THE MOUTHLESS DEAD

This is the story of a real unsolved murder crime that is given a new lease of life by the Den’s much loved fiction writer, Anthony Quinn, who retells the events of the case and then develops a new storyline providing a resolution as to what has been described as ‘the perfect murder’.

The reader is firstly presented with the historical facts of the case: One night in 1931 William Wallace is handed a message at his chess club from a Mr Qualtrough, asking him to meet at an address, 25 Menlove Gardens East, to discuss some work. Whilst this appeared an unusual request, Wallace, a Prudential salesman, caught the tram from his home that he shared with his wife, Julia, and headed to the address, after he consulted passers-by and even a policeman, only to find it did not exist. Upon returning home two hours later, Wallace discovers his wife beaten to death in the parlour. The elaborate nature of Wallace’s alibi pointed to him being the culprit. Wallace was subsequently arrested, tried and found guilty and sentenced to be hanged. However with the support of his employers ‘at the Pru’, Wallace’s sentence was overturned. Wallace walked free and the killer was never found.

Having presented the historical facts of the case to the reader, Quinn scrolls forward some 15 years, when the murderer’s true identity continued to be rife and the retiring Inspector Key, who worked on the Wallace case, is considering it once more. Taking a cruise to New York, Inspector Key has made friends with a young and awkward Lydia Tarrant. Key introduces Lydia to Teddy as a suitable companion for the trip. Teddy is an ambitious writer hoping to find work in America. The three become good friends and Key is encouraged by Teddy to share his experience of working on the Wallace case and help develop a plot for a screenplay which in turn provided a number of possible scenarios as to who could have been responsible for the murder of Wallace’s wife, Julia.

Den readers enjoyed Quinn’s approach to presenting the facts of the case, as well as providing interviews with the suspects and judgements made by the police, the court and in the public arena as reported in the newspapers at the time of the murder. Quinn uses his masterly skills of creative writing to revisit the case and imagine other avenues of investigation. By introducing and presenting new evidence through fiction it prompted us to question and consider new perspectives on the case as well as high profile crimes which remain unresolved. Whilst we have the benefit of surveillance and forensic tools, ensuring solid evidence in the modern world, we know only too well it is still easy to manipulate versions of the 'truth'.

Quinn delivers an intriguing, imaginative and gripping narrative, so it’s a joy to read. It is only a shame that Julia Wallace will remain one of ‘mouthless dead’. But perhaps through fiction her voice has been found.