Bowyer´s inquest testimony

[Pierre]

It can´t be a curtain

I have no idea what that strip of light means, but I would like to make the following point :

If what we are looking at in the background is curtain, then where is the pilot coat? I know that Harvey's laundry was dear to her heart and she more than once rattled off a list of it, but surely she didn't manage to get the police to give her the beloved pilot coat while they were actually still working in the room? So why would the police take down the pilot coat? Indeed, where would they put it?

If it was a curtain, the wall would cut right through the table. There is a corner between the window and the other side of the wall.

So it must be a door on one side and a wall on the other.

And by the way, look at the small white spot on the doorknob. Someone thought this was light, but the photograph has many such small spots.

So it might not be a doorknob.

The question is if the wall to the right is to wide to be a wall. Look at the photo from the outside. And another question is if we think James Tully´s drawing is accurate.

Regards Pierre

[Wickerman]

Maybe they pushed a chair out of their way behind the table.
The knob is about the right height for the back corner of a Victorian chair.



It could always be just a trick of light, these old black and white plates are full of shadows that some have thought were weapons, written letters, medical instruments... I wouldn't put a whole lot of faith in that dark image being a knob belonging to anything.

[Robert St Devil]

This is the room done slightly more to scale for visual understanding. I based the sliding scale on the possibility that the brick next to the door was between 6 an 12". I used 9". I also think you might be able to see the chair in front of the window (dunno).

This is the angle I think the photog used for MJK3. As you can see, it would point in the direction of the door an dbroken pane window, and caught them in the image.

[Wickerman]

Wickerman,

Sorry to disagree with you,

Disagreement is good, it helps to exercise the brains cells.

If it is not a door knob, what could it be?

Various reports indicate there was a washstand behind the headboard, so just to the left of the door in that picture.

Obviously, I can't find a suitable washstand, but look at the wooden knobs on the four top corners of this Victorian washstand.
Something similar to this is a possibility.

[Elamarna]

Joshua,

we do not know where the light source for this photo is located, nor indeed what source was used.
Tricks of the light could explain many of the strange things different people see in the photo, however as far as i am aware, a highlight must be produced by a reflection off of something.

The same point I have made several times with regards to the light stopping, still applies.

What do you think about Michaels view that the door opened the other way?

it really is interesting how we all see it different.

I am still not sure what i think is the strongest argument on this issue. Indeed it is still possible that the photo is a fake. who knows?

regards

[Elamarna]

Michael

The plans I have seen on this site have suggested that the door was hinged on the left hand side as you look at the door from inside 13. This is obviously different from what you are saying, can you supply a link for the hinge being on the right hand side please?

However in that scenario I still do not see how the strip of light would only show in the top portion of the photo.
In addition if the light is from a slight opening of the door, then the explanation that the strip stops an inch or so above the table because the hinge obstructs it no longer applies.

regards

[Joshua Rogan]

I noticed Simon Woods Statement that Photoshop appeared to show the strip was in front of the background,
Not having Photoshop I used GIMP which is much the same and got a similar result

This is interesting as it fits my theory that the strip of light is in fact the edge of the half-open door, which is pointing toward the large window.
Funny how so many people can look at the same photo and yet have different interpretations.

I don't know what to make of the 'doorknob'? If it is the door handle, the light patch shining on it appears to be on the top left side. Having shiny brass doorknobs in my house, I have tried to replicate this effect, but cannot unless the viewpoint is substantially higher than it, or the light source is moved. So I think it's probably just a trick of the light.

[Michael W Richards]

The door open inward, hinged on the right hand side. as you look from inside the room. The light is the door open a crack.

The latch was accessible through the broken pane, so it was on the left hand side of the door, but one witness account stated that Mary used a string to access it.

[Joshua Rogan]

1.MJK1/2 was taken using natural light and was taken from the larger window and was the first picture taken. it is my view that this is the crime scene as first found.

Interestingly, the Telegraph 10th Nov says it was taken through one of the windows (unspecified) which was removed entirely (although other things it says seem inaccurate so not sure if I believe it);

"While this examination was being made a photographer, who, in the meantime, had been sent for, arrived and
TOOK PHOTOGRAPHS OF THE BODY,
the organs, the room, and its contents. Superintendent Arnold then had the door of the room forced."

If true though, it may suggest what the other 'missing' photographs might show.

[Elamarna]

Wickerman,

Sorry to disagree with you, however MJK3 does show what appears to be a Door knob to the left of the strip, this would seem to precluded the light being on the hinge side of the Door.
This knob is fairly obvious and has a highlight from the light source, If it is not a door knob, what could it be? it would appear to be the wrong shape and at the wrong height for some kind of clothes hook.

More importantly, the light should be seen under the table top if it is a strip of light from the door. There is space between the body and the table for this to appear but there is nothing.
Whilst of course the door may have been ill fitting , it is unlikely that if light is seen in the top area , there would not be some indication of it in the lower area.
I assume you explain the light stopping some distance above the table, is due you believe to the presence of a hinge?

regards

[Robert]

I have no idea what that strip of light means, but I would like to make the following point :

If what we are looking at in the background is curtain, then where is the pilot coat? I know that Harvey's laundry was dear to her heart and she more than once rattled off a list of it, but surely she didn't manage to get the police to give her the beloved pilot coat while they were actually still working in the room? So why would the police take down the pilot coat? Indeed, where would they put it?

[Elamarna]

Dear Sam,

This was my view up until earlier today, my view was that you could see a shape through it as you say, and given it did not continue under the table i concluded along with Robert i think that it was light from the window.

However having spent much of the last few days reading the various threads and dissertations on the issue, I noticed Simon Woods Statement that Photoshop appeared to show the strip was in front of the background,
Not having Photoshop I used GIMP which is much the same and got a similar result.
While this is not conclusive it has swayed my view. However i am happy to accept it COULD be from a gap in the curtains. I therefore was remiss in not including it as a possible explanation.

MJK1/2 does fit to both Bowyer's and Phillips's statements.

[Wickerman]

Re the light strip, it's possible to make out some bright, out-of-focus blobs lying beyond it, from which it appears that we are actually looking through a gap of some kind. Whether that gap was caused by a door, a partly-occluding cupboard/cabinet, or the space in a curtain, we are definitely looking through the light strip, rather than at its surface.

Yes, I think the strip of light is the crack between the door and door post, the hinge side. The door is just open a few degrees.

[Pierre]

Re the light strip, it's possible to make out some bright, out-of-focus blobs lying beyond it, from which it appears that we are actually looking through a gap of some kind. Whether that gap was caused by a door, a partly-occluding cupboard/cabinet, or the space in a curtain, we are definitely looking through the light strip, rather than at its surface.

Hi Sam,

Yes, I think you are right.

Regards Pierre

[Sam Flynn]

Re the light strip, it's possible to make out some bright, out-of-focus blobs lying beyond it, from which it appears that we are actually looking through a gap of some kind. Whether that gap was caused by a door, a partly-occluding cupboard/cabinet, or the space in a curtain, we are definitely looking through the light strip, rather than at its surface.