word ‘dazed.’ She seemed in a way peculiarly alert. It was she, for instance, who called Mr Hargreaves, outside whose room we all were standing at the moment. She rapped on the door, and it was immediately opened. Mr Hargreaves was in pyjamas and a dressing-gown. From his appearance I should say that he had been in bed. The terrible situation was explained to him, and it was after that that we—

One moment, Mr Harrison, one moment! Please tell the Court who it was who conveyed the news to Mr Hargreaves.

Mrs Bayford. I can remember her exact words, I think, Mr Coroner. She laid her hand on Mr Hargreaves’s arm, and she said: ‘Oh, Jack dear! A frightful thing has happened … Father—Father—’ and then she seemed to break down for a moment. Mr Hargreaves caught her hands, and he said: ‘Claire! Claire! What’s this?’ or some words like that. And then Mrs Bayford seemed to take command of herself again. She said, ‘Father’s dead. He’s been … he’s been killed.’ And it was after that that we all—

One moment, Mr Harrison! It’s very important that the Court should appreciate the relationship in which the persons staying at the house stood to each other. It is also very important that you should tell us, as much as you can, of each person’s reaction on their hearing the news. Will you please tell us, first, of Mr Hargreaves’s demeanour when Mrs Bayford had explained the tragedy to him, and secondly, what you know of the relationship between these two. I understood you to say that Mrs Bayford called Mr Hargreaves ‘Jack dear,’ and that he in return used her Christian name.

To take your first question, Mr Coroner, Mr Hargreaves, on hearing the dreadful news, seemed—and quite naturally—utterly astonished. He made some ejaculation—‘Good God!’ I think it was—but when this astonishment had passed he seemed mostly concerned with the effect of the tragedy upon Mrs Bayford.

In answer to your second question, Mr Coroner, I can only say that, not being a member of the family, and, as Mr Brunton’s secretary, naturally not being in the confidence of any of the rest of the family, I can only give you my own, as it were, casual impressions. I have always understood that Mr Hargreaves is an old friend of Mrs Bayford; and this visit was the first time I had ever come into personal contact with Mr Hargreaves, but I had frequently heard mention of him. I have always understood that Mr Hargreaves and Mrs Bayford knew each other from childhood right up to the time when Mrs Bayford married, two years ago, but that after that Mr Hargreaves went abroad. I believe he only returned a little while ago.

I see. You cannot tell us, I suppose, whether there had ever been any talk of a marriage between Mrs Bayford and Mr Hargreaves?

I have no information upon that point, Mr Coroner. Such matters are not any business of mine, and I am afraid that I make a strict rule of never prying into matters which do not concern me.

Most commendable, I’m sure! Can you tell the Court anything of the relations between Mr Hargreaves and the rest of the family?

There, sir, I may be of a little more use. Three days before his death Mr Maxwell Brunton referred in my presence to the forthcoming visit of Mr Hargreaves. He came into the study where I was working on his letters and asked me to cancel an appointment he had made for dinner on the Thursday night. From the way in which he worded his directions I gathered that he was not looking forward with any degree of pleasure to Mr Hargreaves’s visit. So far as the other members of the family are—

Just one moment, Mr Harrison! Can you remember the exact words used by Mr Maxwell Brunton in regard to Mr Hargreaves on this occasion you have just told us of?

Mr Brunton made no direct reference to Mr Hargreaves personally, but he said—I’m afraid I cannot remember the exact words—something like this: ‘That’ll be young Hargreaves’s first night here. Blast it!’ And then later, discussing some appointment for the Saturday he said again: ‘Hargreaves will still be here. Damn it!’ or some words like that … What I am trying to show, Mr Coroner, is that while Mr Brunton did not make any ill-natured reference to Mr Hargreaves personally, he did seem to find the forthcoming visit of Mr Hargreaves far from—how shall I put it?—far more awkward than he would have a visit of any other person. He was not a man who was given to being put out merely by the presence of an extra person in the house.

I see … Have you any further questions, gentlemen, that you would like me to put to this witness at this stage? … I beg your pardon? … Perhaps, sir, if you would get the foreman to put the question formally …

Mr Coroner, a member of the jury wishes me to ask whether the witness has any comment to offer on the evidence of the police sergeant or any addition to that evidence in regard to the other guest, Miss Lamort, and her collapse on hearing the news of deceased’s death.

I see. Mr Harrison, you heard the foreman, I think. Perhaps you would give a reply to that question.