The Man Who Was Jekyll and Hyde by Rick Wilson

Author:Rick Wilson
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780750963565
Publisher: The History Press
Published: 2015-02-14T05:00:00+00:00

It was, indeed, a sensational lapse, or slip of the tongue. Realising that he had blundered like a mouse into a clever legal eagle’s claws, Brodie tried desperately to struggle out by again stressing what he believed was a technical requirement for witnesses’ oaths. But the judge told him bluntly that the matter was closed; that all they wanted was to be satisfied about his identity, which they now were from what had been signed by Mr Duncan and Mr Groves, and partly from that virtual confession of his own. It was time to go home, the captured fugitive was told. He was duly marked for delivery to Mr Groves, who was advised by the judge that he should have a guide and waste no time in setting off that day.

As it happened, when the journey-ready Bow Street clerk returned to the Stadhuis to get going with Brodie at 4 p.m., there were no fewer than four guides waiting for him, not to mention eight horses pulling two carriages, into one of which the ‘properly secured’ Brodie was sharply bundled. A ‘prodigious crowd’ had gathered to watch them leave like some kind of royal party and, had he had his hands free, no doubt the Deacon would have waved regally to them like some kind of royal personage. It’s not hard to imagine that, despite his recent refugee status, the self-regarding little man would have resented the severe lack of dignity he was now suffering. And it was to get worse even after they arrived at Helvoetsluys around lunchtime the next day. Here the packet had been waiting for them after Groves had written to Sir James Harris on the Saturday requesting that it be detained – ‘who informed me by Mr Rich, with whom I dined on the Monday, that it should be detained to the last moment’.

When they sailed for Harwich, the erstwhile Mr John Dixon was ‘watched two hours alternately on board by the ship’s crew, his hands and arms confined, and his meat cut up for him, &c’ and must have registered some regret that he was not enjoying the comforts of his earlier voyage, not to mention the much greater regret he felt about not managing to follow through his major life plan.

Groves ended his story by saying, ‘On Thursday night, eleven o’clock, we arrived at Harwich – supped – set off immediately, and arrived next day at noon at Sir Sampson Wright’s, before whom, and Mr Longlands, Brodie confessed he was the person advertised.’

The said Thomas Longlands, a London solicitor employed by the Crown officers of Scotland for this case, took up the next part of the tale when he appeared as a witness at the Deacon’s trial (page 146). He said that, immediately on arrival in London from the Netherlands, and before being sent back to Scotland, Brodie was ‘examined’ along with two trunks belonging to him. They contained items whose provenance was obviously suspect, and Longlands – who was present – discovered ‘a wrapper with some papers’ in one which ‘made a great impression on me at the time’.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.