MURDER MYSTERIES

Evening Star, Issue 19799, 24 February 1928, Page 1

MURDER MYSTERIES

FICTION AND FACT ' The tlootl of detective licuon in winch murder mysteries battio the nilo ul thumb methods of the detectives ui Scotland Yard,- and are triumphantly solved in the final chapters by the marvellous inductive methods of a host of successors of Sherlock Holmes, is increasing instead of abating (says tho ‘Age’)- Thu number of murder mysteries of this kind poured forth by the printing press in the course of each year exceeds the number of actual murders of all kinds in England. In Greater London the number of murders committed in tho course of twelve months seldom reaches twenty, and lor the whole of England and Wales the total seldom reaches 150, and is ol ten below 100. Moreover, most of the real murders are sordid, brutal crimes committed by drunken husbands or jealous lovers, in which there is not the slightest element of mystery. _ Many of the murderers commit suicide immediately alter committing murder, and therefore leave no problem tor solution. Jn the groat majority ol murders, apart from those which are followed by suicide, the rule of thumb methods of Scotland Yard are quite adequate to secure the arrest and conviction of the murderers. The number of murders in England each year which are officially classed as unsolved is seldom more than 5 per cent. And in some of these unsolved crimes the police are confident that they have the .solution, but they make no arrest because of lack of evidence that would secure a conviction.

One of the most remarkable murders in London in recent years was that in which the body of the victim was not found until five months after the crime had been committed. During that period the murderer lived with the corpse in a house in the heart of London. The murderer was a tailor named Maltby, and his victim was Mrs Alice Middleton, the wife of an ofiicor in a British merchant ship trading to the Hast. Maltby lived on two floors nvci his shop in Park road, llegcnt Park. There were other shops adjoining Ins on each side, and there was a great deal of I raffle along the street day and night, for Park road is .on the mam route of traffic from the shopping centre of the West Kud to the northwestern suburbs. It is, only about halt a mile from Oxford street, and a mile from Piccadilly circus. Yet the murderer lived for five months with the corpse of his victim in such a thickly-populated neighborhood, without arousing suspicion. He had shut up his shop and had taken to backing horses as a means ot livelihood. Mrs Middleton, a prepossessing woman of good figure, whose husband made her an allowance of Lid a month while he was at sea. became associated with Maltby. Site drew her allowance up to August, 1923, but was not seen after that date. When her husband's ship came to London ho endeavored to find his wife, but laded to do so before his ship sailed again, and theicfore he placed the matter m the hands of the police. The detectives tried to got into communication with Maltby, but failed to do so because lie had barricaded flic doors and windows of his shop, and made no reply to repeated knocks. As the police had no reason to believe that Mrs Middleton had met with foul play they had no legal justification for forcing an entrance. But as they wanted to crosscjucstinn Maltby regarding Mrs Middleton, they kept a watch on the premises, and one night when Maltby was seen leaving the place two policemen stopped him and asked him to accompany them to the police station. He refused to do so, but promised to meet Detectiveinspector Cornish at the station on the following day at an appointed time. He did not keep the appointment, and remained in seclusion in his house. Day after day the police knocked at the door'; hut he made no response, ’fins naturally aroused suspicion in the minds of the police, hut they could nor. act on suspicion to the extent of forcing a way into the promises. A strict watch was kept on the place, but though Maltby was occasionally seen at a hack- window he did not leave the house. ; The London newspapers look the, mailer up, and day after day published lengthy accounts of the fruitless efforts ol the police to get into touch with Mr Mali by. Beporters tried to interview Maltby from the back windows ol neighboring’ houses. They implored him to come to his back window and talk to them. Thee wrote miles to Maltby and threw then 1 in through the broken panes el glass ’in his back windows. As the result of tills publicity a crowd nl people collected outside tbe shop clay after day. I MI’BISON HD WITH A CO BBS IT Gas. water, and electricity had been cut off from Maltby's premises, because he had not paid the overdue accounts for these sendees. Ho had no water or gas to cook with and no electricity for lighting rooms that were alwavs dark, because the I rout, windows More barricaded. He lived in his darkened house with the decomposing cmpse of his victim, which lie had placed in the hath, with a wooden covering on top. It, was Ibo (net that the wafer had been cut off which eventually provided the police with the right to force an entry into the promises. The sanitary inspector of the municipality knocked at flic shop lor the purpose of inspecting the premises, ami being unable to obtain admission 1m applied to the court for a warrant of entry on the ground that the absence of wafer for sanitary purposes made the premises a danger to health. Tbe warrant, was executed by the police, who, armed with axes, chopped through t,he barricaded doors. In the front bedroom on the top floor they found Maltby in- bed, breathing Ins last, with a revolver in his hand. He bad shot himself as the police wore hi caking into the place. In the bath the body of Mrs Middleton was discovered. She had been shot three times in the back of the head with a miniatnr •. rille. and. according to medical testimony, she had been dead, lour or five months.