THE DARK SECRET

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LI, Issue 228, 19 September 1908, Page 4

THE DARK SECRET

ißy Geo. K. Minis.) ftliss Camille Holland, au elderly lady rather eccentric, and poised 0 f private means, had not communicated with her relatives since the spring of 18UU it was known that at the period she was living- at a lonely farm, which she had purchased, at Quemlon, near t'hivering, in Essex, known as the Moat l'arni, and that there was living at the Moat Farm at the same time a man .1 iiftv-six, muned Samuel Herbert .Dougtll, who looked after the ranu for her. "in the neighbourhood it was understood ai this period thai the pair were husband and wife, and as "Mrs. Dougal*' the lady was addresseu by the people about the place. On the night of May lllth, IS!)!), Miss Holland was driveu from the farm in a trap by Dougal. He came back later on alone, and informed the servant that her mistress had gone to Loudon.

A STR-AXtiE 1)IS *VPFFARAX('E. The mistress never returned, but Dougal remained at the farm, worked ;t, paid the men's wages, and seemed to have plenty of money. (Soon after the disappearance of M ; ss Holland the servant left, and then a new mistress arrived. This lady, who was at first supposed to be Mr jjottgal's widowed daughter, was really his wife. 'She was a <jualilied professional nurse, and. after a short residence at the farm, she left--presumably io continui her professional career. in l!)(>2 it was evident that husband and wife were not friendly, for Dougal petitioned for a divorce, and obtained a decree, which was afterwards rescinded by the King's Proctor.

Early in 190, i the relatives of Miss Holland, having ascertained that hei property was being dealt with, and unable to obtain any information as to her whereabouts, put the matter in the hands of the police, and Superintendent Prylke, of the local force, called upon Dougal at the Moat Farm, ami asked him if he could give any information which would assist her relatives iu ascertaining the lady's present where abouts. Dongal replied that he had last seen Miss Holland about three years # previously, -when he had driven her from the farm to the railway station. She took two trunks with her. lie saw her into the train, and he had not seen her since.

WHERE WAS MISS HOLLAND? The superintendent, having hinted that there was an idea that the lady was under restraint in the house, thanked Mr Dougal, and drove away. The story was not found to tally with facts that iiad been ascertained elsewhere. Miss Holland's bankers had apparently signed by her, and had remitted the money to her at the Moat Farm. Miss Holland was, therefore, apparently still transacting 'business from the Moat Farm. Letter s signed by her had been sent to stockbrokers, authorising them to sell shares and stocks standing in her name. It was evident to the police and to the relatives that Mr \Samuel Herbert Dougal, now in possession of the Moai Farm, was not telling all he knew, and a. decision was arrived at as to the next step to be taken. Dougal had from time to time paid sums of money to an account he had opened at the Birkbeek liank. Soon after the. visit of Superintendent I'ryke he presented a big cheque, and drew out nearly the whole of the amount in notes.

"WANTED"—DOUGAL. The 'police inquiries which were being made concerning Miss Holland led them to investigate her financial affairs rather closely, and a certain cheque was obtained which, purporting to be signed by Miss Holland, was declared by her relatives to be a forgery. The proceeds of this cheque were traced to Dougal, ajid it was determined that he should be arrested. But after cashing his own cheque at the Birkbeek, Dougal had disappeared. He had drawn out a large sum in banknotes. He would probably change these notes. The numbers were obtained, and the notes were "stopped." Oil the afternoon of .March, 18th, 11(03, a man presented some of these notes over the counter at the Bank of England and asked for gold. The cashier took the notes, but, instead of handing over the money for them, he communicated with a detective on duty at the Bank, and tlq. detective informed the presenter of the notes that they were the proceeds of a forgery, and invited him to go to the police statio i, where he would have an opportunity of entering into explanations.

. A DASH FOR UISHRTY. The man went quietly enough. lint 11 till' street lie suddenly took to his lice's and mn away, making 11 wild dash along Cheapside. lie rail into a cul-de-sac, was caught, and was then formally charged with being one Samuel Herbert Dougal, suspected of having obtained money liv forging the signature of a lady who had been missing for four years—a Hiss Camille Holland, whose last known address was the Moat Farm House, (.'layering, Essex. The fact that Dougal had declared that he had not seen Miss Holland since May, 180!), and had not heard from her onee between that period and March 4th, 1903, and yet had been dealing with cheques to which her name had been forged, pointed to the prooaliilitv of a far graver charge than that of forgery being eventually brought against the .prisoner. The Essex police had noL been idle. They had made a good many inquiries, and had ascertained that the lady who went to the Moat Farm after the disappearance of Mis s Holland had, prior to the disappearance, been living in a cottage some two miles distant from the farm, where she had frequently been visited by Dougal. THE SEARCH ON THE FARM.

AVlien, aftor Dougal's arrest, the dwelling-house of the farm was searched, some truiik s were found there, and they contained dresses of Miss Holland's. A young woman who had been employed at the farm came forward with the statement that she had altered a number of dresses that were in the the hotiM' lu lit "the new mistress." The trunks and the dresses, it was ascertained, were undoubtedly left behind by -Miss Holland on the night that Dougal drove her "to the railway-station." In Dougal's possession were, also found two pieces of jewellery which Miss Holland was seen to be wearing oil the day of her mysterious departure. One was a mail's finger-ring, and the other was a ginall cross. In what circumstances, it was asked, would Miss Holland, who had always shown herself a shrewd lady of business, remain away for nearly four years, allowing her cheques to be disposed of by Dougal, and leaving her trunks, her dresses, and her jewellery behind her ,t the farm? THE MISSINCi LADY.

The evidence given at the police-court at 'Safl'ron Walden, wliere Dongal was charged with the forgery, made that part of the case a very simple one. A nephew of Miss Holland's swore positively that the signature on the cheque shown him was not that of his aunt, and the manager of the Birkbeck Bank, where Dongal 'kept, his account, proved that the .signatures ot' the witnesses to eertiiin documents on which the forged name of Camille Holland appeared were in the handwriting of the prisoner. But the police did not overburden the Court with evidence. They asked for a remand. They had Samuel Herbert Dougal in safe custody, and they wished to devote their attention entirely to ascertaining the fate of the missing lady. On the evening of May li)th, 18!)!), Miss Holland had said to the servant: "I'm going shopping; I shan't he long." That was at half-past six. About half-past eight Dongal had returned alone, and told the girl he had driven her mistress to Stanstead Station. ami she had g°ne to London. She was coming back that uighL

But mi oiie had seen Miss Holland at the station that evening. And from that, hour no one had. as 'far as could hp ascertained, seen her or heard from her.

DHAINTXfi Till-: MOAT. The police theorv was that the Moat Farm held the secret- of Miss Holland's disappearance, and to the Moat I'arni they now turned their atleniion. But: the house and the outbuildings revealed nothing. It was decided that the land around the farm should be searched. The moat was drained, but there were no traces of the missing woman there. Then th,. laud around the farm was marked out in sections, and every day. under the direction of the noliee, labourers dug down into the soil; but the. dicing was in vain. 1 The searching and digirinu'. which be-1 gan direetlv after the arrest of Doulml on March 18th. went on day after day, for weeks, and at last the idea began to get abroad that the police were on the wrong tr* -k. and that the Moat Farm eoncon'eo no victitu. But on Mondnv, April 27th. some men were *et to work 011 an old ditch vhieh had been filled early in ISA!) by DousMl's orders. U was just after this ditch

had been fillod ;n that Miss Holland dis- j appeared. After the disappearance, Dougal had planted some new trees n this spot. U was while digging by the new trees that one of the labourers, who had been breaking the ground with a lork, brought up on the end of his fork a lady's boot. In the boot was a human foot.

XHic SCHIST REVEALED. Irom that moment spade-work ceased The men took the soil carefully away with their hands, and presently the body oi a woman fully dressed, was revealed to the light of day. The Moat Farm had given up its dark secret at last. The body of Camille Holland hud been found. 'J ha I was the-news that ran like wildfire through the neighbourhood, and was Hashed to l»oudon and to every provincial t .ity, for the whole kingdom had, been standing around the Moat Farm, and waiting eagerly for the lii'st signs of the clue to tho fate of the long-lost lady. "Miss Holland's body has been found buried in the Moat Farm, She had been murdered. There was a bulletwound in the skull.''

'J hat is how the news was passed from lip to lip; but, beyond the fact that a bullet-wound behind the ear had been, found on the body, and that the body was that of a woman, there was nothing deiinite lor the law to sa\. There was as vet no proof that the body was that of Miss Holland, and no proof jlial the wound, that had undoubtedly been the caus t . of death, had been indieted. by the man -who was in custody tor forging the missing lady's name. The features were unrecognisable. The expert# certilied that the body had be»n where it was found for three or four years. Hut there was certain evidence in that nuconsecrated grave which did lead to identilieation. Miss Holhind, previous to the taking of the Moat Farm, had had rooms in tho house of a ALrs. Wiskin, at Saffron Walden. Mis, Wiskin had obtained a fnll knowledge of tho articles of clothing in the possession of her lodger. She identified the skirt and the bodice found on the body by some braid which she—the witness —had actually sewn on to it herself,

(J 1R UI j MtST A X TIA L EVIDENCE. Mis ti Holland had, been in the habit of wearing a .peculiar wire frame, on which false hair was lixed. This frame was found on the skull of the woman who had been shot down and so unceremoniously buried. The bullet which had been found m the skull was produced by Dr. Pepper, and the witness who followed—a smart girl, formerly employed at the farmproved that at tho time of Miss Holland's disappearance Dougal had a revolver in his possession. The coroner's jury found a verdict of "Wilful murder" against the prisoner, and he was committed for trial. On. May lith, 1003, the Iwdy of Camille Holland was buried in S'uJfron Walden churchyard—just upon four years after she had been so foully murdered. The trial of Dougal, at Chelmsford, lasted only two days. On June 23rd, ho was found guilty, and sentenced to death. There was very little doubt as to the identity of the Iwxly found. Of actual proof that Dougal was the murderer there was none. But the circumstantial evidence was overwhelming. Dougal had left the farmhouse "wth Miss Holland on the last night she was ever seen. H ( » had returned without hor, and two days later had brought his real wife to live at the farm. And from that moment lie had begun to dispose of Miss Holland's property, and to obtain possession of her money by forging her name.

TIIH lAST REQUEST. Tiie condemned rami's lust request, was a strange one. He hart been a soldier, and 111' desired . that a petition should lie sent to the King, praying that ho might 110 L lie hanged, but shot. On the .ten Hold, when the drop was about to fall, the officiating clergyman asked him, in a loud voice, if he was guilty or not. The word "(iuilty" is stated to have been the reply; but the same dispute arose as to the actual word used as followed the confession at the last moment attributed to Muller, the mtu'denr of Mr. lirijigs on the Xortli London ■Railway. In each case the reply to the exhortation of the clergyman was gasped out almost at the second that the drop fell. But. confession or no confession,, Samuel Herbert Dougal went to his righteous doom for a crime which the earth hid for four long years. Ilow did the murderer pass those years? , He remained at the Moat Farm for a long time with his wife. Then his wife' left him. ami he advertised ■•Farmhouse Apartments" in a railway guide, and received inlying guests during tile summer and autumn months. Terror-stricken though he was :u times when at home, he was nervous when luvnv. He was always in deadly fear that someone might disturb the earth that hid the (lurk secret of the lonely farm. A STIIANGE LETTER.

The Mrs. Dougal whom he attempted to divorce, vas professionally employed as a nurse, and was known as Nurse White. Among the letters of Dougal in my possession, there is a very curious one. Ho writes from the Moat Farm in 11102 to the matron of an asylum oil behalf of Nurse White, for whom he is anxious to obtain a post. Mrs. Dougal was a. nurse oil the stall' of the asylum at Maidstone when she heard that her husband was charged with the murder of Miss Holland, and she went to the farm to claim certain things that were her property.

There was very little that was human in the better significance of the word about Dougal. He was a born adventurer ot the worst type, and he planned the murder of his victim from the moment he found that he had not sufficient influence over her to get her fortune into his hands while she lived. lie had her grave dug while she was alive, anil she looked on and saw it made. Till! DITCH-GiIAVE. lie was having a (litch "filled in." But the tilliiig-in with loose earth was done that he might the more easily bury his victim when he had killed her m the grounds, as lie had fully made up his mind to ilo. He carried the loaded revolver with him for days, waiting'the opportunity uf using it. He shot Miss Holland in the coach-house after he had driven in with her on the night of May lft hj, and he left the body there till the servant had gone to bed. Then he went out, and put his victim in the loose earth of the filled-in ditch, pressing it over her again, and afterwards planting trees over the spot, to prevent any chaneo digging at the spot by one of I his farm-hands.

The human note of the tragedy is furnished by the victim. She was a woman of great refinement, an artist, and a skilled musician. &hc met Dougal late in life, and was 'fascinated by him, and, at his instigation, took the lonely farmhouse, and entrusted him with its management. Till' FATAL RTNfi. She was a woman who, iu her youth, bad been disappointed in love. She had been engaged to a young naval officer. He was drowned by the upsetting of a yacht, and the ring that was taken from his finger was sent to his relatives, and afterwards given to Miss Holland as a memento of her lost love.

She wore that ring till the very day .of her death. Dougal took it from her dead hand. Tt was to by the most damning piece of evidence against him, for it proved that his story that he had parted with her alive was untrue. The ring that Camille Holland had worn all her life in memory of the Inst love of her youth helped to bring to the sea Mold tlie villain who murdered her in her old age.