The Suicide of Pigott

[Simon Wood]

Thank you, Robert.

[Robert St Devil]

hi simon. i will double check but i blv the [judicial deposit of the South] was near Toledo Spain. I also remember seeing the name of the Catholic cemetery that denied Pigott a sacred burial. i will post them when i go back thru the articles.

[David Orsam]

Hi David,

You've taken me too literally. Told in the sense of having been informed in some way, shape or form.

I know what the word "told" means Simon. My response was that we have not been told or informed in any way, shape or form of the confidential communications between the Home Office, the Foreign Office and the British Ambassador. I had to go and discover these communications for myself buried away in an obscure Foreign office file at the National Archives (and then I told you about them).

I've been reading "The Crime of the Century: Being the Life Story of Richard Pigott," by the prolific Dick Donovan [aka James Edward Preston Muddock], 1904.

Apparently, Pigott was buried "in a nameless and dishonoured grave in alien soil. In a very few years it will be impossible to even discover his grave should anyone have the curiosity to search for it."

All very neat and tidy.

You think Pigott's grave is neat and tidy?

That may be, and I can see why you would want to change the subject, but who cares where the Spanish authorities buried Pigott? What possible difference does it make to anything?

[Simon Wood]

Hi David,

You've taken me too literally. Told in the sense of having been informed in some way, shape or form.

I've been reading "The Crime of the Century: Being the Life Story of Richard Pigott," by the prolific Dick Donovan [aka James Edward Preston Muddock], 1904.

Apparently, Pigott was buried "in a nameless and dishonoured grave in alien soil. In a very few years it will be impossible to even discover his grave should anyone have the curiosity to search for it."

All very neat and tidy.

Regards,

Simon

[David Orsam]

Hi David,

But it worked.

We have been told what Scotland Yard, the Home Office and the Foreign Office were doing to try and capture Pigott and bring him back to England.

We do not "know exactly."

No you are wrong Simon, we have not been told anything, that's the whole point. The correspondence that reveals the true picture was all confidential, contained in confidential files.

No-one told me where any of this correspondence was to found today. I had to find it for myself in obscure files which it doesn't seem like anyone else has ever consulted.

[Simon Wood]

Hi David,

But it worked.

We have been told what Scotland Yard, the Home Office and the Foreign Office were doing to try and capture Pigott and bring him back to England.

We do not "know exactly."

Regards,

Simon

[David Orsam]

I have my doubts, but unfortunately we shall never know.

You are quite wrong Simon (perhaps due to the continuing effects of the Sanatogen?).

We know exactly what Scotland Yard, the Home Office and the Foreign Office were doing to try and capture Pigott and bring him back to England. It is clearly and fully documented. And it did not involve taking steps to ensure he didn't make a second appearance at the Special Commission.

[Simon Wood]

Hi David,

I have my doubts, but unfortunately we shall never know.

As to your other query, yes indeed.

I'd probably had too much Sanatogen.

Regards,

Simon

[David Orsam]

Hi David,

What would I have done had I been in charge at Scotland Yard?

Followed orders by taking steps to ensure that Pigott didn't make a second appearance at the Special Commission.

No such orders were issued Simon. But it seems that you would have been happy to participate in some form of conspiracy (to murder?) which is strange.

Can I take it that you've abandoned your claim that you "wrote no such thing in your book" when I said that you wrote that Pigott was being kept under 24 hour surveillance by the RUC?

[Simon Wood]

Hi Robert St Devil,

Thank you.

You've done a great job.

Regards,

Simon

[Robert St Devil]

hello simon. i've tried to keep the articles as unique from each other as possible, and i've attempted to filter out any duplicity to keep the flow of the story moving. there were several pieces written about the suicide of pigott that first week of March, but most of them only serve to repeat the established sequence of events or they borrow material from a common source.

[Simon Wood]

Hi David,

What would I have done had I been in charge at Scotland Yard?

Followed orders by taking steps to ensure that Pigott didn't make a second appearance at the Special Commission.

Regards,

Simon

[David Orsam]

Henry Matthews's quote was closing the stable door after the horse had bolted.

Well we know that now, Simon, but the police in 1889 weren't blessed with psychic powers (amazing how many people I need to tell this to).

It's all very well saying with hindsight that we know that Pigott was in Paris while the police were looking for him in the UK but they didn't know it at the time.

Had the police not bothered to put out an alert at the ports and train stations I do wonder what you would have said about that!

But hey, Simon, please do tell us what you think the police could and should have done which they did not do.

Even better, what would YOU have done if you had been in charge at Scotland Yard on 26 February 1889?

[David Orsam]

"They were not keeping him under 24 hour surveillance as you seem to think (and have said in your book)."

I wrote no such thing in my book.

So what did you mean in your book when you said that Pigott:

"whilst under twenty-four hour surveillance by two officers from the Royal Irish Constabulary, fled to Madrid"?

[Simon Wood]

Hi David,

"They were not keeping him under 24 hour surveillance as you seem to think (and have said in your book)."

I wrote no such thing in my book.

Henry Matthews's quote was closing the stable door after the horse had bolted.

Regards,

Simon