How Holmes Tamed a Twisted Tragedy

Investigators,

This latest case took us on a rather wild ride down Leman Street, but as per usual, our culprits didn’t stand a chance! Now that we know who actually attacked Ronald Lacey, the staff of Peck & Potters can work without fear of a lurking murderer (though word has it they’re considering a new company name…)

If you’re proud of your work on this case, or simply in need of a hint, make sure you check out Holmes’ solution too. Our favorite Master Sleuth has ways of exposing even the most obscure shreds of evidence.

Mystery awaits,

The Dear Holmes Team

——

18 July, 1898

My Dear Inspector Lestrade,

Thank you for bringing this matter to my attention. My Welsh case, although tedious, did present me with several moments requiring inaction. In those undesirable gaps it was a pleasure to have another knot to untangle.

I will start with one crucial detail, of which I was rather certain upon reading your first missive: the Twist theory simply does not hold water. For if he committed the crime, then I am being asked to believe that he turned to murder for nothing more than the loss of a single job. My friend, there have been poorer motives, for certain, but not many. Furthermore, we are being asked to believe that he calmly walked into Prescot Buildings, stabbed Mr. Lacey, and then walked out again without arousing any attention. The porter, and newspaper boy from Leman Street both attested to the fact that Twist walked out of the building and down Prescot Street— and at that time, neither saw him with the leather bag containing his supposed weapons. Even so, let us humour the possibility of him having hidden it on his person...

Had he done this, then, for some reason, he threw the bag onto the ground at the end of the street, where it turns left, before heading to his eventual hideaway.

One might argue that Twist was not visibly nervous because he was an experienced criminal; yet he left a man alive who could identify him, and he threw his weapons into the road, when it would have made much more sense to walk to Tower Bridge and drop the bag into the Thames.

No, Lestrade, the Twist theory will not do at all. Rather, I urge you to look much closer to Mr. Lacey. I have taken all the information received and come to a theory that fits the facts as described. As I see it, our villain was motivated by his abiding devotion to two loves— a woman, and the pound sterling. Both of these were in danger, and the removal of Mr. Lacey was the only way our killer thought he could preserve both.

Your first step is to arrest Mr. Peck for the murder of Ronald Lacey.

Consider this perspective: As we learned from Peck’s partner, Mr. Potter, the bulk of their business originally came from the church. The church later recommended the firm to Mr. Lacey and he, in turn, sent other clients to them. So one could say that their prosperity rested on their good relations with both Mr. Lacey and the Church of England.

We learned of the tense meeting between Mr. Lacey and Mr. Peck that was overheard by the secretary, Mr. Collins, and which nearly led to his dismissal. I believe that Mr. Lacey had worked out that Mrs. Spencer was consulting Mr. Peck about her pending divorce, which she had inadvertently confirmed to him at a charity ball. There was talk of consequences during this interview as well. We may not know the precise “consequence” Mr. Lacey used as a threat against Mr. Peck, but I wager that it was meant to deter the man from further engagement with Mrs. Spencer, whom he expected to marry. And Lacey did hold reasonable power over Peck and Potter’s enterprise— at the very least, if Mr. Lacey were to have withdrawn his business and spoken to church leaders, it would have led to a massive loss of reputation, let alone income. In this way, Peck was being forced to choose between Mrs. Spencer or his business. This angered him, no doubt, and he was desperate to hold onto both Mrs. Spencer’s affection, and a thriving business.

First and foremost, I posit that his scheme had to be built around the one thing he could not control— the schedule of the waste carriage. (We will return to this.) The first step, therefore, was to alter Mr. Lacey’s weekly appointment, so that it would coincide with the departure of said carriage from Prescot. This was almost certainly done within days of that very meeting.

I shall describe the remaining events as I believe they occurred.

On the day of the murder, at ten o’clock, Mr. Peck instructed Mr. Collins to obtain for him a sandwich from a nearby tea room. He said it was for his lunch. Mr. Collins did so and brought it back. A short while later, Mr. Peck carried a box from his room to the recently leased office next door. Inside this box, with the papers, was the sandwich and an addressed envelope. These were left on the desk and Mr. Peck then returned.

Shortly after eleven o’clock, Mr. Lacey arrived, climbed the stairs, walked to Peck’s office, and knocked on the door. He was admitted by Mr. Collins. Shortly afterwards, Mr. Collins, as per the agreement, left for his early lunch. These comings and goings were confirmed by Mr. Bainbridge in his testimony. On this occasion, Collins was told to stay away longer than in the past. Mr. Peck suggested that this was because the meeting was going to overrun. In reality, it was to remove any risk of Collins as a witness from what was to follow.

The matter with Mrs. Spencer was almost certainly one, if not the only, topic of conversation during that meeting. I suspect Mr. Peck invented a story about how he was dealing with Lacey’s demand. At some point before midday, the meeting came to an end. Mr. Peck escorted Mr. Lacey towards the door. They no doubt shook hands. During this moment, and without warning, Mr. Peck produced a knife and stabbed Mr. Lacey directly in his heart. Hence the absence of any defensive wounds. Had events occurred as Peck described them, Lacey would have seen the knife in Twist’s hand and would have made some attempt at defending himself.

We know that Mr. Peck was left-handed from the way his desk was arranged. No right-handed man keeps his ink-well and pen on the left side of his desk. This is how Mr. Peck could deliver the fatal blow accurately during a handshake. As Mr. Lacey fell to the ground, he tore the top pocket of Mr. Peck’s jacket. This was one of the earliest things to concern me. If Mr. Peck had fainted after Twist entered the room, why would his pocket have been damaged?

The deed done, Mr. Peck knew that he needed to keep the corpse warm to mislead the surgeon. He wrapped it in the Persian rug, which left a small bloodstain on it, propped it against the radiator, and waited until he was certain of the arrival of Twist and the departure of the waste carriage.

At quarter-past twelve, Twist entered the building and was heard entering an office by Mr. Bainbridge. Unlike the arrival of Mr. Lacey, there was no knock on the door first— we can agree that this is normally the polite thing to do. Which says to me that John Twist knew nobody would be in the room. I imagine that Mr. Peck contacted him, some days previously, using the details held by his partner. He offered Twist a small and simple job, giving him instructions to arrive on a particular date and enter office two. He promised him something to eat, which he was directed to consume in the office, before carrying out the commission. While he ate the meal, he would be occupied within the building, out of sight, for several minutes— a detail that would go on to align itself with Peck’s story.

Thus, Twist entered the room, ate the sandwich, and put the paper it was wrapped in into the rubbish bin under the desk. You will recall I asked if you found similar paper in Mr. Peck’s office. You did not, which proved to me that the sandwich was not for Peck himself. Furthermore, his later irritation, when being kept out of the office, was inspired by his need to dispose of that wrapping paper.

Also awaiting him on the desk was the envelope, his true assignment, addressed to a certain building at the western end of Prescot Street. Its purpose was simply to send Twist in a specific direction when he left the building. Once he had eaten his lunch, Twist calmly left the offices, as witnessed, walked to the Prescot Street address, and completed the task. He then went about his business— until learning he was wanted for murder, and subsequently absconding.

Meanwhile, at the Prescot offices, Peck oversaw Twist’s departure before proceeding to the next stage of his plan. He placed the bloody knife, and the gun, which he quietly took from Mrs. Spencer, into a leather bag. As you observed, the blinds in his office facing Leman Street were closed, which points to Peck’s premeditation. The window onto Prescot Street was another matter. No windows faced it from other buildings and the street was often darker around midday due to the tall buildings restricting sunlight.

From that open window, Peck looked out and saw the waste carriage, which his plot relied on. As soon as the two men went inside, he dropped the leather bag of weapons onto the carriage roof. The thick bag not only kept the weapons together, but also reduced the risk of them bouncing off and resulted in less noise when they hit the carriage. After returning and loading the carriage, the men set off down Prescot Street towards Mansell Street— the same route that Twist had just taken. At the end, they took a sharp left towards the river and the bag fell from the roof of the carriage onto the street. It was of no concern to Peck when this happened as long as they were found in the same direction as Twist had travelled. And beyond him, the only person aware of the leather bag on the carriage had been young Stevie, selling newspapers.

Having disposed of the weapons, Peck was almost done. He dragged the rug back to the desk, unrolled it, and positioned the body of Mr. Lacey. He turned over the chairs to support the story he would later tell, and then loudly dropped to the floor in the corridor. He didn’t intend to attract the attention of Bainbridge in particular— anyone would have sufficed.

The police were sent for and Peck finally told the story he had so carefully crafted. The police surgeon, thanks to the warmth of the body, set a time of death at least thirty minutes later than it actually was. This put the death in alignment with Twist’s arrival and departure, while the weapons would eventually be found on the route he walked. It is no surprise he appeared to be guilty, but even with all of this in place, Peck’s assignment was incomplete. For if Twist were found, and he told his version of events, it would simply be a matter of denying it... save for one small detail. The letter he was tasked with delivering. The letter had to be retrieved.

Fortunately, Peck had previously leased the building, under the name of a client he knew was away from England, and paid in cash. As soon as possible, he donned a modest disguise and visited the address, retrieving and, most likely, destroying the envelope. I doubt it had any contents at all.

In the unlikely event that he was pressed on the matter, Mr. Peck would have his partner Potter tell the police about the incident involving Twist at Mr. Lacey’s property, and use this tale of theft to help justify a motive. Witnesses saw Twist enter the building, leave it around ten minutes later, and walk down the road where the weapons were found. And if he defends his path by directing police to the letter and Peck’s assignment, they would find nothing but a vacant property. Finally, the surgeon’s estimate of the time of death would tally with the time Twist was seen. He would have gone to the gallows protesting his innocence like so many men have.

All of the events and actions described throughout your investigation, taken together, are incredibly difficult for Peck to account for with an innocent explanation. His arrest should come easily. I also suspect Mrs. Spencer will become a valuable fount of information once she is faced with the possibility of her lover’s crimes.

My thanks again, Lestrade, for a fascinating case. Watson seldom writes about cases he has not been personally involved in. I might try and get him to make this an exception as it was quite devious— a true test of my abilities.

Yours sincerely,

PS. I have a request. Do be sure to find this Twist fellow, personally, and see to it that he is compensated for what he has been forced to endure— something more substantial than a sandwich, I beg you.