Originally posted by The Rookie Detective
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Phillips: The left arm was extended from the elbow, and a packet of cachous was in the hand. Similar ones were in the gutter.
Blackwell: I can confirm Dr. Phillips as to the appearances at the mortuary. I may add that I removed the cachous from the left hand of the deceased, which was nearly open. The packet was lodged between the thumb and the first finger, and was partially hidden from view. It was I who spilt them in removing them from the hand.
That would seem to explain the cachous in the gutter. However, when Phillips was recalled, he was asked...
Does the presence of the cachous in the left hand indicate that the murder was committed very suddenly and without any struggle?
...and replied...
Some of the cachous were scattered about the yard.
Cachous scattered about the yard is very different from cachous in the gutter. So, what accounts for this scattering?
Foreman: Do you not think that the woman would have dropped the packet of cachous altogether if she had been thrown to the ground before the injuries were inflicted?
Phillips: That is an inference which the jury would be perfectly entitled to draw.
Imagine, for the sake of argument, that the foreman was referring to the victim's throwing to the ground by the BS man. If we infer that this would result in Stride dropping the cachous packet, we should expect to see cachous scattered about on the footway, outside the line of the gates, but there is no evidence for this. On the contrary, the evidence is for a momentary altercation in the yard, just prior to Stride being forced to the ground, in which some of the cachous are scattered around.
All the above suggests that the cachous packet does not make an appearance until Stride is in the yard. So, why then?
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