Hardcastle's Runaway

by Graham Ison

  ‘Thank you, Inspector,’ said the Attorney General.

  The judge turned to defence counsel. ‘Sir Harry.’

  ‘No questions, My Lord.’

  Detective Sergeant Marriott gave evidence next. He testified to receiving the round that had killed Lily Musgrave from Dr Spilsbury and handing it to Detective Inspector Franklin. He also testified to taking possession of the revolver thrown down by Rylance at the time of his arrest and handing that to Franklin.

  Franklin appeared next and confirmed that the firearm abandoned by Rylance was the weapon used to kill Lily Musgrave.

  Sir Harry Cork had no questions for either witness. ‘I do not dispute the police evidence of the circumstances leading up to the death of this unfortunate young woman, My Lord. My submission will be that when Rylance committed this murder, he was of unsound mind and was unaware of what he was doing, or if he did know what he was doing, did not know that it was wrong. I would like to call just the one witness.’

  ‘I take it you intend to cite the Rules in M’Naghten’s case, Sir Harry.’

  ‘Indeed, My Lord. I call Doctor William Rivers.’

  The man who stepped into the witness box was of medium height and unimpressive appearance, neatly dressed in a three-piece suit. He blinked through a pair of pince-nez and occasionally brushed his moustache while giving evidence.

  ‘You are William Halse Rivers Rivers, a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and a fellow of the Royal Society?’

  ‘I am, My Lord.’

  ‘Doctor Rivers, please tell the court how you came to be acquainted with the accused Rylance.’

  ‘I was a consultant at Craiglockhart hospital in Edinburgh during the war,’ Rivers began. ‘Captain Rylance was brought to Craiglockhart towards the end of 1916, shortly after the hospital started accepting patients with forms of mental disorder, mainly neurasthenia.’

  ‘Would you tell the court, Doctor Rivers,’ said Cork, ‘what, in your professional view, is the state of Rylance’s health?’

  Dr Rivers launched into a lengthy account of his opinion, and described the treatment that he had recommended. His lucid explanation was such that members of the jury were able to understand it all.

  ‘Can Rylance be restored to normality?’ Sir Harry Cork’s question could not have been more simply put.

  And Rivers’s reply was similarly brief. ‘No.’

  ‘Would you care to elaborate, Doctor Rivers?’

  ‘His condition can be controlled by medication, but he will require constant supervision in order to ensure that the medication is administered in the correct doses and at the proper times. But to answer your question, his present state is, in my professional view, irreversible.’

  ‘Thank you, Doctor Rivers. Please wait there.’

  ‘Mr Attorney?’ The judge glanced at Sir Gordon Hewart.

  ‘I have no questions of this witness, My Lord.’

  ‘You may stand down, Doctor Rivers,’ said the judge, ‘and thank you for your detailed evidence. It has been of great assistance to the court. Do you have other witnesses, Sir Harry?’

  ‘No, My Lord,’ said Cork.

  The judge summed up the case in a very few words, before reaching the conclusion. ‘This is a case, gentlemen of the jury,’ he began, ‘where in my view the rules in M’Naghten’s case apply. Very simply, it is where the accused may have been sane and rational prior to the act he committed, and indeed sane afterwards. However, he may not have known what he was doing at the time of the commission or, on the other hand, he may well have known what he was doing but did not appreciate that it was wrong. You will go now to the jury room and consider your verdict. You must consider whether the prisoner at the bar is guilty of murder or not guilty. But in this case there is a third option, that he is guilty of murder but insane.’

  It took the members of the jury precisely ten minutes to reach their verdict. In reality, each had made up his mind before leaving the jury box.

  ‘Gentlemen of the jury, are you agreed upon your verdict?’ asked the clerk of the court.

  ‘We are,’ said the foreman, rising to his feet. ‘We find the prisoner guilty but insane.’

  ‘And is that the verdict of you all?’

  ‘It is, My Lord.’

  ‘As the Attorney General pointed out in his opening address, this is a very sad case,’ said the judge. ‘The prisoner in the dock is a war hero, of that there is no doubt. Because he has no visible marks of injury, it does not mean that he has escaped injury. In his case, the harm was caused not to his body, but to his mind. The consequence of being trapped underground for thirty hours, and in danger of death by suffocation or by an imminent explosion, does not bear thinking about. The prisoner will please stand.’

  Jack Rylance struggled to his feet, again with the aid of the warders.

  ‘Jack Rylance, you have been found guilty but insane of the murder of Lily Musgrave. I can only sympathize with the condition brought about by your war service that caused you to take the life of this young woman. You will be detained in an institution for the criminally insane at His Majesty’s Pleasure. Take him down.’

  ‘Kelsey is up at Bow Street tomorrow morning, Marriott,’ said Hardcastle.

  ‘Why Bow Street, sir? The offence was committed in Epsom.’

  ‘Bow Street was ordered by the Attorney General, Marriott. I don’t think Sir Gordon trusted a bench of lay magistrates in Epsom to do what he’d recommended. But as you arrested Kelsey, the main testimony will be yours.’

  ‘Is he not to be charged as an accessory after the fact, then, sir?’

  ‘No,’ said Hardcastle. ‘The Director of Public Prosecutions ruled that there was insufficient evidence so the only charge will be preventing a lawful burial.’ He paused to fill his pipe. ‘Did we ever find out where Rylance’s money came from, Marriott? Enough to buy a Rolls-Royce, a house in Wilton Street and a cottage and market garden in Lancing?’

  ‘Kelsey was of the view that it was family money, sir. Apparently his father, also called Jack, was a lieutenant colonel in the Royal Army Medical Corps and was very well off, having inherited a substantial sum on the death of his father, our man’s grandfather. Colonel Rylance was killed at Vlamertinge in 1917.’ Marriott knew what was coming next.

  ‘Well, I’m damned,’ said Hardcastle. ‘That must have been the Jack Rylance that the Royal Army Medical College librarian mentioned. We should have followed that up, Marriott. I’m surprised you didn’t suggest it.’

  The proceedings before the Chief Magistrate at Bow Street police court were brief. Roland Kelsey pleaded guilty to preventing the lawful burial of Lily Musgrave. Marriott gave evidence of arrest and repeated what Kelsey had said at the time.

  ‘Reading the citation for your Distinguished Conduct Medal, Kelsey,’ said the Chief Magistrate, ‘there is no doubt that Captain Rylance owed you his life and you were still doing your best for a man you continued to see as your superior officer. Nevertheless, although what you did was misguided, it was still wrong. It is, however, a misdemeanour at Common Law, and I do not think that it merits a greater punishment than a conditional discharge. You are free to go, Kelsey.’

  Ex-Sergeant Kelsey drew himself briefly to attention. ‘Thank you, sir.’ He turned smartly to his right and descended the steps from the dock.