His Father's Ghost by Linda Stratmann

Author:Linda Stratmann [Stratmann, Linda]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781800550148
Publisher: Sapere Books
Published: 2020-07-19T16:00:00+00:00

Second report of Jacob Handley, August 1864

Since making my last report I have uncovered further information about Mr Sutherland which increased my disquiet. An informant has revealed that Sutherland was once associated with the Maritime Queen Insurance business, although in what capacity he was involved has never been proved. To be named in connection with two cases of financial fraud in two years looks highly suspicious, and it was not therefore surprising that he had been unhelpful.

I did not reveal my suspicions but continued to request a further interview, which was refused. A month after the disappearance of Mr Holt, however, a letter to Mr Sutherland’s London business address was returned by the post office, undelivered. I made a personal visit, which revealed that it was being leased by another unconnected firm. I located and contacted members of Mr Sutherland’s family, but none were was prepared to assist my enquiries.

Mr Sutherland had acted as secretary to the Brighton Yacht Club, and I proceeded to interview the members. None of them had ever met Mr Holt or could cast any light on the mystery. All had a high regard for Mr Sutherland, but told me that he had not attended any club meetings since being questioned by the police about Holt’s disappearance and shortly afterwards he had handed in his resignation. The yacht had been put up for sale.

I traced the yacht, formerly called Ocean Breeze. It had been repainted and renamed Ocean Quest. I was permitted to examine it and did so minutely but found no traces of any crime or accident. The new owner told me that he had not discovered anything suspicious.

In the weeks that followed Mr Holt’s disappearance many newspapers reported sightings of the missing man. Mrs Holt and Mr Saltmire also received numerous letters on the subject and I am grateful to them for preserving these and letting me see them.

All the letters had been written by people who stated that they had never met Jasper Holt, and simply said that someone answering his description had arrived in their neighbourhood behaving in a suspicious manner. Since the description of Mr Holt published in the newspapers could have applied to thousands of men, I did not set much store by these sightings, but I investigated them all the same. They came to nothing. Mrs Holt particularly begged me to look into the letters sent by spirit mediums, as she felt that the truth would be uncovered by those means, and I obliged her, though not with any confidence that they would provide an answer. These letters proved to be far too vague in content to provide useful material for investigation. Some claimed that Holt was alive and was living far away under another name. Neither the name nor the place, the two essentials for the statement to have any evidential value, were given. Most mediums, however, were certain that Holt was dead and that his body would be discovered in water. Since Brighton is a coastal town

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