Contributed by SERGEANT CUFF Dorking, Surrey, July 30th, 1849. To Franklin Blake, Esq. Sir,--I beg
to apologise for the delay that has occurred in the production of the
Report, with which I engaged to furnish you. I have waited to make it a
complete Report; and I have been met, here and there, by obstacles which
it was only possible to remove by some little expenditure of patience
and time.
The object which I proposed to myself has now, I hope, been attained.
You will find, in these pages, answers to the greater part--if not
all--of the questions, concerning the late Mr. Godfrey Ablewhite, which
occurred to your mind when I last had the honour of seeing you.
I propose to tell you--in the first place--what is known of the manner
in which your cousin met his death; appending to the statement such
inferences and conclusions as we are justified (according to my opinion)
in drawing from the facts.
I shall then endeavour--in the second place--to put you in possession
of such discoveries as I have made, respecting the proceedings of Mr.
Godfrey Ablewhite, before, during and after the time, when you and he
met as guests at the late Lady Verinder's country-house.
CHAPTER Second Period Sixth Narrative - Chapter II As to your cousin's death, then, first.
It appears to be established, beyond any reasonable doubt, that he was
killed (while he was asleep, or immediately on his waking) by being
smothered with a pillow from his bed--that the persons guilty of
murdering him are the three Indians--and that the object contemplated
(and achieved) by the crime, was to obtain possession of the diamond,
called the Moonstone.
The facts from which this conclusion is drawn, are derived partly from
an examination of the room at the tavern; and partly from the evidence
obtained at the Coroner's Inquest.
On forcing the door of the room, the deceased gentleman was discovered,
dead, with the pillow of the bed over his face. The medical man who
examined him, being informed of this circumstance, considered the
post-mortem appearances as being perfectly compatible with murder by
smothering--that is to say, with murder committed by some person, or
persons, pressing the pillow over the nose and mouth of the deceased,
until death resulted from congestion of the lungs.
Next, as to the motive for the crime.
A small box, with a sealed paper torn off from it (the paper containing
an inscription) was found open, and empty, on a table in the room.
Mr. Luker has himself personally identified the box, the seal, and
the inscription. He has declared that the box did actually contain the
diamond, called the Moonstone; and he has admitted having given the
box (thus sealed up) to Mr. Godfrey Ablewhite (then concealed under a
disguise), on the afternoon of the twenty-sixth of June last. The fair
inference from all this is, that the stealing of the Moonstone was the
motive of the crime.