from New Scotland Yard, but he has been so busy that we haven’t really had time to discuss my theory in detail so I thought I would write to you and then you can bring all the weight of your high office (!) to bear on the investigation.
It was really Sir John Counter who sowed the first seed of the idea in my head – purely by accident, you understand. You may know that he is a great sweet eater (much better than cigarettes, as we all know, but unfortunately he smokes as well). Usually he has special sweets sent to him from London but from time to time he buys half a pound (or even a pound) of jelly-babies. Not long ago in the drive I met him and he offered me the bag, saying ‘Let me give you a baby, Miss Frail!’ He always says this and it is his idea of a joke. (Sir John, in spite of coming from a very old family, is unnecessarily coarse at times, but I never let on that I know his words have a secondary meaning.) (He always calls me Miss Frail though, of course, he knows quite well what my real name is.)
On this occasion I refused his offer of a jelly-baby, saying with a laugh, ‘No, thank you, Sir John, they always make me feel like a cannibal! ! !’
When Juliet Rugg disappeared everybody seemed to be worried about the whereabouts of the body and I thought – remembering the jelly-babies – that a good way to get rid of a dead body (always a difficulty, I understand) would be to eat it!!
Purely by chance I had been reading one of my brother’s books on this very subject. It was written by a missionary to the Fiji Islands and naturally the cannibalism of those dreadful heathens played a large part in his memoirs. (I still have the book and would be pleased to lend it to you should you so desire.) (There is no need to let my brother know about it.) Now, this missionary, the Reverend Dr Augustine Browne, said that once people started eating human flesh, they came to prefer it above all other.
Well, you will appreciate, this gave me furiously to think!
I began looking at my neighbours with a critical eye. ‘Has this one,’ I asked myself, ‘ever eaten another human being?’
To my surprise, and horror (because Irlam Old Hall is really very select and well thought of in the district) I found that the answer in two cases was, YES! Two people had been in circumstances when, at the very least, they had the opportunity to eat human flesh.
And who are these people? You may well ask! They are Miss Eulalia Hoppold and Sergeant-Major Bondy!!
I will take the member of the fair sex first. Miss Hoppold is a noted woman explorer and has even appeared on television, though I have not seen her, and she has spent many years living with savage tribes and studying their habits. She has written at least three books about her adventures with tribes who practise cannibalism! Miss Hoppold is a very whole-hearted person and one who is eager for new and exciting experiences. Can we believe that she could resist the temptation to try a morsel of human flesh herself??
Then there is Sergeant-Major Bondy. Did you know that during the war a troopship on which he happened to be travelling was sunk (by the Japanese, I believe)? He and fourteen other of our Brave Boys were adrift for twenty-three days on an open raft. Only Sergeant-Major Bondy and one other survived!! ! I have questioned Mr Bondy several times about his experiences and his extreme reticence about how he survived this shipwreck strikes me, under the circumstances, as very suspicious! He admits they had no food, and only rainwater to drink. What other explanation can there be, except that to preserve his own life he ate some, or all, of his companions??
That is my theory! ! These two people have already tasted and enjoyed (!!) human flesh. The longing to repeat this terrible experience grew on them. Together they killed poor Juliet Rugg to satisfy their vile desires! I have, of course, no proof but I feel sure that you can convince Chief Inspector Lover that it is worth investigating further. Since formulating my theory I have kept a careful eye on my two suspects. In my opinion they are studiously avoiding any contact with each other – a well-known habit of malefactors hoping to avoid suspicion until the heat dies down! Miss Hoppold and Mr Bondy have not, to the best of my knowledge, exchanged one word since the disappearance of the unfortunate Juliet Rugg. What do you think of that??
Only this afternoon Miss Hoppold told Colonel Bing (one of my neighbours up here) that she had a nice large bone which might be suitable for Peregrine (Colonel Bing’s white miniature poodle-a charming little chap). Colonel Bing asked if it was the kind that splintered and Miss Hoppold said, NO!!
As a single woman living (for all practical purposes) alone, my suspicions were aroused immediately! Single women just do not buy large joints of meat containing unsplinterable bones, and Miss Hoppold (although I know for a fact she is a married woman) is living alone. This is a clue which Chief Inspector Lover as a man may well have overlooked! It is true Miss Hoppold from time to time takes her meals with Mr Bogolepov (another of my neighbours), but that young man appears to obtain most of his nourishment out of bottles (!) and I am sure has never sat down to what I call a square meal for years.
I shall endeavour, tactfully, to obtain this bone from Colonel Bing (or Peregrine!) and, if I am successful, I will send it to you for
