ee

and the next two or three days were
crowded with enquiries by the police forces
of Northern England and Southern Scot-
land. While the enquiries were being ex-
pedited, photographs of the child’s garment
in which one of the heads was found, and
of the blouse in which the other head was
wrapped, were published in the press in an
endeavour to locate any person able to
identify them. Strangely enough, Mrs.
Rogerson, stepmother of the missing girl
supplied the answer. She reported to the
police that she had purchased a blouse at a
“rummage sale” which she found had a
small hole under one arm. After patching
the hole she had laundered the garment and
given it to Mary. The last she heard of the
blouse was when Mary took it home to No.
2 Dalton Square. Besides this, Mrs. Roger’
son supplied the lead which definitely
identified the child’s rompers. She told
police that a Mrs. Holme with whom the
Ruxton’s had spent a holiday as paying
guests, had given Mary some children’s
clothing for the youngsters. Acting on this
clue it was not long before Mrs. Holme at

Settle, Grange-over-Sands, was being shown °

the little garment. She at once said “Yes,
these are the rompers I gave to Mary
Rogerson for the Ruxton children. See,
look at the knot in the elastic, it is my own
peculiar way of tying a knot”. This, and
the girl’s description left little doubt in the
minds of the investigating officers that the
case was very close to solution. However,
there were a number of loose ends which
had to be followed and for the next two
days these were being picked up one at a
time drawing the net of circumstances ever
closer around the suspect.

Meantime, Dr. Ruxton had made a
hurried trip to Edinburgh to see his sister-
in-law Mrs. Nelson in an effort to locate his
wife according to his story. On his return
to Lancaster, he was met by Detective
Inspector Clark of the Lancaster Police at
Castle Railway Station. It was 3.50 a.m.
October 10th, 1935 and the Inspector
offered to drive the doctor home. On the

‘ way the doctor poured out a story of faith-

lessness on the part of his wife. He told
the Inspector that he had followed her to
Edinburgh one weekend, and that she had
stayed at the Adelphi Hotel with Bobbie
Edmondson. He failed, however to men-
tion that the rest of the Edmondson family
had been in the party. He added that the
two of them had registered as Mr. and
Mrs. Ruxton. He then told the Inspector
about having had an accident at a place
called Kendal when he struck a cyclist but
asserted that he had been on the way back
from Settle where he had gone with his
little boy. This appeared strange to the
Inspector as Kendal is in a different direc-
tion. Later this point was to count.

THE Doctor Is SUSPECTED

The evening of the same day Dr. Ruxton
called at the Police Station in the Town
Hall, and asserted that his name had been
mentioned in connection with remains
found at Moffat. To Detective Constable
Winstanley he snapped: “Winstanley, all

Page Ten

this dammed nonsense is ruining my
practice. Can nothing be done to stop this
talk?” He went on discussing the absence
of his wife and repeated statements he had
made on an earlier visit to the police station
to the effect that his wife had gone away
on Sunday, September 15th, 1935 with the
maid. They had gone to Edinburgh, he
said, and complained that his wife could
have no love for her children as she had not
even written to them. He also stated that
she had left a number of unpaid bills behind
which he had to meet. He had also
suggested that mail addressed to Edmondson
should be intercepted as he thought the
latter knew the present whereabouts of his
wife. In one fit of temper, he banged his
fist on the police station desk and said “The
tlighter, I could murder him”. Winstanley
then asked Dr. Ruxton if he would care to
give a description of his wife for circulation
as a missing person. This he consented to
do and signed it in the presence of the
officers. It reads as follows:—

Buck Ruxton says; I am a medical
practitioner and I reside at 2 Dalton
Square, Lancaster. The following-is a
description of my wife; Name, Isabella
Ruxton, 35 years, about five foot five
inches or five foot six inches, well built,
fair hair, bridge of nose uneven. Three
false teeth left upper jaw, gold clip
shows when smiling. Fair complexion.
Dressed in cream silk blouse, light
brown small check coat, and_ skirt,
suede shoes, dark brown colour, and
had a V-shaped ring on forefinger of
left hand. Speaks with strong Scots
accent. “ I would like discreet inquiries
made by the police with a view to
finding my wife. She left home on
Sunday the 15th of September, 1935,
and I have not seen her since. Signed
“B. Ruxton”.

Detective Winstanley then suggested
that the doctor might want to give him a
picture of his wife to aid in tracing her.
The doctor willingly supplied the picture.

Ruxton visited the police station on
several occasions, and on October 11th he
complained that the publicity was ruining
his practice. He was asked on one of his
vis'ts if he had given any carpets away from
his house. He replied that some of the old
worn out carpets had been donated to his
servants. He again explained about his
wife going away on September 15th with
the maid, but that he had not seen them
leave the house, therefore could not tell how
much luggage they had taken with ‘them.
Captain Vann, Chief Constable of Lan-
caster was given authority by Dr. Ruxton
to publish Mrs. Ruxton’s photograph. Later
he passionately denounced the newspaper
reports on the Moffat case. Again his
practice was in jeopardy and further accusa-
tions were made against Bobbie Edmondson.
At this stage Ruxton became hysterical and
wept and raved, but after a while he calmed
down a little and asked if a statement could
not be published to the effect that the
disappearance of his wife and maid had no
relation to the “Ravine Murders”. The

Chief Constable tactfully told him that he
would be glad to publish such a statement
as soon as he felt justified in doing go,

Doctor CHARGED WITH CRIME

At 9.30 p.m. October 12th, 1935 a police.
summons came from Captain Vann to
Doctor Ruxton. Would the doctor please
come down to the police station? Various
police officers were in the Chief Core es
office awaiting the doctor. Several forces
were represented. The moment was
dramatic. Dr. Ruxton was asked if he
would assist in locating his wife and maid,
and whether he would give a statement of
his movements between September 14th
and September 30th. Dr. Ruxton readily
agreed and pulled out of his pocket a
document entitled “My Movements’, which.
he had already prepared against such a
contingency. However this was not all the
officers desired. He was warned in the
usual manner and his statement was taken
down and transcribed as he went on. By
the time he had read the typewritten state-
ment it was 5 a.m. on October 13th. He
signed it, and then expressed a desire to go
home, but after a short delay further
questions were put to him and at 7.20 a.m.
he was formally arrested and charged with
the murder of Mary Rogerson. Thus began
one of the most famous cases in the annals
of English Criminal Courts. While the
police had painstakingly assembled a mass
of evidence against Doctor Ruxton, there
were still many points to be covered before
the Crown’s case was complete.

Just 28 days had elapsed from the time
the murders were estimated to have been
committed until an arrest was made, and
this in one of the most baffling cases on
record. It was a dazzling example of the
result of perfect teamwork between scientist

and investigator.

Doctor Ruxton appeared in the
Borough of Lancaster Police Court on
October 14th and was formally charged
with murdering Mary Rogerson. He was
kept in close custody and the case was re’
manded from time to time. On November
Sth, 1935, he was also charged with the
murder of Isabella Ruxton. Further re’
mands were obtained till November 26th,
when the preliminary enquiry was com
menced and evidence called. The enquiry
lasted till December 13th, but evidence was
taken on twelve separate days. Ruxton
was then committed to the Manchester
Assize for trial. While it may seem strange
that the Crown should delay calling
evidence for about six weeks, it must be
realized that much of the work had to be
done after Dr. Ruxton was arrested. The
experts had worked unceasingly from the
time the remains were found till the middle
of November, when they had to prepare
the lengthy reports. Then, of course, there
was the gathering of evidence from the
house at No. 2 Dalton Square which had
to be fitted into the jig-saw puzzle of this
bizarre case. Many of the townsfolk in
Lancaster who had known Dr. Ruxton had
to be interviewed in checking the story he

THE SHOULDER STRAP