ON THE MURDERER'S TRAIL

NZ Truth, Issue 1198, 15 November 1928, Page 5

ON THE MURDERER'S TRAIL

. ■ - ' ■ ■ M..iii jjjj.'<; „j.i. . ■ -■- • ; Detective-Sergeant Bickerdike Now Looking For Elsie Walkers Shyer DOUBLE MYSTEW BMINpfflE rMGMMPANMUm ....... ' (S"rorn M J»T.Z. Truth's" Special Auckland; Representative.! Dramatic developments may he expected m the ELSIE WALKER mystery at any moment now, five, weeks, after the murdered glrVs hods was discovered. Detectiyersergeant Bickerdike and at hast tWQ vibe? members of the cteiccjive sjaff, are bwy m search of a elite, or clues, on a cold trail qnd Bkkerdifce eon he. relied upon tq leave no stone unturned, to dmo^r ihs man or men who brutally Jtfjfed the girl from Cape, Rummy.

••- 7 ,■■'• -, ..-^■^•.•.•- --■-.--.< IT/HAT might have happened, or VV more Qorreotly not have happened, hid. this paper not taken up the attitude it did, is ha=rd_ to conjecture, but for the fact that, it i§ hardly likely that B>r. Murray, the pathologist, would, have enoquraged the childish assumption which..w as put forward m all seriousness by ,thase responsible for the detection of crime when the corpse was discovered.. It; was. Qutside the, bounds of possibility that such a thorough man as the doctor would have permitted such a supine line of action to be continuedMoreover, there is -still very sound argument to sustain the suggestion which this -paper ha§ put forward that there was a conspiracy of silence early m the affair which may not yet be. breaqhed. hut which there, is s,tro.ng reason to believe will be at an early date, and with, sensational, and pO g- r sibly dramatic disclosures, and action following fast on its heels, "Truth" has discovered since the . matter was last mentioned, m these columns that the mur<|ere.d girl had, food In some form after she left. Fapamoa, and though it may. not haye been substantial, it was something m 'the nature of a «T»e«l!i This opens up the question: "Where was that food obtained? Jt is possible that it. was taken from the Bayly's home at papamoa. by -'the man who drove the car, for it cannot be eon* ceded with any' sound reasoning that Elaie took the food herself, It has to be shoxvn that she was a willing party to the- motor tvip which led to the grave," and now, whatever may happen, it seetns improbable that should any man stand In the dock charged with her murder he will tell a true story of. the journey which ended at Fanmur©! That man will not atop at maJigminf oii|ii|ii!iiiiii!iMi|iiinm>iiHmii||iiii|Miiiiii!iiiui!!iiiiiii;iii!iii!i|i|iii;i|iiHi|«ni;i|iii

3 ... ,:.-...:,..,...... :,.,._ „-:,..•. .!.:.-!...;.;€ the girl he so brutally murdered.. He m.ay throw^as much blame as suits his defence upon her, though he WiU . he hard put to explain how. it- oame a^out that she rode m the car with, him tq travel to Auckland, dressed as Bhe, was. The last two weeks have oon, yinced this imper that ther^ is. a Uquble mystery behind tho of glsie Walk««>-^the mystery qf her rfe^th an^ the mystery underlying the singular reticence surrpunding certain phases pf the first and greater mystery. And both a^e intorlipked. . Without any attempt to exaggerate upon the knowledge which has been gained, m this caae. by "Truth" representatives there is . a real foundation

a.lso that any effort was. made t.p. trace her. ' ... ' . This waa a. ea_se, if ever- there was. one, when there ghould. ha.V© been a hue and cry through the medium, of the public press,. When at last the public, were tgid of the grisly discovery the facts were misleading. Not only were wrong times given, bi}t there were wrong de^ tails. Had this method been followed for the purpose of helping the detectives to pursue a quick and cle.vep a.rre§t, g,r with the, Burpoße; of leaving the su.BP e ct m the dark as i to their intended action., it would hay© been comp.rehens.ibie< hut this, as subsequent, events grove beyond all doubt, wag nqt, the c.ase,That peculiar, and significant, m.jisr.

More Than One Under Suspicion ■■■■ ' ■ ■ ■■• ■ • ■ - ■ .-,--..

for the supposition tha,t there are those who are m a position tp give gome very pertinent; facts as to the i V ctipns which led UR to that fatal night, and it ia m this regard that the amazing apathy of those m whose hands, the investigations rested \veeks agq is. so hai'd, to comprehendIt is not necessary to stvain the memory to recollect how the police circularized the 1 Public through the press when men or women have been missing for a bare, 24 hours from their homes m Auckland- Yet m this case l}J9ie, Walker was reported missing early; on Tuesday. October 3, and was sttii enshrouded m the cloak 'of Invisibility up to nearly sunaet on the F pulay f oHowing. when her body was discovered. But far reasons that the police can beat explain themselves the press wore not notified of her strange disappearance, and it has tQ be proved l||llll||ll|lll|ll!i((|t<ilUi(li(lM<i'Wiii'lll)'.'>l>'l'MI!lllil!)ll!ll|UI!IIIIIIIII|lll||UI|IK||ilii

representation will take some ej^pjainr ing. On the face of things^ It certain* ly bears out the contention that there was somehow, somewhere, a qonspiracy of silence, or as near silence as possible, a.nd that there j were those who had some reason m wishing to avoid what they considered undue publicity. "Truth's" representatives called on Inspector HoHis at the Auckland Cent tral gtHUon pn Friday, November 9, With a request to be told hPW fay the iuveatigation had. gone since the chiefs decided seriously to tackle the invests gation with the best brains available for the job, but they encountered' the usual barriev of solemn secrecy. The inspector would nqt even confide m them the name of the detective who was m the case m the pi^c.e o| iiniiiniiiiin|iiii(iiniim;\iii|iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiuiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimii'imiiiii

q. ...j, J . u^..j :.-.:. ....i .j....^..:.:... -n,.......^ j. ■■.,..:„.,- Beteojtlve-sejgeant Kelly. Neither hac he anything: to impart to the publip wh.o might, so far- as the inspector waj concerned, not even ejtjst., .&1I he would, say was that It would be prp.babjy a. month, before the Inquesi would be hejd. This, of course, wai not. ne.ws to the, "T^uth" inquirers, wtic ax*e xyeil aware that some inquests m this J3onUnlq.n We p,ostponed ad inflnjtuin, There is on record one inquest which was never completed so far as the press are aware, It would seem fch.a£ the policy of th« pplipe m some centres is to delay all inquests until it is possible to have the man charged wUh the crime present iv person. * The police have mpre than one man under suspicion m connection with Elsie Walker's death, and the.y hays fee®" parrying their field of enquiry to the pja.ce whepcg theglri'set out vyith her abductor, and possible murderer; The police officers- now on the case can be, depended upon to solve the mystery to the greatest possible, extent, and perhaps' break down that remarkable reticence which envelops pertain phases of a unique and hprriljile tragedy. Butonly by effecting an arrest, with sufflcient proof of guilt, will the busy tongue of rumor, m the Bay of Plenty be silenced once and for all, and rumor vile as it may be is as damning to the innocent as. it \§ dange rous to the guilty. It is obvious tha.t the. police do not intend to take the public into their cqnfldenqe until the inquest, or the ar^ rgst of one or more persons who may be implicated, and though there have been certain sensatiq.na.l little 'happen^ iiligs m more than one direction, it remains to be seen whether the present investigators can pick up a trail which time has to some extent, obliterated. IIII1I!1I»IN»I1I|I1III||I1))III)III)IIIIII!I!I!|IIIIMIIIIIIIII|[||IIII1IIII11I1IIIIIIIIIIIII.1IIII1 ; \1?