“Determined as he was one way, I was equally determined the other, and that was why he never succeeded with me. He once made use of this expression to me: ‘I don’t care how independent you are, I’ll get hold of you some way or other.’ But I said as firmly as I could, ‘Never!’ and so I have always said.
“We went to Bannercross because we were afraid of Peace. Before going there, my husband took out a warrant against him. That was in July, 1876, and as soon as Peace knew of the warrant he left the town. It was soon after this that Mr. Dyson decided to go to Bannercross.
“What became of Peace I never knew, except that I heard he had gone to Manchester. He suddenly disappeared, and I did not see him again until on the very day that our furniture was being removed to Bannercross. I and my husband saw him coming out of our new house there.
“So annoyed and irritated was I at this that I really should have caught hold of him, and held him until a policeman could have been fetched. But my husband would not hear of such a thing.
“Just fancy Peace coming out of the house we were going into! I really felt quite mad at it. This was on the 25th October, and I did not see him again till the night of the murder.
“I didn’t really know that Peace was a burglar until after the murder. If I had he would never have entered our doors. But what I know now explains a good deal. For instance, when we were out walking together, if I happened to look into a shop window, he would say to me, ‘Is there anything there you would like? If there is I will get it for you before morning.’
“He would say that if I looked into a jeweller’s or a draper’s shop. I did not know what he meant then, but I do now. My suspicions were aroused, for I used to see him leave his house at Darnall in the evenings with a little satchel under his arm, and he would come back early in the morning carrying a large bundle. The satchel, I suppose, contained his housebreaking implements. He often used to go to Manchester with this satchel. He came to my door one morning just as he was going to Manchester. He then had his satchel with him. Looking into the room where I was, he said—
“‘I’ll have you alive or dead. I’ll have you, or else I’ll torment you to the end of your life.’
“On another occasion, when I had defied him, he said—
“‘I’ll make you so that neither man nor woman shall look at you, and then I’ll have you to myself.’