Apologies in advance for another Berner Street-related thread but I’d like the opinions of others.
The question is - if we started a stopwatch as Louis Diemschitz halted his cart in Dutfield’s Yard and then stopped at as soon as he exited the gates to look for a Constable, watch would the stopwatch say. Just to remind everyone what Louis said at the inquest:
“All at once my pony shied at some object on the right. I looked to see what the object was, and observed that there was something unusual, but could not tell what. It was a dark object. I put my whip handle to it, and tried to lift it up, but as I did not succeed I jumped down from my barrow and struck a match. It was rather windy, and I could only get sufficient light to see that there was some figure there. I could tell from the dress that it was the figure of a woman.
[Coroner] You did not disturb it? - No. I went into the club and asked where my wife was. I found her in the front room on the ground floor.
[Coroner] What did you do with the pony? - I left it in the yard by itself, just outside the club door. There were several members in the front room of the club, and I told them all that there was a woman lying in the yard, though I could not say whether she was drunk or dead. I then got a candle and went into the yard, where I could see blood before I reached the body.
[Coroner] Did you touch the body? - No, I ran off at once for the police.“
So to sum up - he poked the body with his whip, he jumped down and tried to light a match but because it was so windy he could only get a brief light that told him that it was a woman, he went into the club and found his wife in the front ground floor room, he told those in that room (including his wife) that there was a body, he grabbed a candle and went back out, he saw the blood even before he got to the body and ran straight for a Constable.
So how long?
The question is - if we started a stopwatch as Louis Diemschitz halted his cart in Dutfield’s Yard and then stopped at as soon as he exited the gates to look for a Constable, watch would the stopwatch say. Just to remind everyone what Louis said at the inquest:
“All at once my pony shied at some object on the right. I looked to see what the object was, and observed that there was something unusual, but could not tell what. It was a dark object. I put my whip handle to it, and tried to lift it up, but as I did not succeed I jumped down from my barrow and struck a match. It was rather windy, and I could only get sufficient light to see that there was some figure there. I could tell from the dress that it was the figure of a woman.
[Coroner] You did not disturb it? - No. I went into the club and asked where my wife was. I found her in the front room on the ground floor.
[Coroner] What did you do with the pony? - I left it in the yard by itself, just outside the club door. There were several members in the front room of the club, and I told them all that there was a woman lying in the yard, though I could not say whether she was drunk or dead. I then got a candle and went into the yard, where I could see blood before I reached the body.
[Coroner] Did you touch the body? - No, I ran off at once for the police.“
So to sum up - he poked the body with his whip, he jumped down and tried to light a match but because it was so windy he could only get a brief light that told him that it was a woman, he went into the club and found his wife in the front ground floor room, he told those in that room (including his wife) that there was a body, he grabbed a candle and went back out, he saw the blood even before he got to the body and ran straight for a Constable.
So how long?
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