ELSIE WALKER MYSTERY

Greymouth Evening Star, 29 August 1929, Page 3

ELSIE WALKER MYSTERY

MRS. LANGDON'S STATEMENT.

(Special to “Star.”)

AUCKLAND, August 28. 9 In view of the increasing interest in ’• the Elsie Walker mystery, and the i- orowing public feeling that the matter » should be the subject of further m- = quiry, a “Star” representative, to-day, , interviewed Mrs. Langdon, sister of '• Mrs Thomason, who it may be recall ■ od was on the train from Tauranga to t Tepuke on the evening of October 1. f It was Mrs. Langdon who claimsto 1 have first caught sight of Bill Bayly r on the train that night, and who calll ed her sister’s attention to his pres--3 ence there. „ J Mrs. Langdon told the Star . rer porter that she and her sister joined r the Tepuke train at Tauranga, where 3 they had been spending the day. She • was sitting with her back to the en- > gine, and her sister was opposite. It f was 5 o’clock when the train le r Tauranga and quite light. She does » not know at what stage of the journey ■ it occurred, but the guard passing through the train opened the door of - a small compartment between the carr riages. Several people .happened to • get into the compartment at the same j time, and there was a jam. It was - then that she caught sight of Bill Ba,y- • ly. She was quite certain it was Bill - Bayly. She remarked to her sister, , Mrs. Thomason, “There is Bill Bayly,” - or words to that effect. Mrs. Thomason, who was present at l to-day’s interview, interjected that ' when her sister drew her attention to i Bill’s presence, she looked towards the ; dividing compartment and caught a • glimpse of Bill. At the same moment, ■ Bill saw her and raised his hat. When the train pulled up at Papamoa, the . two sisters alighted and they expected ■ to see Bill get off the train there also. . They were rather surprised he did not • do so, as they had intended walking ■ up as far as their mother’s home with him. Not seeing him, they assumed ho had remained on the platform of the ' carriage, and had jumped off a little higher up, nearer his parents’ home. The train, after leaving Papamoa, had to climb a gradient, and therefore proceeded very slowly. It would be quite easy for anybody to jump off during the time the engine was gathering speed again after leaving the station and , mounting the slope. The two women thought nothing i more about the matter, at the time, however. Asked why she came to comment to her sister on Bill Bayly’s presence on the train, Mrs. Langdon said it was common knowledge in the district at the time that there had recently been i serious differences between Bill and , his parents, and being such close . neighbours of the Baylys, it was not unnatural she should draw her sister’s ' attention to Bill. In a small place like Papamoa, everybody was more or less interested in everybody else’s affairs, much more so than in larger communities. Mrs. Thomason said that now she had got rid of the burden of her secret, she was particularly anxious to see the inquiry re-opened. In view of the serious implication made against her, she thought it was due to her that her name should be cleared.