The Sun.
London, England, 1862-08-23 00:00:00

THE LONG-ACRE MYSTERY.

It was briefly stated in our yesterday's impression
that on Wednesday afternoon a man named Pye, a
drayman in the employ of Messrs. Combe and Dela-
field, of Castle-street, Long-acre, while standing at
one of the gateways of the tramway, observed a
man and woman walking in a stealthy way from
the direction of Langley-street, towards King-
street, on the left-hand side of Castle-street, under
the brewery wall. The man, who was a little in
advance of the woman, suddenly turned and made
a motion with his hand, as if by way of signal to
the latter, who thereupon immediately dropped a
somewhat bulky bundle which she was carrying.
Both then made off hurriedly, till they reached
Earl- street, where, or at the corner of King-street,
they were lost sight of. From Pye's description
the woman was about 30 years old, of middle sta-
ture, and wore a light dress, with a dark shawl,
while her companion was rather short, and dressed
in dark clothes. While Pye was looking towards
the bundle, which was wrapped up in a copy of
the News of the World, dated August 10, a good
many people collected, and before the bundle had
been opened Police-constable 56 F came up and
took possession of it, and conveyed it to the police
station in Bow-street, and upon being there exa-
mined its contents were found to be such as to lead
to a very decided suspicion that a murder had been
committed within a very recent period. It con-
tained a cotton shirt, with linen wristbands and
collar, a merino vest, or under shirt, a small white
cotton pocket handkerchief, a flock pillow in a
cotton tick, and a cotton pillow-case. The cotton
shirt was of good quality, such as might be worn
by a man moving in a respectable sphere of life,
and had evidently been worn with studs and sleeve
links. It appeared to have been worn about two
days ; its collars had been lengthened by a small
piece of tape, and was marked on the gusset "A. G.
1V.," the merino under shirt, which was also of
good quality, being marked "I. T. W., 12-58."
There were no holes or perforations in either to
show that their wearer had been stabbed or shot
in the body, but both were saturated with blood
three parts round the neck, over both shoulders,
and still more extensively behind, as if their wearer
had had his throat cut while lying on his back,
while both were ripped up in front and along the
sleeves, as if for the purpose of being easily removed
from a body stiff and rigid after death.
Then again it appeared as if one part of the cot-
ton shirt had been partly washed in an abortive
attempt to remove the blood, while a portion of the
merino vest was wanting the crisp and dark ap-
pearance of the edges round the hole, leading to the
inference that a similar abortive attempt had been
made to destroy it either by fire or some powerful
acid. There was also blood on the handkerchief,
and a considerable quantity on the pillow-case,
while the pillow itself, both tick and flock, had
absorbed a very considerable quantity of blood.
Perhaps a still more important fact is this—that
Mr.Langstone, acting as divisional surgeon at Bow-
street during the absence of Dr. Painter, and who
was immediately called in, found adhering to the
pillow-case a small piece of flesh, which he considers
to be human, and also a small piece of bone, or
rather cartilage. The pillow, pillow-case, and merino
shirt had a strong smell of opium, as if some of that
drug had been spilt upon them, or as if some had
flowed downwards from the mouth of the wearer of
the shirt while lying on the pillow; but the stains
of opium, if ever existing, must, of course, have
been obliterated by the great quantity of blood sub-
sequently flowing upon them.
Mr. Langstone, after two days' examination, is
decidedly of opinion that these articles are so many
evidences of a brutal murder, and Mr. Inspector
Mackenzie, of Bow -street, is of the same opinion—
an opinion in which most of the police autho-
rities concur, their theory being that some
gentleman, probably from the country, had
been enticed into one of the vile brothels lying
at the back of Long-acre or Drury-lane ; that
hs had there been drugged with opium, or,
rather, that an attempt had been made to drug him,
which was only partially successful, that he recovered
consciousness while being robbed ; that a scuffle
occurred, and that then, to put an end to his
struggles, and escape detection from without, his
assailants forcibly held him, and cut his throat
completely across. It is assumed that the murderers
did not destroy the articles by fire because flocks
and merino are only burnt with great difficulty, and
in burning give out a smell which is perceptible at
a very considerable distance, and this in such a case
might have led to unpleasant inquiries. To the ob-
jection that dropping such a bundle in a public
thoroughfare in open day is but a clumsy mode of
getting rid of it, the police reply that it is just
such a step as might be expected from the more
ignorant class of London thieves and prostitutes,
who seldom reason, and whose cunning usually ter-
minates in their own betrayal. On the other hand,
there are some who view the whole affair as a stupid
" sensation" hoax.