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Authors: Erik Larson

Thunderstruck (58 page)

Crippen ordered a steak
: Dew,
I Caught Crippen,
15.

“I realized that she had gone”
: Crippen Statement, 123. Statements of Crippen and Le Neve, NA-DPP 1/13.

“I was impressed”
: Dew,
I Caught Crippen,
14.

“The girl showed”
: Ibid., 19–20.

“He told you a lie”
: Le Neve,
Ethel Le Neve,
35.

“I was stunned”
: Ibid., 36.

“There was not enough”
: Dew,
I Caught Crippen,
19.

“I seemed to be living”
: Le Neve,
Ethel Le Neve,
36.

“I certainly had no suspicion”
: Dew,
I Caught Crippen,
21.

“In the bedroom”
: Ibid., 21.

“What were these men doing”
: Le Neve,
Ethel Le Neve,
36.

“The place was completely dark”
: Dew,
I Caught Crippen,
21.

“Of course I shall have to find”
: Ibid., 22.

“I did not absolutely think”
: Chief Inspector Dew Statement, 81. Brief for the Prosecution, NA-DPP 1/13. In his memoir, on p. 21, Dew says essentially the same thing: “I certainly had no suspicion of murder. You don’t jump to the conclusion that murder has been committed merely because a wife has disappeared and a husband has told lies about it.”

He told at least one observer
:
Trial,
xxx.

Ethel felt great relief
: Le Neve,
Ethel Le Neve,
36–38.

“For mercy’s sake”
: Ibid., 38.

“My dear,” he said
: Ibid., 39.

THE PRISONER OF GLACE BAY

Beatrice and Marconi married
: Weightman,
Signor Marconi’s,
191–92.

Marconi gave Beatrice
: Marconi,
My Father,
169.

They fought
: Marconi,
My Father,
172.

They moved to something far grander
: Ibid., 175; Baedeker,
London,
9; Weightman,
Signor Marconi’s,
194.

His ship-to-shore business
: Baker,
History,
105.

One clause of the agreement
: Hong,
Wireless,
148; “Memorandum of Agreement.” May 26, 1905. UCL, Fleming Collection, 122/47.

The new station at Whittle Rocks
: Cash Book, Vol. 33, March 1905. Marconi Wireless Telegraph Co. of Canada Ltd. Archives Canada, MG 28 III 72.

In April 1905
: Ibid., April 1905.

Each got one
: Ibid., April 1905.

In August 1905
: Ibid., August 1905 and August 1904.

In 1904 Glace Bay
: Balance Sheets, Vol. 22, Glace Bay. See balance sheets for years ended January 31, 1904, and 1908. Marconi Wireless Telegraph Co. of Canada Ltd. Archives Canada, MG 28 III 72.

For the first time
: MacLeod,
Marconi
, 95; Marconi,
My Father,
176.

As she put it
: Marconi,
My Father,
168.

He gave her many
: Ibid., 176.

The crew of 415
: Fox,
Transatlantic,
318–20.

“When her husband did emerge”
: Marconi,
My Father,
176.

One day Beatrice entered
: Ibid., 177.

The new station
: MacLeod,
Marconi,
93; Vyvyan,
Marconi and Wireless,
43.

The news made Marconi furious
: Marconi,
My Father,
178–79.

“The stillness of winter”
: Vyvyan,
Marconi and Wireless,
48–49.

Beatrice did not agree
: Marconi,
My Father,
178.

He volunteered his own fortune
: MacLeod,
Marconi,
96; Marconi,
My Father,
180.

At Poldhu he inaugurated
: MacLeod,
Marconi,
96–98.

At last, at nine o’clock
: Vyvyan,
Marconi and Wireless,
44.

He began to see a pattern
: Baker,
History,
112–13; Vyvyan,
Marconi and Wireless,
44.

He realized now
: Vyvyan,
Marconi and Wireless,
44–45.

LIBERATION

Ethel looked “rather troubled”
: This and subsequent dialogue come from Adine True Brock Statement, 83. Witness, NA-DPP 1/13.

Dew composed a circular
: Dew,
I Caught Crippen,
23.

“You will look a perfect boy”
: Le Neve,
Ethel Le Neve,
43.

“Dear Sid”
: Walter William Neave Statement, 88. Witness, NA-DPP 1/13.

“It was not a good fit”
: This and subsequent dialogue come from Le Neve,
Ethel Le Neve,
43–44.

Crippen reassured her
: Ibid., 48.

To enhance her costume
: Ibid., 44.

“I was terribly self-conscious”
: Ibid., 44–45.

“Strange as it may seem”
: Ibid., 45.

“Oh, the pretty English boy”
: Ibid., 48.

Crippen identified himself
: Police Reports as to Enquiries at Antwerp. NA DPP 1/13.

The innkeepers noticed
: Ibid.

Later that Sunday
: Dew,
I Caught Crippen,
24.

A LOSS IN MAYFAIR

He envisioned
: MacLeod,
Marconi
, 80–83; Vyvyan,
Marconi and Wireless
, 45.

“I was almost too young”
: Marconi,
My Father,
180.

“Our darling little baby”
: Weightman,
Signor Marconi,
195.

Now he endured
: Marconi,
My Father,
180–81.

Eventually he found one
: Weightman,
Signor Marconi,
196.

Beatrice’s sister
: Marconi,
My Father,
181.

On April 3, 1906
: H. Kershaw to Fleming, April 3, 1906. UCL, Fleming Collection, 122/48.

During this time
: Marconi,
My Father,
181.

Standing on his head
: Ibid., 181–82.

He recruited Marconi’s opponents
: Hong,
Wireless,
166.

“We find that the administration”
: Hozier to Lodge, May 11, 1906. UCL, Lodge Collection, 89/77.

Muirhead arranged
: Muirhead to Lodge, June 10, 1906. Ibid.

Impressed anew
: Lodge,
Past Years,
283–84.

In 1906, in response
: Massie,
Dreadnought,
481–82; Read,
Urban Democracy,
475.

That year
: Clarke,
Voices,
144–52.

One witness
: Ibid., 145.

The publisher of the German-language edition
: Ibid., 148.

On September 11, 1908
: Marconi,
My Father,
186.

AN INSPECTOR RETURNS

“Will you do me”
:
Trial,
30.

Long chose not to mention
: Further Report of Chief Inspector Dew, 7. NA DPP 1/13.

a five-chambered revolver
: Ibid., 4.

He composed detailed descriptions
: Ibid., 4.

The hotel’s owner noticed
: Police Reports as to Enquiries at Antwerp. NA DPP 1/13.

Ethel loved touring
: Le Neve,
Ethel Le Neve,
49.

On Tuesday Dew ordered
: “Further Report of Chief Inspector Dew,” 4. NA-DPP 1/13.

“Even in bed”
: Dew,
I Caught Crippen,
27.

At last Long disclosed
: Further Report of Chief Inspector Dew, 7. NA-DPP 1/13.

He and Mitchell worked
: Dew,
I Caught Crippen,
27.

One of the bricks
: Further Report of Chief Inspector Dew, 5. NA-DPP 1/13.

Mitchell went to the garden
: Dew,
I Caught Crippen,
28.

THE MERMAID

In future years
: Interview, Princess Elettra Marconi; also, Marconi,
Marconi My Beloved,
159.

Suddenly Beatrice appeared
: Marconi,
My Father,
188–89.

THE MYSTERY DEEPENS

“The stench was unbearable”
: Dew,
I Caught Crippen,
28.

He and Froest set out
: Macnaghten,
Days of My Years,
195.

His task would be
: Thomas Marshall Statement, 50. Brief for the Prosecution, NA-DPP 1/13.

The men concentrated
: Arthur Mitchell Statement, 4. Further Information, NA-DPP 1/13.

As Dew would note
: Particulars of Human Remains, 23–24. Witness, NA DPP 1/13.

There was nothing
: Thomas Marshall Statement, 43. Supplemental Information, NA-DPP 1/13. Marshall said, “We found not one single bone, no head, no arms or leg.”

“Someone had simply carved”
: Walter Dew Statement, July 18, 1910, 38. NA-DPP 1/13.

The scope of the challenge
: Dew,
I Caught Crippen,
30.

“From the doctor’s chair”
: Macnaghten,
Days of My Years,
195.

He titled the circular
: Dew,
I Caught Crippen,
29; for a photograph of the circular, see Goodman,
Crippen File,
10.

The detectives returned
: Alfred Henry Sargent Statement, 156, and Francis Barclay Statement, 158–59. Witness, NA-DPP 1/13.

“I asked him several times”
: Le Neve,
Ethel Le Neve,
50.

THE DYNAMITE PRIZE

“The Telefunken Wall”
: Baker,
History,
131.

A company memorandum
: “Traffic Between Clifden and Glace Bay from October 10, 1907 to June 27, 1908.” August 4, 1908. William Smith Papers, Vol. 1. Archives Canada, MG 30 D18.

Another company report
: “Analysis of Clifden Traffic from 4th January 1908 to 15th August 1908.” William Smith Papers, Vol. 2. Archives Canada, MG 30 D18.

“I might mention”
: Marconi,
Nobel,
1, 2.

He acknowledged
: Ibid., 40.

Nor had he found
: Ibid., 27–28.

“It would almost appear”
: Ibid., 41.

“Whatever may be its present shortcomings”
: Ibid., 44.

FIVE JARS

Dew also retrieved
: Walter Dew Statement, July 18, 1910, 39. NA-DPP 1/13.

“There was one large mass”
: Augustus Joseph Pepper Statement, 40. Brief for the Prosecution, NA-DPP 1/13.

Amid the discarded skin
: Ibid., 46.

“False hair”
: Ibid., 41.

As Pepper probed
:
Trial,
48; W. H. Willcox, Report, 4. NA-DPP 1/13.

Ethel grew weary
: This and subsequent dialogue and detail: Le Neve,
Ethel Le Neve,
49–53.

His search also turned up
: Walter Dew Statement, July 18, 1910, 39. NA DPP 1/13.

“It was the one big topic”
: Dew,
I Caught Crippen,
33.

“Not a day passed”
: Ibid., 36–37.

On this score
: Browne,
Rise,
250, 258.

The most important lesson
: Macnaghten,
Days of My Years,
98.

“I did what I could”
: Dew,
I Caught Crippen,
36.

On Friday, July 15
: Emily Jackson Statement, 38–40. Witness, NA-DPP 1/13.

They revisited Clara Martinetti
: Clara Martinetti Statement, 63–68. Ibid.

They interviewed Marion
: Marion Louisa Curnow Statement, 72–73. Ibid.

“They were on exceedingly good”
: Emily Cowderoy Statement, 104. Ibid.

that Sir Melville Macnaghten believed
: Macnaghten,
Days of My Years,
196–97.

Mrs. Ginnette and the police
: Cullen,
Crippen,
69; Fox,
Transatlantic,
405.

“Up till today”
: Cullen,
Crippen
, 70.

“The reverend gentleman”
: Ibid., 74.

“Many a man”
: Ibid., 72.

Afterward, in the hall
: Dew,
I Caught Crippen,
31–32.

TESTAMENT

“Marconi-Atlantic”
: Marconi,
My Father,
192.

“It was without”
: Le Neve,
Ethel Le Neve,
52.

PART VI: PURSUIT BY THUNDER

THE ROBINSONS

“The whole ship”
: Le Neve,
Ethel Le Neve,
52–53.

“I felt so sure”
: Ibid., 53.

The captain also produced
:
Trial,
187.

The ship’s open-sea velocity
: Ibid., 188.

“So with a rug”
: Le Neve,
Ethel Le Neve,
54.

He found their hats
:
Trial,
187; also, Cullen,
Crippen,
126.

“I warned him”
:
Trial,
187.

SUICIDE

In Chicago police arrested
:
New York Times,
July 23, 1910.

In Marseille a shipping agent
: Ibid.

In Halifax, Nova Scotia
: Ibid., July 24, 1910.

From Brussels came
: Ibid., July 23, 1910.

“Many meek looking men”
: Ibid., July 24, 1910.

On the night of Wednesday
: Ibid., July 22, 1910.

A MESSAGE FROM THE SEA

In talking with Robinson
: Henry George Kendall Statement, 2. NA-MEPO 3/198; also, Croall,
Fourteen Minutes,
25, and Jeffers,
Bloody Business,
125.

Once, a gust of wind
:
Trial,
188.

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