on knocked down, and then shot? There
‘re no signs of a struggle, no bruises or
ts on the dead man’s hands. What was
> motive for the crime? In fact, who was
> deceased?

Lister liked knotty problems and this was
e after his own heart. His years on the
-ce had taught him method, so methodic-
y he laid his plans. First he communicated
th his: chief, Superintendent Fred S.
issey, at Victoria, and explained the situ-
on. Hussey, veteran man-hunter himself,
omptly assigned Const. W. R. Atkins,
e of the best men at headquarters, to
yncouver to assist. Chief Lister called
two of his own men, Const. J. B. Mar-
ette from Mission City and Const. Colin
Campbell (later to command the force)
om Vancouver.

Under Lister’s direction, each police
fcer was assigned a distinct phase of the
vestigation, to report daily every scrap of
formation that could-be gleaned regarding
e dead man’s identity, associates, etc.

SEARCHING ENQUIRIES AROUND CITY

First enquiry was at the drug firm of
rifiths & McPherson on Cordova Street.
>s, they had sold a box of rat poison pellets
the bearded deceased on April 8th. The
ndkerchiefs bearing the name “J. Bray”
ere a distinct clue, and it was soon found
at a man bearing this name had been ad-
itted to the Vancouver city lockup on the
‘nd of March—a month previous. No
arge had been laid against him, he had

WHEN IN SIDNEY CALL AT

BAAL’S DRUG STORE

For Local Souvenirs, Stationery, Photo
Finishing, and a full stock of Medicines
and Drug Sundries.

BEACON AVENUE SIDNEY, B.C.

ALADDIN CAFE
MRS. F. WHITTAKER, Proprietress
Where Good Food Is Unexcelled

Home Cooking and Home-Made Pies
; Our Specialty

British Columbia

SIDNEY

MARY’S COFFEE
BAR

HAROLD B. THOMPSON, Proprietor

Lunches and Short Orders
®

Opposite R.A.F. Station
Sidney, B.C.

HIRTEENTH EDITION

merely been brought in for safe keeping
suffering from a head wound which he said
he had received at the hands of two hold-up
men. Four days later, the record showed,
he had been transferred to a Vancouver
hospital. In the hospital he told the same
story about the hold-up men, and after a
ten-day stay was well enough to be dis-
charged. Then one of Lister’s assistants
discovered that Bray had been staying at
the City Hotel. When he was discharged
from the hospital, Bray had gone back to
the City Hotel where he had left a trunk
and two valises as security for his hotel bill.
When he left the hospital he had picked
up one of the valises and promised to come
back and pay his bill in a day or two.

_ Checking hard on the story of the head
injury, Const. Atkins found the doctor
who had examined Bray prior to his admis-
sion to the lockup. The doctor told the
constable that he thought at the time that
Bray's injuries “looked suspiciously like
bullet wounds,” but Bray denied it. Could
it be, thought Lister, that Bray had been
shot in the head and walked around for
weeks—no, the thing was absurd. A bullet
in the brain caused quick death every time.
Continuing their enquiries, Const. Mar-
quette found a man named Morgan who
had spoken to Bray on the 20th of March,
the day of the alleged holdup and assault.
Bray had told Morgan about the holdup
and said he had been robbed of $2.75, but
the thieves overlooked $20 in another
pocket. Morgan asked Bray if he ever
carried a gun, and Bray said he had never
owned one. If he had had one that night,
he said he sure would have used it. Back
at the City Hotel, Const. Marquette checked
further on Bray’s residence, and then dis-
covered that the dead man’s statement about
never having a gun was false. The night
previous to the alleged holdup Bray had
been very drunk in the hotel and the mana-
ger had taken a revolver from him and $15
in cash. The gun and money were returned
to Bray the next morning.

So Bray had a pistol in his possession on
the day he met with the head injury. And
further confirmation was the statement of
a former room-mate of Bray who said that
the dead man always slept with a gun beside
him, especially when he had been drinking.
The gun was described as a small bull-dog
type revolver with a short barrel. In their
enquiries the police were also establishing
another fact; that Bray was a very heavy
drinker.

AMAZING DISCOVERY

Next Lister and Atkins took Bray’s trunk
from the City Hotel to Provincial Police
headquarters. Among the effects was a
bloodstained handkerchief, folded as if it
had been used as a compress. Unfolded
the handkerchief revealed two holes. Dr.
Kirker, a prominent pathologist, was called
in, declared the holes were bullet holes.
Powder burns confirmed the statement.

Swiftly the police were getting a clearer
picture of the whole affair.

The most important discovery” was then
made by Const. Campbell. He had found
a cabin occupied by Bray before he stayed

at the City Hotel. The cheap bed and
meagre furniture were exactly as Bray had
left them, and stains on the wall and a large
stain on the floor were identified as blood by
Dr. Kirker. Piecing the evidence together,
it was clear that this was where Bray had
first attempted suicide by shooting himself
in the head, and miraculously survived. He
had placed a handkerchief around his head
to stop the bleeding, waited awhile, then
shot himself again, this time through the
handkerchief. Neighbouring shacks were
vacant at the time, hence no one was aroused
by the pistol shots. Failing in the suicide
attempt, Bray had concocted the story he
had told the Vancouver Police, the doctor
who dressed his head and the hospital at-
tendants. And none of them had realized
that the man they were talking to had three
bullets in his head!

Next the stomach and intestines of the
dead man were given to Dr. Fagan, Domin-
ion Analyst at New Westminster who
found just over a grain of sulphide of
arsenic in the stomach. In addition he found
a quantity of masticated wood and even
broken glass one piece as large as a twenty-
five cent piece!

It was clear now that Bray on his dis-
charge from the hospital on April 8th, still
bent on suicide, had purchased the rat
poison pellets, picked up his valise from the
City Hotel and headed for South Van-
couver. His movements, after leaving the
City Hotel on the 8th, couldn’t be traced,
but it was clear that he had been living in
the woods near the McRorie ranch. The
valise was never found although a reward
was offered for its recovery. In all proba-
bility Bray cached it in the bush or destroyed
it. It most certainly contained further
proof of his suicide attempt, the weapon he
used and, no doubt, further clues as to his
real identity.

So ended the amazing case of John Bray,
the man who lived for a month with three
bullets in his head, and finally died—by

poison.

TRAFFIC Constable: “Didn't you see me
wave my hand, Miss?”

Miss: “Well, I waved back, didn’t I?”

THE POLLYANNA STORE

E. Brownsey, Proprietor
ICE CREAM and CONFECTIONERY
POST OFFICE

Phone 6-Q Sooke, B. C.

CLIFF’S HOT DOG STAND

HOT DOGS, SANDWICHES, SOFT DRINKS,
TOBACCOS and CIGARETTES

*
SOOKE, B.C.

Page Fifteen