Some few years back two boys committed a murderous assault on an old lady at Norton Folgate. After leaving their victim for dead, the young scoundrels made off. Months elapsed and no trace of them was found; and it was by the merest accident in the world that one of them was discovered. He was convicted upon a charge of larceny, and while undergoing penal servitude for the same, a boy, residing in the neighbourhood of Norton Folgate, recognised him. Luckily for the would-be assassins, the old lady recovered from the terrible injuries she had received, and her two assailants were tried and sentenced to penal servitude for the brutal assault.
We have a similar instance in Good, who was ultimately convicted of murdering a woman, and cutting up the body of his victim, at Roehampton, in Surrey. He made his escape, and many months elapsed before he was discovered. He was a groom at the time of the murder, but had in early life worked as a brickmaker, and it was while following this occupation, in a remote district in the north of England, that he was discovered. But his identity was established by the merest accident; and had he been a little more cautious the probability is that he would have got clean off.
Mr. Wrench felt that he had a difficult task in hand. He searched in vain for Giles Chudley at most of the cheap lodging-houses and thieves’ haunts in the metropolis. He sent notices off to the police-stations in the provinces, but he was no nearer to the suspected man.
There was one great difficulty in the matter. Mr. Wrench did not know Chudley—neither did any of his coadjutors.
He had a description given him of the man, but this was very vague, and could not be relied on. Nevertheless, our detective took every possible means of tracing out the fugitive.
After a rigid and exhaustive search in London and the suburbs, Mr. Wrench began to think seriously of his next best course of action. Certainly the case, as far as it had gone at present, did not look very promising.
Chudley was country born and country bred. The chances were that he would secrete himself in some sparsely-inhabited rural district. The question was, where to look, and this Mr. Wrench could not very well determine.
From information received at Scotland-yard there was reason to suppose that a man answering in many points to the description given of Chudley had been seen tramping along one of the roads leading to Liverpool.
When Mr. Wrench was put in possession of this fact, it at once occurred to him that the murderer of Mr. Philip Jamblin was journeying to that town for the purpose of shipping himself for one of the colonies.
He at once determined on paying a visit to Liverpool without further delay. But here another difficulty stood in the way. How could he possibly make sure of his man, even assuming he was fortunate enough to come across him?