Bible John: A New Suspect by Jill Bavin-Mizzi

[Herlock Sholmes]

Maybe I am going off track a bit (apologies but its a trait of mine) Herlock in his very good summary reminds me that the two first victims handbags were missing.
Herlock (earlier) points us to the fact that a handbag belonging to Helen was found a few days after her murder in Saltcoats.
Although there is mention of this handbag being lost or stolen sometime before her murder it has to been seen as odd and arousing some suspicion. When we consider the McInnes was quickly eliminated as a suspect and how a murderer would soon get rid of evidence. Is there a link.
It has been established that Helen did not have a handbag with her at the Barrowlands and suggested she didn't use a handbag much but this seems worthy of further thought.
Not sure where this takes us but have the police missed yet another clue in all of this
NW

It does seem a strange coincidence that not long after the murder a handbag belonging to Helen is found in Saltcoats. How were they so certain as to when she’d lost it? We can only assume family. Coincidence occur though. It’s certainly a curiosity.

[Herlock Sholmes]

"Early enquiries produced a suspect immediately; he fitted the description given by Jeannie, he had been at the Barrowland, he had been at the Barrowland on the Thursday, he was married but was known to frequent the dancing. Someone told the police of his identity and that he was believed to live in Stonehouse. On the Sunday preparations were made for an identification parade to be held at 11.00am, but it didn't take place until 5.00pm; the suspect had moved from Stonehouse and the police chased around Lanarkshire all day until he was finally traced at Newarthill, near Airdrie. But when he was paraded Jeannie failed to identify anyone on the parade."

…..

It’s interesting that Beattie doesn’t mention Hamilton police station when talking to Stoddart (perhaps not particularly surprising if he considered it an unimportant detail? Or perhaps Stoddart thought it unimportant and so omitted it?) More interesting for me is that he makes no mention of the Moylan’s card which surely has to be considered the vital clue by anyone’s assessment? I can only assume that this was because he didn’t want to provide the Press with the starting point of a trail to follow. Is this an example of him shielding the McInnes’s family?

The fact that there was a 6 hour delay in getting McInnes onto an ID parade is explained by the fact, as we had all assumed, that it took time for the police track him down…maybe after a few hints from Sandy. So a likely explanation imo is that while the junior officers set off to find McInnes, Beattie and his three colleagues went and waited at the nearby Hamilton Station. At this time Alexander Hannah was back at Patrick Marine. Obviously they couldn’t have expected him to remain there indefinitely, so at some point I suspect that someone like Jimmy McInnes called Hamilton station and told Beattie that Hannah wanted to go…perhaps to work and Beattie told him to let him go as they could call him back at some other time but then, when Jeannie failed to pick McInnes out, they never bothered calling him in or indeed the bouncers or the manager of the Barrowland. This placed all of his eggs in one Jeannie-shaped basket. What if Hannah, one of the bouncers and the club manager had all said “yes, that’s the man.” Was Jeannie’s evidence so strong and so infallible that she would have outweighed three contrary ones. And it’s worth saying I believe….three witnesses that hadn’t been drinking and who weren’t trying to process the violent death of a sister.

It also has to be pointed out for balance that when Hannah and the bouncer eventually ID’d McInnes from photographs it was 17 years after the event. It’s also worth mentioning that one officer in the case (was it Johnstone? I’m unsure) said that Jeannie had told him that she’d been drunk that night. Maybe Jeannie didn’t want to admit that she was drunk because she felt that it might have reflected badly on her and maybe her sister too given the standards of the time? Alcohol wasn’t available at the Barrowland but it was well known that women often sneaked some in their handbags (and I’m sure that men would have found a way too - were they searched before going in?) Maybe Castlemilk John had a some alcohol which he shared with her? We can’t call Jeannie a liar without evidence but it was hardly a huge lie. Perhaps she did have a few drinks and if so perhaps she wasn’t the most reliable of witnesses?

[Herlock Sholmes]

4. Helen Puttock Meets Bible John
Helen and her sister Jeannie met two friends, Marion Cadder and Jean O'Donnell at the Trader's Tavern at 9.00pm and left for the Barrowland Ballroom at 1.00pm.
The Trader's Tavern is 130 yards from the Barrowland.

Hi Barn,

Minor typo…that should read “….left for the Barrowland Ballroom at 10.00pm.”

[barnflatwyngarde]

Hi Barn,

Minor typo…that should read “….left for the Barrowland Ballroom at 10.00pm.”

That's not a minor typo, it's a major typo.

Thanks for spotting it Herlock.

[Herlock Sholmes]

That's not a minor typo, it's a major typo.

Thanks for spotting it Herlock.

No problem Barn. I’ve done some real howlers on here. It’s easily done.

[cobalt]

HS wrote:

when Jeannie failed to pick McInnes out, they never bothered calling him in or indeed the bouncers or the manager of the Barrowland. This placed all of his eggs in one Jeannie-shaped basket.

That is probably the explanation which makes most sense, although it also screams incompetent police investigation.

Here's a couple of scenarios.
1. McInnes and his two Moylans colleagues finish their furniture show duties and it's suggested since they are in the big smoke they spend a night out on the town. They are all smartly dressed in suits so look the part. McInnes, possibly a bit older and the only National Service 'veteran,' promises his two lads from the sticks that he will show them the city lights and how 'to pull a bird.' However they have their work the following morning (Friday) so have to catch a late night bus back to Hamilton. Inside the Barrowland the colleagues eventually split up from McInnes and don't see him before making their way back to the Hamilton area on a late bus.

The problem here is that McInnes, dishevelled and with scratches on his person, has to turn up for work on the Friday morning same as them and he can hardly not attract attention looking as described at 2am on the Friday morning. Surely to goodness the police checked when he arrived at work and in what state of repair?

2. McInnes, being a tight fisted type, agrees to a night out at the Barrowland but says he will meet up with his colleagues later after going to a relative for his early evening meal. The colleagues enter the Barrowland, handing put the odd Moylan card, but McInnes has second thoughts and catches a bus back to Hamilton instead where he is remembered leaving the Ship Inn at closing time (10pm in these dark, distant days) just when Helen Puttock meets up with BJ. Given his alibi witnesses the police lose all interest in McInnes.