The
book is a collection of 21 gripping and mysterious murder cases
committed on the Island over the last 150 years, from the brutal
slaying of a spinster in one dark night on a lonely track near
Ramsey to the infamous "Golden Egg Murder" in central Douglas.
Keith's book does not cover any murders after 1982 to minimise any
distress and heartache to these more recent victim's
families.
.
Mrs
Frances Alice Quayle was 55 years old and lived alone at 40 Bucks
Road in central Douglas. This house no longer stands as it was
bull-dozed in 1996 when the new Courts of Justice was built. She
ran a small grocery, wine and spirits shop next to her house
opposite Circular Road. She was well respected by her neighbours
and friends and she was known to be fond of animals. She had a
small garden behind a wall along the narrow lane joining Tynwald
Street to Clarke Street; just off Fairfield Terrace, which was only
a short walk from her house. She routinely went to the garden in
the morning and on most nights to feed the rabbits after her shop
closed at 10.30pm in the evening.
After closing her
shop on the evening of Saturday the 25th of April, 1914, Mrs.
Quayle called at a sweetshop opposite her house and spoke to a
Miss. Catherine Quayle for about 5 minutes. After buying some
sweets there she headed for her small garden. There were no
reported sightings of her on the Sunday and a young boy was later
to describe how he called at her house and found her door open but
had not been in.
The
following morning a neighbour, John Kelly, a car showroom owner
whose premises were opposite Mrs Quayle’s shop noticed that
it was not open for business at its usual time. Feeling uneasy when
he found that the blinds were still down and the door still locked
he spoke to Miss Quayle at the sweetshop. The pair went back to Mrs
Quayle’s shop and Miss Quayle found that the side door was
open. Letting herself in she found that the gas was still burning
in the kitchen. She called out to Mrs Quayle several times but
received no responses.
Kelly then decided
to try to contact Mrs Quayle’s son-in-law, John Cowley, so he
telephoned Heron and Brearley’s where Cowley worked. Kelly
soon met with Cowley in Albert Street and explained his concerns to
Cowley. They searched the house but there was no sign of Mrs.
Quayle. They then decided to try Mrs. Quayle’s small garden.
After walking up the narrow lane they reached the door in the high
wall surrounding the garden (see picture above) and tried it but
found it to be locked. Cowley, assisted by Kelly, climbed with
difficulty to the top of the wall from where he saw his
mother-in-law’s body.
Dropping down into
the garden while Kelly ran to summon medical aid, Cowley found that
there was no key in the lock on the inside of the door, so he used
a spade to force the lock. Kelly soon returned with Dr. Henry
Caird. Mrs. Quayle’s body was discovered in a huddled-up
sitting position with her face towards the ground and the top of
the head beaten in. There was a lot of blood surrounding the body.
Three of the victim’s fingers had been broken in the attack
and splashes of blood were found on the shed, the rabbit hutch and
the greenhouse. The blows to Mrs Quayle’s head were so severe
that she had suffered skull fractures and bone had been driven into
her brain. The body was removed to the mortuary.
During the ensuing
enquires, it was revealed that several neighbours had heard a
scream at approximately 11.00pm on the Saturday night. No one,
however, had witnessed the crime but quite a few people came
forward to report that they had been in and around the lane on the
night in question. Although there was no definite motive, it was
felt that the murderer had followed Mrs. Quayle into the garden
with the intention of attacking her. It appeared that after
attacking Mrs. Quayle the killer had locked the door to the garden
behind him/her before fleeing the scene. The blood-stained keys
were found by a young boy in a lane near Princes Street, about 100
yards from the garden gate, and they included one which fitted the
lock to the gate.
After searching
the properties belonging to the murdered woman it was found that
there did not appear to be anything missing from either Mrs.
Quayle’s house or shop and police later found approximately
£79 in cash in her house. During an extensive search for the murder
weapon, a large eye-bolt (a tool used for tightening the wire
supports on telegraph poles which is approximately 13” in
length and 2.75” in width and made of iron) was found by a
policeman on land near Noble’s Hall; a few hundred yards away
from the murder scene.
Despite all the
efforts of the police, they were unable to solve the mystery of who
had killed Mrs. Quayle. Many vagrants were questioned without any
light being shed on the mystery. The verdict of the inquest jury
was "Wilful murder by a person or persons unknown". The murder
remains unsolved to this day.
The
surrounding buildings will affect the accuracy of your GPSr, but
I'm sure the hint (even if you need it) will take you right to the
cache. Please bring your own pen as the geocache is a
nano.