ON August 15, 188–, the public of Sydney were aroused to unusual
excitement by the following announcement in the Evening Times of that
date—
“A NORTH SHORE MYSTERY.
CRIME OR SUICIDE?
SUDDEN AND UNEXPLAINED DEATH OF A
WELL-KNOWN SPORTSMAN.
STABBED TO DEATH IN HIS BED.
HOW WAS IT DONE?
“The usual quiet of North Shore was this morning rudely dispelled by the
alarming rumour that a crime of an unusual kind had been committed in the
house of Mrs. Delfosse, Lavender Bay.
“An inquiry proved the report only too well founded.
“Mrs. Delfosse, it may be stated, is a widow lady of the highest
respectability, who keeps a boarding establishment of the better kind in
a stylish mansion near the Lavender Bay steps. Amongst her boarders was,
till this morning, the well-known sportsman, Alexander Booth, more widely
known under his _nom de guerre_ as ‘Newmarket.’
“Mr. Booth was married, and shared with his wife a spacious bedroom on
the second floor, the window of which has a fine harbour view. At seven
o’clock this morning the other inmates of the house were aroused and
startled by a succession of loud shrieks coming from this chamber. In
haste they rushed to the landing, but in response to calls and knocking
on the door there was no reply. The room was as quiet as the grave.
“The door was locked on the inside. It was decided without hesitation to
burst it open. This being done, the spectators were horrified to find
the senseless form of Mrs. Booth stretched on the floor, and in the bed
itself the lifeless corpse of Mr. Booth. Further examination showed the
death of this gentleman to be no natural event. The body was resting on
the chest and arms, and between the shoulder-blades was buried what
appears to be a thin knife or dagger. The doctor and police were
immediately sent for, and Mrs. Booth removed to another room. Here after
a time she recovered from what proved to be a swoon, but it was only to
return again very quickly to the same state. At the time of writing she
is somewhat recovered.
“MRS. BOOTH’S STATEMENT.
“Her statement of the event is very brief, and only adds to the strange
surroundings of the case—Her husband and herself retired to rest on the
Sunday night at their usual hour, she herself locking and bolting the
door, as was her custom. She slept well, and was only awakened by a
feeling of coldness close to her; she turned and looked at her husband,
he was stiff and rigid, the features a waxen pallor and the eyes wide
open, staring at her with a frightful horror in them. She sprang from
the bed, she screamed, she screamed again; she remembers no more.
“THE SCENE OF THE CRIME.
“Sergeant Burrel was quickly on the scene, and made a careful inspection
of the premises and the room itself. It did not require the opinions of
a medical expert to convince the ordinary layman that death in this case
was not self-inflicted. Apart from the absence of any motive for
self-destruction, the blow was such as no man could possibly give to
himself.
“The room, as has been stated, is on the second floor, and its one window
is protected by upright iron bars five inches apart, indicating that some
former tenant had used it as a nursery. There is only the one door to
the room, and the chimney, which was carefully inspected, would not allow
a passage through its registered grate to an animal larger than a cat.
The window itself was found to be shut and fastened inside by the
ordinary catch.
“The police are very reticent, but so far no arrest has been made. The
inquest will be held to-morrow, when the medical evidence and more
details may be disclosed. In the meantime the house is surrounded by
crowds of the curious, particularly in the right-of-way in the rear of
the premises, from which the window of the room can be seen.
“Great sympathy was expressed at Tattersall’s this morning by Mr. Booth’s
fellow metallicians on the news of the sad event reaching the club. No
member of the fraternity was more highly respected than the late
Alexander Booth, and his death will be a great loss to Sydney sportsmen.”
“ANOTHER CRIME.
THE MYSTERY DEEPENS.
THE CITY OFFICE OF ALEXANDER BOOTH
BROKEN OPEN AND ROBBED.
“Before going to press news reaches us that the mystery surrounding the
sudden death of Alexander Booth is heightened by the statement of his
clerk, David Israel, that on going to the office at the usual hour this
morning he found the door ajar, and on further examination in the office,
the safe itself open, and bare of all contents, save the books of the
firm. He states that his first impression was that his master had
arrived before him, and had opened the premises and safe, and was
probably somewhere near at hand; but as minutes passed by and no one
appeared, he became alarmed. He then locked the place up, and went at
once to his master’s private residence, Lavender Bay, only to learn the
sad details of his sudden death.
“An important statement made by this witness is that only Mr. Booth had a
key to his office safe, which he securely locked on Saturday afternoon.
As the safe does not appear to have been tampered with in any way, its
unlocking adds to the strange peculiarities surrounding this case.
“David Israel does not know the exact amount of money missing, but
estimates it at two or three hundred pounds only. ‘If,’ said he, ‘this
had occurred a month ago, the loss would have been very different, as up
to that time Mr. Booth made no secret of the fact that he had a large
amount—thirty or forty thousand pounds—in securities, locked up in what
he considered a burglar and fireproof safe. But the late notorious
robberies in the city seemed to have weakened his confidence, for only
three weeks ago he transferred the whole of his valuables to the safe
keeping of the Bank of New South Wales.’”
The extra special edition of the _Evening Times_ of the same date had the
following additional item—
“On learning the details of the office robbery we at once dispatched a
reporter to the scene of the crime in Lavender Bay. It will be noted
that, according to the statement of David Israel, there was only one key
to the city safe, and that was in the possession of his master. If this
key was missing, then a motive for what may now be safely called a crime
is forthcoming.
“The police authorities had already made a careful inventory of the dead
man’s personal effects, and amongst these, taken from the trousers
pocket, was a small flat key, said by Mrs. Booth to be, without doubt,
that of her husband’s safe.
“So far as the public is concerned, this safety of the key, the
abstraction of which was so naturally anticipated by our reporter, makes
the mystery still deeper, and banishes what would at first appear to be
the motive for at least part of the crime, and the connecting link
between the murder on North Shore and the robbery in town.
“Despite the reticence of the police, it is plain to all that they are as
puzzled as the public in general to form an acceptable theory as to how
the crime was committed.”
