The Sun.
London, England, 1860-11-26 00:00:00

THE MISSING GARMENT.

It will be recollected that among the statements
volunteered before Mr. Saunders was one by Ser-
geant Watts, of the Somersetshire constabulary
(confirmed by some officers of the Wiltshire force),
to the effect that on Saturday, the 30th of June,
the day on which the murder was discovered, he
found a woman's night-shift stained with blood
secreted in the boiler hole of one of the kitchens
of Road-hill house. This garment was afterwards
handed to Mr. Superintendent Foley, who stated
that he was confirmed in his own opinion by that
of Mr. Stapleton, surgeon, that the marks of blood
proceeded from natural causes and had nothing
whatever to do with the murder, and acting on
that opinion he directed the shift teebe replaced, on
the following Monday, in the place where it was
found, whence it disappeared. It has now tran-
spired that up to the time of Mr. Saunders's inquiry
the fact of finding this shift has been kept a pro-
found secret by the police, and that Mr. Stapleton,
the surgeon, denies that any such garment was
ever shown to him. Mr. Stapleton states that the
only article of the kind which he inspected was
one belonging to the elder Miss Kent, which was
produced from her bedroom. The magistrates who
have pursued the investigation held a meeting at
the police-station, Trowbridge, on Thursday, at
which inquiries were made, from which it was as-
certained that the shift was found by Sergeant
*Watts -wrapped up in a brown paper parcel in the
boiler hole of the back kitchen, about five o'clock
on the afternoon of the day on which the murder
was discovered. There were large stains of blood
on it in the front and back. The fire in the boiler
was lighted by the cook about seven a.m., and let
out about nine o,clock, so that the shift must have
been secreted after the latter hour. The cook and
housemaid were interrogated for the first time on
the subject last week, and both denied any know-
ledge of it. An examination of their linen, and that
of some of the family was subsequently made.
That of the housemaid 'is said to be made in the
same way as the shift found in the firehole, but not
to correspond in length. The garments of the cook
and of Miss Constance Kent were not made in the
same way as the missing article. Miss Constance,
however, had a new set, and the washerwoman
described her old ones as being similar to the one
so strangely found, and which has so strangely dis-
appeared. Mr. Stapleton was confronted with Mr.
Superintendent Foley, and denied that the shift in
question was ever shown to him. The excuse of
Mr. Superintendent Foley for not communicating
the finding of the shift to the magistrates is that he
was ashamed to do so, feeling convinced that it was
not connected in anyway with the murder. The
bench are naturally annoyed at the ill judged re-
ticence of their officer, as they feel that the gar-
ment now missing might have afforded an impor-
tant clue to the discovery of the murder if properly
followed up at the time of its having been found ;
but that at a distance of nearly five months from
the commission of the crime, it is almost hopeless
now to-expect that any light will be thrown on the
matter by the disclosure which has been so tardily
and almost unexpectedly made. The circumstance of
the finding of the shift was not even mentioned to
Mr. Inspector Whicher while he was engaged in
the investigation of the case.