Dear Detectives,
Although The Gilchres Poisoning led to a tragedy years ago, justice has finally been served with a chef's kiss, and it's all thanks to your meticulous efforts!
No doubt, there were more than a handful of ingredients to be found in this poisonous plot, so if you want to be sure you named them all, check out Holmes' overview of the case below.
Until our next mysterious meal,
The Dear Holmes Team
——
14 June, 1883
Dear Mr. Rice,
Thank you for trusting me with a matter which you hold so closely to your heart. It has been an honour to help you in your pursuit of truth and justice, and a thrill to put together the singular puzzle you brought before me.
I expect that my findings will put your mind to rest.
Let us begin with the simplest aspect of the case— the attempted poisoning of Mr. Gilchres and his household.
Reading your letters, one of the first notions I began to question was that of the poisoning. I wondered, first of all, if it was truly the lamprey pie which had been poisoned. Furthermore, I was doubtful of the fact the household had suffered from arsenic poisoning at all.
The clipping in your first letter stated that the surgeon who investigated the Gilchres kitchen produced “half a tea spoon of white powder” after examining a bowl, which had been used to prepare dough for a lamprey pie. The surgeon determined that this, taken together with the blackened knives used by the family, was indicative of the use of arsenic. This immediately alarmed me for, as the surgeon himself had noted, there was no reliable method for detecting arsenic. This changed in 1836, thanks to James Marsh’s good work.
The “test” the surgeon did perform alarmed me just as much, for arsenic compounds, such as those used in rat poison, are soluble in water. Not to mention, although arsenic may tarnish silverware, the process occurs over the course of months, not suddenly upon exposure.
On the other hand, it would not have been unusual for chalk, or alum, to have been added to the pastry flour. While alum would have dissolved in water, chalk would have yielded a white powder upon decanting; however, chalk would not have made anybody particularly ill. Added to that were the eating habits of the diners. Some ate heartily, some did not. Putting aside young George, everybody, including Miss Grey in the kitchen, appeared to have tasted the pie, though some ate barely any of it. Mr. Gilchres had not enjoyed any sweets, while other diners had enjoyed varying combinations of the tart and syllabub. Everybody in the family had eaten the peas, but Comfort and George had not. And everybody apart from Chauncey had drunk the same sherry. Yet the entire family, George, and yourself, fell ill. And Comfort, who ate the pie, did not.
Knowing but these details, I can say that it was very unlikely the white powder obtained by the surgeon was arsenic. Nor do I believe the food was contaminated at all. Your later description of each person’s symptoms provided further evidence of this, but I will touch upon that in due time. First, let us consider the poisoning again, from afar: There are three things that may cause sickness of the type described by the victims and the surgeon.
- Something added to the food they ate.
- The food itself.
- Something in the environment.
Having eliminated the first of these things, we must ask, could this “attempted murder” be nothing but a simple case of food poisoning, heightened by Mrs. Newell’s conviction that Comfort resented her? Let us examine the evidence.
The lamprey pie was particularly criticised by Mrs. Newell, and lamprey are in fact toxic if inadequately cooked. But Mr. Rice, you only ate the sauce and still fell ill. When she was arrested, Comfort said that the butter, flour, or something in the sauce, could have been the cause of the illness. This certainly sounded plausible, but as my dear associate Doctor Watson would tell you, there are innumerable substances which may cause nausea, fatigue, headaches, and vomiting. Indeed, both arsenic and simple food poisoning can cause these symptoms but both would be accompanied by a fever. No fevers were reported, and thus, I can look past the food in search of our culprit.
You said that the dining room had only recently been fitted for gas. You mentioned, too, that the weather had turned cold, the windows were shuttered, the fire was lit, and all of the jets were being used, such that “the room itself appeared to glow.” Interestingly, when you demonstrated one of the jets to Miss Grey and the scullery maid before the meal, they had mentioned disliking the “odour.” Miss Grey reported a strange odour to the police, too.
Coal gas can have an unpleasant scent, not unlike that of a rotten egg, but not when it is properly burnt. Many consider this to be a convenience, as it makes leaks easier to detect. Could coal gas, then, be our poison?
Let us test the theory. Three people did not succumb to sickness. The scullery maid, who had her half-day and so was not present when the jets were lit; the butler, who was too busy cleaning a different room to eat; and Miss Grey who was in the kitchen, where there were no gas jets.
Those who fell ill first were those closest to the jets. Assuming that the door was on the same wall as the gas jets— which is the arrangement suggested by the descriptions in your second letter— you, Mr. Rice, were also positioned closely to the jets. Your duties, which required frequent trips to the kitchen, likely prevented you from falling ill as quickly as the ladies. Still, you noted that your symptoms— the headache, the “dull ache” in your stomach— were present before you had eaten.
It appears to me that the cause of the sickness was therefore not arsenic, but a poison introduced by the new gas jets. In fairness to the surgeon, it was not until 1857, when Claude Bernard and Felix Hoppe-Seyler published their respective findings on “carbon monoxide poisoning”, that the various effects of this gas became more commonly known.
Headaches, nausea, and vomiting are earlier signs, and disorientation and chest pains are not uncommon, but there is, notably, no fever associated with the gas. The fact that everyone made such a speedy recovery after being removed from the source of gas also supports this supposition.
Having determined what made the diners ill, we must now turn our thoughts to the question of who. Disregarding the possible culprits, there may not have been a “who” to accuse in the first place, but I do not believe this theory holds weight. The gas jets may have been badly fitted, and leaking, but that would have undoubtedly led to further issues. There were no further bouts of similar illness, to my knowledge.
No, I can say with confidence that, as originally suspected, there was foul play involved. And the information you have collected points to a person in the Gilchres household; however, that person was not Miss Comfort Grey. On reading your second letter, it became clear to me that she was innocent. Rather, there were two individuals whose behaviours seemed too curious to overlook.
Abner Newell, and his mother, Mrs. Violet Newell. With your third letter in hand, I furiously scrutinised the pair.
Mrs. Newell was, as Gilchres noted, “proud and hot-headed.” You had mentioned as well that she continued spreading fictions about Miss Grey after the confrontation between them. But why would she persist in such spurious claims with a woman’s life in jeopardy? I have speculated that she might have truly thought Comfort was trying to poison her, but I cannot find a good reason to believe that. If that was her concern, she would have surely stated it rather than spread fictions. Instead, I suspect that her disdain for Miss Grey was more rooted in protecting her family’s name. Given Chauncey’s penchant for gambling and chasing women alone, this would not surprise me in the least. I should thank her too, for her remarks about Chauncey’s behaviour ultimately drew my attention to her other son, Abner.
I wondered if the reason for Abner’s absence prior to the dinner was that, having spent all day with the gas fitters, he had already inhaled some of the toxin. After all, he too was ill; or at least claimed to be. Even all those years ago, carbon monoxide was known to be toxic, which is why miners took canaries into the coal mines. But Abner’s comment about the “pet canary”, which you noted in your second letter, led me to question if there was a more ominous reason for his absence.
I posit that Abner set the jets leaking, and knowing the dangers, deliberately arrived late to the meal. Certainly he was not ill enough for it to affect his taste for wine. And, do not forget, it was he who decided to open the windows once he was alone with his brother. It was he who had adjusted the jets after people began to leave the room, complaining of illness, and it was he who was quite eager to move away to the country afterwards. Now, I imagine you will be wondering, “Why?”
My reasoning led me to two possibilities, one of which I believe to be the truth. Either Abner planned to murder his aunt and uncle for something as simple as their inheritance, or he acted on impulse, simply to see what would occur. The former would have been more reasonable, were Abner not seemingly content with his present life. But Abner showed no signs of discontent or displeasure with his status; instead he appeared to be occupied with his pursuits of knowledge, often to the scullery maid’s chagrin. As I reviewed your letters in my own pursuit of knowledge, one comment kept coming back to me. Mrs. Newell had said, regarding Chauncey’s actions, “as if Abner isn’t enough to make a mother wish she’d been born barren.” As you know, Chauncey was hardly a glowing example of manhood. In other words, she would only say that about Abner if there was some truth to it.
By all accounts, he was a polite, studious boy. Yet when accused of kicking dogs, the Newells’ quiet acceptance of the blame suggested a familiarity with such antics; and knowing now that he was later sent to a private house in the care of a nurse... This all says to me the Newells hoped— likely continue to hope— to avoid a scandal that has long been on their horizon. Taking into account his enthusiasm for practical experimentation, and his interest in the new jets, it becomes easy to see how he was at the root of this ordeal.
Assuming this was the case, we must now turn to Mr. and Mrs. Gilchres, and the Newells. Did either of the families know, or even suspect, the truth? And is this why Mr. Gilchres refused to intervene more assertively?
The fact that the Lord Chancellor personally spoke to Gilchres not once, but several times, proves that he did not willingly abandon Miss Grey. Nor did he do so easily, in light of his state in the aftermath of her execution. He did, however, cease to protest. When I was considering an explanation for this, your final interview with Mr. Gilchres came to mind, and your words rang true: “There was nothing that could be done. The law was determined to have its way.”
If you recall, the Recorder who oversaw Miss Grey’s case stated, “Here is the case of a master and a mistress being both poisoned, and Comfort offered no assistance. Gentlemen, there are rioters in the streets and households all over the country who look to us to protect them from those who would upset the natural order.” At the time of the trial, England was in turmoil. The government feared revolution. Popular labour leaders like Captain Swing, were challenging this “natural order.” And here was a cook charged with trying to murder her master and mistress.
The case was rushed, taking only three months to come to trial, no doubt as a way of pacifying the masses. Every additional month only increased the public’s support for Comfort— who already had several papers and Captain Swing rallying to her cause. Mr. Gilchres was advocating on her behalf as well, until he became enough of a nuisance. Then, I suspect, the Lord Chancellor was compelled to warn him to stay clear of the issue. Mrs. Newell, based on the argument you quoted in your first letter, was aware of “sedition” that she attributed to Mr. Gilchres. It would not surprise me if others like the Lord Chancellor suspected this as well, or worse, if Mrs. Newell herself spread the word; but I wager that Mr. Gilchres was a supporter of the notorious Captain Swing.
In fact, it appears Mr. and Mrs. Newell were prepared to leverage this knowledge against him to secure “a little something in advance” for Chauncey’s schooling— as you overheard, and quoted in your second letter. As Chauncey did eventually receive money for his schooling, the Newells’ blackmail seems to have succeeded. Or perhaps Gilchres simply took pity on the young man and gave him enough money to get him away from “the skeletons.” What you took as a crass reference to Miss Grey’s death, Dan, was likely an admission that Chauncey knew at least a part of the family’s secrets.
Unfortunately, Mr. Gilchres had much to fear from being uncovered, let alone an investigation into his ties to rioters and Captain Swing. Sedition is, after all, a grave crime. He said it himself— “a man may risk many things, if the odds are in his favour.” In this case, the odds were no longer on his side, he believed Miss Grey’s sentence was fait accompli, and thus held his tongue.
Mr. Rice, I deeply regret that nothing can be done to recover the life of your dear friend. Nevertheless, we are still able to restore honour to Miss Comfort Grey’s name, and bring Abner Newell to justice.
You will be pleased to know that your comment about Abner being sent to a private house led me to Ticehurst; the asylum in Sussex where he presently resides. My delay in writing to you was occasioned by the necessity of travelling there to confirm his presence and speak to his doctors. The appropriate authorities have been informed of this case, and of my findings, courtesy of Watson, and I have been assured he will be interrogated within two to three days. The police will likely have to interview the Newells and the Gilchreses again too, but once they have acquired a confession from Abner, it will be sent to the Home Secretary without delay.
We cannot give Comfort back the life she lost, but if all goes well, then a pardon will be hers and her family will no longer carry this horrid shame.
Yours,
