CARIBOO SALES & SERVAGE lag: Dodge - De Soto Cars - Dodge Trucks t -) PHONE 35 QUESNEL BRITISH COLUMBIA Barkerville Stage Lines H. B. Tuffley DAILY SERVICE CHARTER BUS SERVICE - TAXI Quesnel, Wells and Barkerville, B.C. PEGE GAICAGE INTERNATIONAL TRUCKS DEALER SALES AND SERVICE a6 PHONE 32R3 QUESNEL Johnston Bros. Garage GENERAL MOTORS PRODUCTS Complete Automotive Service Wrecker Service QUESNEL, B.C. WELLS, B.C. Stage Lunch Counter TRY OUR COFFEE, SANDWICHES AND LIGHT LUNCHES We Appreciate Your Patronage QUESNEL British Columbia Northern Light Service Tires - Batteries - Accessories Washing - Lubrication STANDARD OIL PRODUCTS QUESNEL B.C. | With Compliments to The B.C. Police F. F. Donnelley C. Knowles ® QUESNEL Page One Hundred and Six Vide Manslaughter, Svaae ot Vite eee CH. SUPT. H. S. KEMBLE In the Police Chronicle and Constabulary World. DOES IT, I wonder, always oc- cur to us that whenever we are called to any place where a dead body lies, the cause of death is one of murder, manslaughter, suicide, or that 1t may be natural. It is easy, fatally easy, to suppose that death is normal. In ninety-nine cases out of a hundred it is so, but we must never overlook the one chance when it may be other- wise; it is possible to lapse though. A woman who was living apart from her husband by mutual agree- ment, but they sometimes saw each other, was one Monday morning found dead in the sitting room she occupied on the first floor of a subur- ban hotel in a small town. The head was near the fireplace and the feet pointing towards the door. The body was lying face downwards, slightly inclined to the left side. there was nothing indicative of violence except a nasty laceration above the bridge of the nose. The woman had not been seen for about three days and the medical man who was called esti- mated that death had taken place about that time. The door of the room was locked and the key was on the inside. but the sash window was open at the too. On a coffee table was a tumbler which gave off a slight smell of dis- infectant. The doctor was unable from his superficial examination, to find the cause of death, and he was troubled about the wound I have described. The atmosphere of suspicion was in- tensified because the deceased’s hus- band drank heavily. and frequently when they met they auarrelled fur- iously, and residents of the hotel had intervened to save her from harm. The room was subjected to a thor- ough examination by an investigator who—and this was important — found a few small spots of what looked like congealed blood on the He scraped top edge of the fender. Beath Motors Ltd. Ford and Monarch Sales and Service Body and Fender Repairs - Shell Oil Products - Firestone Tires Call Our Wrecker Service Day or Night QUESNEL BRITISH COLUMBIA this off and placed it in a test tube. The tumbler, on the table, was also taken away. | A post mortem examination fol-. lowed, by order of the local coroner, and the contents of the stomach were handed to the analyst for tests, to- gether with the stains taken from the fender, and the tumbler. The result of his research disclosed Lysol in the stomach, and a reaction to a Ly- sol test in the small amount of liquid in the tumbler. The scrapings were human blood. With this concrete intelligence it was reasonable to re- construct the incident as follows: Deceased had decided upon suicide, she had drunk Lysol and fallen, strik- ing her nose on the fender edge. The body had then rolled slightly and this resulted in the corpse being found in the position described. This hy- pothesis was strengthened by evidence from the husband and a friend who was present on the previous Friday evening. Deceased had appealed for a reconciliation and for the home to be got together, so that they could live a normal married life. The hus- band, who was a hardened rake, refused; thus the unfortunate woman was desperate and died by her own hand and intention. We must avoid the erroneous opinion that murder is always dealt with by the C.I.D. It is by no means unusual for a constable to be the first on the scene, and if he cannot cope competently with the situation it is discomforting to him and damaging to the course of the inquiry. About eight years ago a constable on night duty was patrolling in a town about 2:30 a.m. when suddenly a man rushed from a house, “I’ve killed my wife and children, policeman: lock me up. Imagine that moment, a thousand thoughts doubtless passed through the patrolman’s head: “‘Had the man killed anyone? was he a lunatic? how had he killed them? or may they still DEW DROP INN Ke @ Sandwich Bar @ Soda Fountain Service Bx QUESNEL B.C. THE SHOULDER STRAP