THE ARDLAMONT MYSTERY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXI, Issue 9455, 10 March 1894, Page 2 (Supplement)

THE ARDLAMONT MYSTERY.

MON SON'S ACCOUNT OF LIEUTENANT HAMBP.OUGH'S DEATH. "The Ardlamont Mystery Solved"is the title Mr. Monson has given to the book which ho has written upon the death of Lieutenant Hambrough. The work is of less than 100 pages, and will be published by Messrs. Mario and Co. Mr. Monson dwells with some minuteness upon all the circumstances leading up to the death of young Hambrough. Hesays:—"Hambrough walked on the right, myself on the left, and Scott behind. When near the end of the cover I heard a shot from the direction of Hambrough and called out, ' Have you shot anything or words to that effect, as would be natural in shooting cover, bub there was no answer. I went towards tho direotion of the shot, and along the sunk fence. I almost immediately saw Hambrough. Ho had evidently fallen off the fence, and was lying at the bottom—about a drop of 4ft—on his left side." Criticising the evidence given by Crown witnesses in reference to the death and the deductions made from the cardboard experiments, Mr. Monson says:—'' The evidence thus obtained shows (1) that the distance at which the shot was fired was 2fb or under, because there was no separate pellet mark of any description found on the head of the deceased, as agreed by all the medical men ; and (2) that the distance was 2fb or under, because otherwise the thick wad could not have been driven into the wound, as shown by the evidence at the trial." Tho writer goes on bo say:—"lc was so long after the death that the experts for the Crown visited the place thab almost all traces of any reliable evidence Iwid been destroyed or rendered useless by the lapse of time, and there was

NO KVIDENC* TAKES at the time of the disaster, except in support of the theory of accidental death, and, further, the officials had to resort to various | demoralising methods to establish their case." Speaking of the mode of procedure in Scotland, Mr. Monson says :—" In England a coroner's inquest would have been held, while in Scotland there is no coroner's inquiry. There is, however, an official— I might almost say an omnipotent official called tho Procurator-Fiscal who holds a position analogous to the coroner or Public Prosecutor in England, and the system pursued in Scotland is that the police officer immediately informs the Procurator-Fiscal of the district of any sudden death. Ibis then the duty of the Fiscal to proceed as soon as possible to the place of death, and make a personal examination of the body, and to collect all possible evidence bearing on the case. . . . I think ib is generally recognised, even in Scotland, that this system is a bad one, and there have been several agitations to have tho existing law altered. A good part of the evidence that was taken and admitted under this system would be found to be quite useless if exposed to cross-examination, and in connection with which serious mistakes are likely to arise." Continuing the same topic, he says:—"The Crown never called the I >eputy-Procurator-Fiscal at my trial to produce the evidence which he had collected ab the official secret inquiry as to the cause of death. His evidence was actually

CONCEALED FROM THE JURY,

who were called upon by the Crown fco try mo for my life. The deputy was never even put into the witness-box, although his name figured on the list of Crown witnesses ostensibly for the purpose of being called to produce the evidence he had taken on the spot." The volume closes with some extracts from 11 Scott's" diary. While the police are searching every one of his known haunts he is reported to have been a calm and cool spectator of Mr. Motison'a trial. While the detectives eagerly scanned each suspected passer-by in hopes of finding the missing man, "Scott" roamed about quietly and unmolested, frequently watching the movements of those who were so anxiously seeking to effect his capture. On August 7 the diary opens. On August 15 Scott was in London, and he writes—" I met one of the Crown witnesses. I went into a Refreshment bar and had a drink. A lot of Scotland Yard men were having lunch there. Inspector had a drink with me. I am always pretty chummy with the force. They are nob bad chaps in their way, but it takes a lob of intellectual dynamite to make a hole in a police helmet and let a new idea in." Scott appears to bare made nt particular efforts at concealment. He says:—"As the police were looking for a man in a jackeb and bowler, it was highly improbable that they would arrest a man in a frock coat and chimney-pot. I therefore effected the necessary change in attire, and walked abroad fairly satisfied that nothing but an accident or gross carelessness on my part would lead to discovery." Some time later Scott avows he was drinking in a public-house in the Strand when a detective ■ came into the bar on the pretext of selling evening papers and endeavoured to hear the conversation. The officer, it) was afterwards ascertained, was looking for the missing man, and actually shadowed ono of the party, bub nob the real Scott.