Who Killed Stella Pomeroy? Read Online Free PDF Page B

have been made by this hammer?” asked the coroner, holding up a hammer. Dr Green took the tool in his hand and weighed it.
    â€œYes sir, it may have been an implement like this.”
    There was corroborative evidence from Dr Leach. The coroner now called Divisional Detective Inspector Aitkin, who deposed to having made a detailed inspection of the bathroom and other parts of the little house.
    â€œDid you find evidence of there having been a struggle in the bathroom?” asked the coroner.
    â€œYes sir, there had been some kind of struggle just inside the door. The bath sponge, the brush and the bath mat had been kicked or pushed under the bath. It looked to me as if the woman had been standing when she received the blow, for blood had spurted up to the ceiling.”
    â€œYou found fingerprints?”
    â€œYes sir, some of them stained with blood.”
    â€œWhose were they?”
    â€œThose of Miles Pomeroy, the husband. I have brought his prints here for the jury to compare with photographs of the prints on the bathroom wall.”
    â€œDid you find any other prints in the bathroom?”
    â€œNo sir.”
    â€œThere were men’s bedroom slippers near the bath?”
    â€œYes sir, but Mr Pomeroy explained that his wife was in the habit of using his slippers when she went to her bath.”
    â€œDid you find any bloodstained clothes about the house or in the bathroom?”
    â€œYes sir, the deceased’s nightdress with only a splash or two was hanging on a hook behind the door, but her dressing gown drenched with blood was lying in a heap on the floor.”
    â€œYou found none of Mr Pomeroy’s clothes stained with blood?”
    â€œNo sir.”
    â€œNeither on the clothes he was wearing nor on any of his clothing in the house?”
    â€œOnly on the left sleeve of the coat he was wearing, which could have got there when he lifted the body.”
    â€œDid you notice any indications of there having been a robbery in the house?”
    â€œNo sir.”
    â€œOr any sign of breaking in?”
    â€œNo sir.”
    â€œThis hammer—where did you find it?”
    â€œSergeant Hammett found it at the bottom of the little ornamental pond. He got it out with a garden rake.”
    â€œDid you enquire whether any strangers had been seen near the house that morning?”
    â€œI did, sir, but without result.”
    â€œI understand that the bungalow is rather isolated from the other houses on the estate.”
    â€œYes sir, it stands quite alone and out of sight of the other houses.”
    â€œWhere was this coat found?” The coroner held up the bloodstained raincoat.
    â€œI found it rolled up in the undergrowth behind the bungalow which runs down to the public road.”
    â€œHad Miles Pomeroy a raincoat like this?”
    â€œNo sir. Mr Miles Pomeroy stated that he had had a coat like this, but that his wife had given it away about a fortnight ago.”
    The coroner now called Jane Trefusis, a vivacious-looking woman in the early thirties.
    â€œYou were one of the guests at a bridge party on the evening before Mrs Pomeroy met her death?”
    â€œI was.”
    â€œAnd you were playing at the same table?”
    â€œYes, we four ladies were playing at one table; we had drawn for partners, and it happened that way. The four men played at a separate table.”
    â€œThe deceased woman, Mrs Pomeroy, was your partner?”
    â€œNo, she was playing with Mrs Meadows.”
    â€œDid anything unusual happen during the game?”
    â€œYes. Mrs Meadows was losing. She said laughingly, ‘It’s this opal-and-diamond ring I’m wearing. I’ll take it off while I deal.’ She was in the middle of dealing when the electric light failed. When it came on again the ring had disappeared. Nobody had been near the table in the darkness except we four ladies. Our exclamations brought Mr Meadows over from the other table. He was much