Move to Murder: Who Killed Julia Wallace?

[Herlock Sholmes]

.The schedule was a template for a watch-and-wait plan for Parry & Chum.

Wallace would certainly turn up at some point. The chess club was his long-standing, primary (practically sole) social outlet.

Monday 19th January was the final Monday the plan could have been put into effect. And Wallace turned up...

How long was the short of cash Parry and the phantom prepared to sit and wait until Wallace went to chess? Another 2 weeks? 3 weeks? A month?

Then when he went finally went to chess, fortunately via the back of the house where he could be seen, Parry then put in a plan almost totally reliant on luck. Luck not only to get Wallace going to Menlove Gardens but also luck to get Wallace to mention the names ‘Qualtrough’ and MGE’ to Julia to, at minimum, make it ‘possible’ that Julia ‘might’ let the Accomplice in.

Clever planner.....my a*@e!

[Herlock Sholmes]

Wallace would have turned left into Breck Road, in any case.

Maybe Wallace just liked to stretch his legs, instead of waiting at a tram stop. We'd do this as kids. If there wasn't a bus coming, walk to the next stop...

Breck Road was one of JB Priestley's Liverpool "long sad roads" and you would certainly hear the approaching tram's "whining" from quite a distance. The stops were about 450 feet apart, so little risk of being caught short...

If Parry was in Breck Road watching for Wallace to leave how could he have known that Wallace wouldn’t have gone out the front door then up onto Lower Breck to the phone box tram stop unseen?

[RodCrosby]

Of course not.

Wallace’s natural thoughts would have been.

Why contact specifically me and not The Prudential?
How would someone know that I attended the chess club?
Why would someone contact me at the chess club?

And then, if Beattie had told Wallace that the caller had asked for his address, he’d have very naturally thought “why did he pointlessly ask for my address and then go on to ask me to go and see him? Makes no sense.”

The caller wasn’t an expert in social engineering at all. If it was Parry then he was an idiot for coming up with a plan that relied on luck rather than planning. If it was Wallace then the plan couldn’t fail.

Must try harder I’m afraid.

I answered the points in my original response, if you care to look.

And I have repeatedly demolished your false logic regarding the relative difficulties faced by Wallace versus Parry & Chum as perps...

Wallace: almost insuperable multiplicative risks, such that no-one sane would attempt - like playing Russian roulette nine times.
Parry & Chum: negligible risk, the only 'risk' being they would walk away empty-handed...

[RodCrosby]

If Parry was in Breck Road watching for Wallace to leave how could he have known that Wallace wouldn’t have gone out the front door then up onto Lower Breck to the phone box tram stop unseen?

As I have shown previously.

There was at least one obvious place where a watcher could see both routes. [there was no need to watch the house, to see which door he exited by, etc.]

I've stood on the spot. If I could figure that out, so could Parry...

[Abby Normal]

the scenario that makes most sense to me is that she is wearing the mac as she goes to light the fire, and the killer wacks her with the poker, she falls into the fire, either gets out herself or is pulled out and thrown on the ground and her killer continues to beat her dead.

[RodCrosby]

the scenario that makes most sense to me is that she is wearing the mac as she goes to light the fire, and the killer wacks her with the poker, she falls into the fire, either gets out herself or is pulled out and thrown on the ground and her killer continues to beat her dead.

Perhaps, although it doesn't really fit with the bloodstains/spatter...

[Herlock Sholmes]

I answered the points in my original response, if you care to look.

And I have repeatedly demolished your false logic regarding the relative difficulties faced by Wallace versus Parry & Chum as perps...

Wallace: almost insuperable multiplicative risks, such that no-one sane would attempt - like playing Russian roulette nine times.
Parry & Chum: negligible risk, the only 'risk' being they would walk away empty-handed...

You haven’t answered the points Rod because you never really do. You answer your own points.

For the Qualtrough Plan to get Wallace out of the house on the Tuesday night and to allow Julia to admit The Phantom-

Parry - Beattie forgets to pass on the message. Wallace doesn’t go.
Someone at the club says there’s no MGE someone is playing a trick on you. Wallace doesnt go.
On the Tuesday Wallace checks a directory (not hard really) and discovers - no MGE and so Wallace doesn’t go.
Wallace phones Crewe (as he lives locally) to ask about MGE. Crewe tells him there’s no such place and so Wallace doesn’t go.
Wallace himself knows that there’s no MGE. And so Wallace doesn’t go.
Wallace decides that after working all day for the company he doesn’t see why he should trudge around at night too so Wallace doesn’t go.
He and Julia have plans for the night and so Wallace doesn’t go.
Julia is I’ll and he doesn’t want to leave her alone for two nights running. So Wallace doesn’t go.

And then, just to top it off, there is absolutely no way in the world that Parry could have been even approaching confident that Wallace would mention ‘Qualtrough’ or MGE to Julia. No way. So no mention of Qualtrough means that Julia wouldn’t have let him in - plan over.

And even if Wallace did mention the name it’s still not certain that Julia would have let him in at night whilst she was alone in the house.

And so, as I keep saying, and will continue to keep saying no matter how inconvenient this is not a great plan. It’s not even a good plan. A plan that can fail in so many obvious and easy ways in not a good plan.

But guess what. There’s only one way in the entire world where this plan become infallible. And that’s if it was perpetrated by William Wallace.

Back to the drawing board Rodders.

[Herlock Sholmes]

Another point worth making. I think that it was first mentioned in some form by Rod’s favourite author (the man who got the culprit correct) James Murphy.

If Parry was desperate for cash why didn’t he just wait until he’d collected a hefty round of insurance money and then get The Phantom to ‘mug’ him in the street. Parry then half heartedly gives chase but The Phantom disappears down an alley. Then a dishevelled looking Parry (employing all of his much vaunted acting skills) staggers into the police station to give a ‘description’ of his attacker.

He might even have given it a couple of weeks before doing it again. “It was the same man officer. I’m scared stiff. He must be targeting me.”

Simples.

[Herlock Sholmes]

the scenario that makes most sense to me is that she is wearing the mac as she goes to light the fire, and the killer wacks her with the poker, she falls into the fire, either gets out herself or is pulled out and thrown on the ground and her killer continues to beat her dead.

It’s worth mentioning that if it’s being suggested that Julia put the mackintosh over her shoulders to answer the door because of the cold air why then hadnt she put the mackintosh over her shoulders when she actually went outside to accompany William to the back gate in the same cold air?

[RodCrosby]

Yawn...

And if Parry & Chum's plan fails, so what?

If Wallace's multiple-russian-roulette 'plan' fails, he dies....

Try employing logic, instead of absurd obsessions.

[etenguy]

the scenario that makes most sense to me is that she is wearing the mac as she goes to light the fire, and the killer wacks her with the poker, she falls into the fire, either gets out herself or is pulled out and thrown on the ground and her killer continues to beat her dead.

I'm not sure why we believe the parlour fire was turned on, nor if it was, why the killer would turn it off. I assume it is because of the burnt mackintosh and singed dress. The burning may have occurred in the kitchen where there was a real fire. There were coins on the hearth, possibly a struggle if Julia caught him replacing the cash box. The party then ended in the parlour as Julia tried to escape him - perhaps first reaching a bolted front door preventing her escape.

[etenguy]

It’s worth mentioning that if it’s being suggested that Julia put the mackintosh over her shoulders to answer the door because of the cold air why then hadnt she put the mackintosh over her shoulders when she actually went outside to accompany William to the back gate in the same cold air?

It seems a little strange to me also.

[RodCrosby]

I'm not sure why we believe the parlour fire was turned on, nor if it was, why the killer would turn it off. I assume it is because of the burnt mackintosh and singed dress. The burning may have occurred in the kitchen where there was a real fire. There were coins on the hearth, possibly a struggle if Julia caught him replacing the cash box. The party then ended in the parlour as Julia tried to escape him - perhaps first reaching a bolted front door preventing her escape.

Oliver KC: You have expressed the opinion clearly that that skirt was burnt on the gas-fire in that room ?
Roberts (Forensic Analyst): That is my opinion.

Oliver KC: That would involve that the gas-fire in that room was alight ?
Roberts: Yes.

[Herlock Sholmes]

Yawn...

And if Parry & Chum's plan fails, so what?

If Wallace's multiple-russian-roulette 'plan' fails, he dies....

Try employing logic, instead of absurd obsessions.

It’s like trying to teach the rules of chess to a Fish!

How can you keep moving the goalposts?

You can’t keep saying that it was a clever/feasible plan and then when it’s pointed out that it was nothing of the kind you reply with a ‘so what’ attitude.

I’ll make it simple. If you go to the trouble of contriving a plan. One which includes learning the habits of the victim(s), watching their movements, a phone call in a disguised voice, a confidence trick to gain admittance followed by a bit of stealthy light-fingeredness and a pre-arranged escape plan then we kind of get the impression that they really want this to succeed.

No one Rodders.....I’ll repeat... no one...would go to all that trouble and effort on the off chance. No one expecting a large haul of cash would say, especially if they really needed it, hey, if we get it we get it..who cares really?

This shows the utterly desperate lengths that you’ll go to to defend your scenario.

[etenguy]

Oliver KC: You have expressed the opinion clearly that that skirt was burnt on the gas-fire in that room ?
Roberts (Forensic Analyst): That is my opinion.

Oliver KC: That would involve that the gas-fire in that room was alight ?
Roberts: Yes.

Thanks Rod - however, it doesn't make it so.