Read Online Moonlight Murder on Lovers' Lane by Katherine Ramsland - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Katherine Ramsland
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eyes.
By this time, word was on the street. Several people walked down the dirt lane to see for themselves. Garrigan and Curran tried to keep them out, but more kept coming, and there was only so much that two officers could do.
In those days, crime scenes drew ghoulish souvenir hunters who thought nothing of trampling evidence and taking pieces from the scene. The crabapple tree was soon stripped of much of its bark and the business card had been passed from hand to hand for examination. There was no point even looking for footprints or tire impressions. The best that investigators could hope for was information from an eyewitness.
Crabapple tree
The next person to arrive was Detective George Totten from Somerset County, along with a physician, Dr. William Long. Totten noticed that the pieces of paper scattered between the corpses were letters. He asked an officer to collect them. A .32-caliber cartridge case was discovered near the bodies, as well as a 2-feet-long piece of iron pipe. Each item was carefully wrapped in brown paper.
Detective at crime scene
Dr. Long estimated the time of death for both victims, which had probably occurred in close succession, to have been about 36 hours earlier. This finding was considered odd, since a lovers’ lane should have had a lot of activity on a Friday night and the bodies had already begun to smell. It was possible, some investigators surmised, that people had seen them, but instead of reporting it, they’d taken the opportunity to rifle through the victims’ pockets and perhaps steal the woman’s purse. The man’s card wallet looked as if it had been removed, emptied of money, and dropped.
A glance through the letters indicated that they had been written to Hall from a woman who obviously adored him. She wrote in dramatic phrases to describe how she felt about him. In childish handwriting, she spoke of “eternal love” for her “noble man.” Had she brought these letters with her, they wondered, or had someone else found them and used them to decorate this fatal deed?
Soon, Edwin R. Carpender, a cousin of the dead man’s wife, drove into De Russey’s Lane, accompanied by former Senator William Florence. Carpender walked over to the bodies, pale and visibly upset, and confirmed Edward Hall’s identity. No other reaction was recorded, but he must have felt shocked by Hall’s flagrant besmirching of his family’s good name.
Some three and a half hours after the initial discovery, Sam Sutphen, the Somerville undertaker, arrived. He found in Edward’s pockets 61 cents in change and two handkerchiefs, which he bagged. Then he placed the stiffened bodies in his hearse to take to his funeral home.
Chapter 4: Discoveries
With the bodies on separate tables, Sutphen worked on Edward first. As he struggled to remove the suit jacket, a bullet casing fell out and pinged on the floor. Sutphen put it aside for the police. As he cut the shirt away, he saw an area of discoloration on the right hand. He didn’t know what it was, but he made a note before he finished the disrobing.
Then Sutphen turned to the Jane Doe. As he unwrapped the scarf, he saw that, aside from the three bullet holes to her head, her throat had been sliced open. He determined that this had likely been done after she was already dead. A small wound also marred her upper lip and her arm had been bruised, as if someone had grabbed her. Sutphen prepared her for an autopsy.
That evening, an undertaker from New Brunswick arrived.
“I’m to pick up Reverend Hall,” he said.
The Jane Doe remained behind in Somerville. Whatever assignation the lovers had planned, they were now forever parted.
No official identification of the dead woman was necessary for members of Hall’s family or congregation. It had long been an open secret that Edward was smitten with a 34-year-old married woman named Eleanor R. Mills. They spent a lot of time together, and her life had revolved entirely around the church.
By this time, word was on the street. Several people walked down the dirt lane to see for themselves. Garrigan and Curran tried to keep them out, but more kept coming, and there was only so much that two officers could do.
In those days, crime scenes drew ghoulish souvenir hunters who thought nothing of trampling evidence and taking pieces from the scene. The crabapple tree was soon stripped of much of its bark and the business card had been passed from hand to hand for examination. There was no point even looking for footprints or tire impressions. The best that investigators could hope for was information from an eyewitness.
Crabapple tree
The next person to arrive was Detective George Totten from Somerset County, along with a physician, Dr. William Long. Totten noticed that the pieces of paper scattered between the corpses were letters. He asked an officer to collect them. A .32-caliber cartridge case was discovered near the bodies, as well as a 2-feet-long piece of iron pipe. Each item was carefully wrapped in brown paper.
Detective at crime scene
Dr. Long estimated the time of death for both victims, which had probably occurred in close succession, to have been about 36 hours earlier. This finding was considered odd, since a lovers’ lane should have had a lot of activity on a Friday night and the bodies had already begun to smell. It was possible, some investigators surmised, that people had seen them, but instead of reporting it, they’d taken the opportunity to rifle through the victims’ pockets and perhaps steal the woman’s purse. The man’s card wallet looked as if it had been removed, emptied of money, and dropped.
A glance through the letters indicated that they had been written to Hall from a woman who obviously adored him. She wrote in dramatic phrases to describe how she felt about him. In childish handwriting, she spoke of “eternal love” for her “noble man.” Had she brought these letters with her, they wondered, or had someone else found them and used them to decorate this fatal deed?
Soon, Edwin R. Carpender, a cousin of the dead man’s wife, drove into De Russey’s Lane, accompanied by former Senator William Florence. Carpender walked over to the bodies, pale and visibly upset, and confirmed Edward Hall’s identity. No other reaction was recorded, but he must have felt shocked by Hall’s flagrant besmirching of his family’s good name.
Some three and a half hours after the initial discovery, Sam Sutphen, the Somerville undertaker, arrived. He found in Edward’s pockets 61 cents in change and two handkerchiefs, which he bagged. Then he placed the stiffened bodies in his hearse to take to his funeral home.
Chapter 4: Discoveries
With the bodies on separate tables, Sutphen worked on Edward first. As he struggled to remove the suit jacket, a bullet casing fell out and pinged on the floor. Sutphen put it aside for the police. As he cut the shirt away, he saw an area of discoloration on the right hand. He didn’t know what it was, but he made a note before he finished the disrobing.
Then Sutphen turned to the Jane Doe. As he unwrapped the scarf, he saw that, aside from the three bullet holes to her head, her throat had been sliced open. He determined that this had likely been done after she was already dead. A small wound also marred her upper lip and her arm had been bruised, as if someone had grabbed her. Sutphen prepared her for an autopsy.
That evening, an undertaker from New Brunswick arrived.
“I’m to pick up Reverend Hall,” he said.
The Jane Doe remained behind in Somerville. Whatever assignation the lovers had planned, they were now forever parted.
No official identification of the dead woman was necessary for members of Hall’s family or congregation. It had long been an open secret that Edward was smitten with a 34-year-old married woman named Eleanor R. Mills. They spent a lot of time together, and her life had revolved entirely around the church.
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