The attack on Swedish housewife Mrs Meike Dalal on Thursday, September 7th 1961

[Natalie Severn]

good point about not wanting to do the 3 point turn in total darkness ,Moste.I think too that Acott may have influenced Valerie to some extent but Valerie remembered which garage they had called at and refused to go along with Acott trying to place the garage near where Hanratty lived in Sudbury.All I have wondered is whether Valerie was genuinely muddled in the beginning about where they first encountered the gunman after the ordeal she had been through.Was it in the cornfield or did we pick him up somewhere etc.

[moste]

I wasn't suggesting Gregsten gambled, I was only alluding to Alphon very coincidentally visiting one of his favourite haunts, very likely just yards from where Valerie had intimated the passenger was picked up.(What was the red hot tip? "Mental's only hope"!)

[cobalt]

That's extremely bad luck on Gregsten's part. Not only is the hitchhiker he picks up armed with a revolver, he happens to to owe the hitchhiker a small fortune.

No doubt we have witnesses who saw a hitchhiker on the A4 carrying a revolver and several boxes of ammunition.

Spitfire,

I am sure you are aware that the implication is that the man 'picked up' was not a hitch hiker but was part of an arranged meeting.

Your second point, expressed sarcastically, applies equally to the lack of witnesses who saw anyone lugging any gun or ammunition in the area of Dorney Reach. You are doing a good job for the defence.

[Natalie Severn]

That's extremely bad luck on Gregsten's part. Not only is the hitchhiker he picks up armed with a revolver, he happens to to owe the hitchhiker a small fortune.

No doubt we have witnesses who saw a hitchhiker on the A4 carrying a revolver and several boxes of ammunition.

Thats not what I said Spitfire .I am saying its possible that Gregsten 'picked the man up' as John Kerr said Valerie had said. -Valerie may not have known anything about the 'meeting'.
Personally I think it probable it began in the cornfield.

[cobalt]

moste,

I am sceptical about the cornfield story myself, but it seems a strange invention- more liable to spark speculation of a romantic relationship than conceal it. If it was an alteration suggested by Acott, then it was pretty desperate, and could only have been employed to draw attention away from something else.

Of course the hitch hiker concept is equally difficult- a couple would not be picking up a stranger as darkness was falling. So in that event the cornfield story holds more water than admitting to a pre arranged meeting with Mr X.

[Natalie Severn]

[I]

I am sure you are aware that the implication is that the man 'picked up' was not a hitch hiker but was part of an arranged meeting.

.

Thanks Cobalt .

[Natalie Severn]

Cobalt /Moste/Ed -just a couple of points; When Hanratty rang France and told him he was wanted for murder, Acott was in France's flat and so was France's brother in law-France was trying to get Hanratty to give himself up.
When Michael Hanratty went to the Rehearsal Club with his father looking for his brother when he knew Acott wanted to speak to him ,France was at the back by the stairs ,he went white and tried to run away but Michael managed to stop him and France spluttered out that it was all a big mistake -that Hanratty had nothing to do with 'this' thing. But both before and after this France seems to have fed information to Acott that he wanted to hear about 'Ryan' and back seats of buses /postcards from Ireland etc then he became a total nervous wreck.He collapsed several times in court,tried to jump through a window,then killed himself the day after he heard Hanratty had lost his appeal .
Also when Paul Foot was writing his book and went to interview Charlotte France she was sitting with her two brothers who made him feel extremely ill at ease ease.In fact he expresses a deep discomfort about the entire interview.Roger Matthews was also profoundly suspicious of the way J Ryan had been 'traced ' and says it and other matters 'smelt of an informant'. I think it very strange too that Hanratty ,after giving Charlotte France £15 for doing his washing [like £100 today] didn't go back to the France's that night by taxi and instead stayed in the Vienna Hotel when he knew it was too late to go to Liverpool.I mean the Vienna Hotel is a five or at most ten minute walk from the France's and he would only have had to ring them and explain he had missed the train.Its truly amazing how close all these places are together-France's flat is just up the road from William Ewer's Umbrella/antiques shop.The 36 bus stop is at the bottom of France's road; The Vienna Hotel is a couple of blocks away etc

[Spitfire]

So let's see what we've got.

Gregsten owes Ewer a large amount of money which the former has borrowed from the latter to buy/rent a property in Maidenhead. As part of the terms of the loan Gregsten has to pick up Alphon on the A4 in Slough, but Gregsten is unwilling to tell Valerie Storie about this arrangement. In fact it's not known why Gregsten should have to pick up Alphon on the A4. As Alphon was armed with a .32 revolver (not .38 Enfield found on the No.36A bus) he must have either intended to harm Gregsten and/or Storie or at least threaten them. As Ewer is the ultimate beneficiary of the murder of Gregsten in that he gets to start/continue a relationship with the widow of the victim, we must assume that Alphon was instructed to murder Gregsten.

So Ewer lends money to Gregsten on condition that he picks up a hitchhiker on the A4 at a predetermined place in or near Slough. Ewer tells Alphon to be that hitchhiker and to force Gregsten to drive up the A6 into darkest Bedfordshire and then to kill Gregsten and Storie. It's a bit vague as to whether Alphon was to do this on his own, or whether another assassin was to meet them at the Deadman's Hill layby. What is clear is that Alphon is to get £5,000 paid by Ewer for his troubles.

Ewer must have had more money than sense, as this escapade has cost him the loan to Gregsten for the Maidenhead gaff plus £5,000 to Alphon plus whatever was paid for the additional assassin who may or may not have showed up at the layby. All this expense for Ewer to get his hands on the wife who was separated and living apart from the murder victim. Did the middle classes living in the Home Counties in the early 1960s really behave like this?

[NickB]

When Hanratty rang France and told him he was wanted for murder, Acott was in France's flat

I don't think so because that was the day Acott and Oxford flew back from Ireland. However France must have reported it to the police because they put a tap on the France's phone and said that if there was another call from Hanratty they were to keep him talking so they could try and trace it.

I believe that the police made the Ryan connection through Hanratty’s parents. The police had visited them about his robberies in Northwood and asked to be contacted if they heard from him. I think they reported receiving the postcard from Ireland, in the same way that Hanratty senior took in the birthday card when he was on the run, and then when the police saw the letter from the Irish hire company on 26-Sep-61 the Vienna/Ryan/Hanratty link was sealed.

If the police had been tipped off by France as part of a frame-up they would not have gone off on a wild goose chase to Ireland, as France knew he was back in London.

[moste]

I don't think so because that was the day Acott and Oxford flew back from Ireland. However France must have reported it to the police because they put a tap on the France's phone and said that if there was another call from Hanratty they were to keep him talking so they could try and trace it.

I believe that the police made the Ryan connection through Hanratty’s parents. The police had visited them about his robberies in Northwood and asked to be contacted if they heard from him. I think they reported receiving the postcard from Ireland, in the same way that Hanratty senior took in the birthday card when he was on the run, and then when the police saw the letter from the Irish hire company on 26-Sep-61 the Vienna/Ryan/Hanratty link was sealed.

If the police had been tipped off by France as part of a frame-up they would not have gone off on a wild goose chase to Ireland, as France knew he was back in London.

But hold on a second, William Ewers call to the police predates all this doesn't it? , His fine sleuthing around Swiss Cottage, put J Ryan firmly in the frame. Did the police completely ignore him as a bit of a crackpot? Gregstens wifes brother in law?

[moste]

Actually in reality, the police would have followed up on Ewers story, whether it was as a result of Janet's 6th sense or not. The police would have wanted to know the real story behind Ewer following this supposed, complete stranger around the neighborhood making a nuisance of himself into the bargain. There's obviously important stuff involved here that we are not a party to.

[Spitfire]

So, Ewer having arranged the murder of Gregsten and the attempted murder of Miss Storie now finds to his horror that the latter has survived and has given an uncannily accurate description of Alphon, whom Ewer had arranged to be picked up on the A6 in or near Slough.

Ewer must act to direct attention away from Alphon, as investigation of Alphon by the police will in turn lead back to Ewer. He decides to pin the blame on J Ryan, aka James Hanratty, whom he sees leaving the dry cleaners.

Was Janet Gregsten involved in all this? Probably but then again possibly not, she is the person whom Ewer says spotted Ryan as the killer from his demeanour in the dry cleaners. But if Janet was so involved, one has to ask why did Ewer need to go to such lengths to possess her and why was it necessary to murder Michael Gregsten at such expense.

Ewer must also have planted the spent cartridge cases in the Vienna but taking care not to plant .32 ammunition used by Alphon but the more common .38 to match the gun planted on the 36A bus.

Talking of the bus, the plot to frame Hanratty must have had its inception prior to the planting of the gun on it. How did Ewer, who may or may not have planted the gun on the bus, know that the place under the rearmost seat of the upstairs deck was a favoured hiding place of Hanratty for his unwanted booty? As far as we know Charles France knew that that was a favoured Hanratty hiding place and also knew that Hanratty had stayed at the Vienna.

We must therefore assume that Charles France and William Ewer had concocted a plan with the ultimate aim to kill Michael Gregsten and to frame Hanratty for the crime.

[Sherlock Houses]

But hold on a second, William Ewers call to the police predates all this doesn't it? , His fine sleuthing around Swiss Cottage, put J Ryan firmly in the frame. Did the police completely ignore him as a bit of a crackpot? Gregstens wifes brother in law?

You're quite correct Moste, a very important point. We also have the situation 4 or 5 days later [September 4th] of Hanratty allegedly phoning Charlotte from London airport remarking to her that he thought a man was watching him [see Woffinden book p. 131].

I can't escape this nagging feeling that Hanratty's movements between the moment he left the France's home on the Monday evening of August 21st and his 8.30/9.00am departure from the Vienna Hotel the following morning were being monitored by very interested third parties. It would begin to explain certain strange coincidences such as Alphon's phone call to and then appearance at the Vienna Hotel just a few short hours later.

[Natalie Severn]

I don't think so because that was the day Acott and Oxford flew back from Ireland.
If the police had been tipped off by France as part of a frame-up they would not have gone off on a wild goose chase to Ireland, as France knew he was back in London.

Paul Foot, whose research was scrupulous,writes : on Thursday evening October 5th 1961 Hanratty rang France and said ,"Dixie Dixie I am wanted for the A6 murder-" France and his brother-in -law then kept Hanratty talking -while the police,who were in the house tried to trace the call."

Foot also states that by September 28th Acott was certain Hanratty was their man 'Hanratty ,according to the France postcard and the information from Mr Pratt. Hanratty was in Ireland ."
The date Acott was informed about the has been fixed by Paul Foot at 25th September and that it was Mrs Charlotte France who informed them-importantly at that time there had been no public mention of Ryan.Oxford testifying in court under oath stated "on September 24th we did not know who Ryan was -he was only a name .By 25th September we had identified the man Ryan as possibly being Hanratty.Also on 26th September Acott and Oxford visited Mr and Mrs Hanratty at their home.They were asked about a friend of Jimmy's called "Dixie" who they thought was one of Hanratty's girl friends.[further evidence they had seen "Dixie' France the previous day .

[Natalie Severn]

Ewer must also have planted the spent cartridge cases in the Vienna but taking care not to plant .32 ammunition used by Alphon but the more common .38 to match the gun planted on the 36A bus.

Ewer did not do any of this.Ewer took a back seat and kept his hands perfectly clean as a proper back room boy should [although he seems to have been following Hanratty about at the time all over the place-eg to Petticoat Lane when Hanratty bought a new blue suit etc .He apparently let France organise the stuff you mention whose wife Charlotte had done Hanratty's washing in preparation of his visit to Liverpool which she gave him on 21st August. Ewer simply said he saw Hanratty at his local coffee shop in Finchley Road Swiss Cottage, on September 1st ,6 days after the murder , and rang Highgate Police because of the new description police had issued the day before on August 31st changing the colour and size of the suspects eyes from deep set dark brown eyes to enormous light blue eyes which stood out on his head looking like a carbunkle [Ewer's statement published in the Sunday Times of 16th May 1971].
The Flower shop assistant Dorothy Morrell gave police the details of who William Ewer had seen in her shop that afternoon [1st Sept 1961 ]and showed the police the name[Hanratty]of H's mother - her address and also the name Ryan that Hanratty had given her.
Ewer and Janet Gregsten did not immediately set up house together-Janet and her boys went to live with Ewer and his wife[Janet's half sister] first and it was only after one sudden burst of unbridled passion that they realised they were destined to having an affair.This fits too.I believe William Ewer and his wife were very fond of and extremely concerned about Janet and looking out for her as close relatives would up to that point when William Ewer and Janet became lovers months later.They did not want to see their sister/in law left trying to support her two young children while Gregsten took off to his new flat in Maidenhead on 27th August 1961.