BLACKBALL MYSTERY

Grey River Argus, 6 October 1934, Page 5

BLACKBALL MYSTERY

REMAINS UNSOLVED Absence of Tangible Clues MAKES INVESTIGATION DIFFICULT. It was a. week ye-'terday since Detec-r.ive-Sergeant T. Ho mes and Detective R. Th« mpson arrived from Christchurch to investigate wfha’t has become one of the most unusual cr.sos in the criminal records of the West Coa. t the death b v |: I'isoning, of Miss Margaret May Smith ait Blackball, on the morning

df Monday, September 24; but, to date, I heir intensive enquiries ha\*e failed

to reveal the identity of the sender of the strychnine-lo: ded chocolates (to Miss Jean C ark ami M.ss Ethel

(“Tommy”) Bragg. Pursuant to their belief that the crime was conceived on the West Coast the police have concentrated their efforts in Blackball, Greymouth and the Grey Valley. Detective-Sergeant Holmes has remained at Blackball, whilst enquiries regarding the chocolates, find an investigation into *the poison registers of the 'oral chemists, have been conducted by Detective R. Thompson and 11. Knight p.nd PlainClothes Constable Hay. In this connection. ’.i! is interesting to note that rhe Poison Rogu’a'tions provide io pr< cure poisons, it is necessary for the buyer to state for what reason the v are required, to sign the poison register, and to be identified by sonic other person. However, if would be possible for .Momeene with evil intentions to give a false name, and have an accomplice identify such person as being the one named in the register. The fatal dose of strychnine, in the majority of case.* is a quarter of a grain, and if is comparatively easy to obtain amounts well in excess of the fatal dose

Nothing is being neglected by the Detectives in their efforts to find the mysterious “Jim” wth.o sent -the chocolates. In a belief that he might be present at the dance suggested by his note, at Ngahcre, they insisted th ait the two girls to whom it was address'd should attend. This was a. most unpleasant experience for them, but ic was necessary, on the off-chance that “Jim’’ might )?o pre-ent. and by some remark or gesture indicate to the w::.tching detectives, h'is identity. However, the experiment failed (to bring forth tin* desired result, and ‘‘Jim” remains as anonymous as ever. It is understood that only two shops in the whole of the Grey district stock fho particular brand of chocolates sent to the girls, but this does not qjpan that they were necessarily bought at either, as it 15 quite possible

that the perpetrator of the crime, who has given ample evidence of his cunning, would go to the trouble of procuring them in some other pant of New Zealand.

The most unfortunate part of the case, from the investigators’ point of view, was. the fact that the postmark <>n the parcel was indecipherable. Howover, means have been employed to ascertain what it reads, and although the police are reticent on the matter, it is believed that it is Greymou'th. If such is the case, then a possible way of tracing the sender ij rendered negative. for a parcel of the size of a onepouml box of chocolates can be posted in the Greymou'th Post Office without the necessity of 'its being handed to a postal official, as is the rule in the country districts. If it had been handed f.o :i country postmaster, it is reasonable to suppose that, ho would remember the incident, and would have come forward with the 'information. However, such has not occurred. The case has many puzzling features, not the lea t being the apparent lack of a motive. Only one suggests itself, and that is jealousy. Jean Clark. some months ago, received three anonymous letters signed “A Friend,” and while they were not actually threatening. Choy contained accusations against one of her male friends, and i't is quite like’y that the writer of those letters is the same as the sender of the chocolates.

Whilst no developments are recorded, investigation has not relaxed, and the police < v rp concentrating on the important clues in their possession, the remainder of the. p'oisoned chocolates, the wrapper, the postmark and the that the criminal must know the girls to whom he sent his horrible gift very well, when he addressed one of them bv her nickname of “Tommy.”

The analyst’s report, on the portions of the deceased’s body submitted to him, and the clhocolates, has not been made public, buif it is believed to have disclosed that the deceased died of strychnine poisoning, and that the chocolates remaining in the box contained low grade strychnine, introduced into them in a skilful manner.