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Unsolved mysteries

In this article I’m going to talk about mysteries and crimes over the ages and across countries, as well as unsolved mysteries that intrigued me.

Mysteries do not just come in the format of crimes. Many jobs are a form of detecting, even though they might not carry a magnifying glass. For example, many scientists who discover new theories or new species, such as Charles Darwin and his theory of evolution, where he uncovered the mystery of how species have adapted. Another type of job which solves mysteries is an archaeologist, who uncovers the history of species. Then there are the obvious detectives, police and possibly spies who uncover the truth of a case. This shows that many different jobs involve some form of detecting.

Despite the common misconceptions, forensic investigation has been practised in one form or another for thousands of years. Before the discovery and impact of DNA in the early 1980s and the advent of fingerprinting in the early 1800s criminal investigators were using the science of forensics to solve crimes. For example, photographs were used in the late 1800s to capture images of killers or criminals on a victim’s eyeballs during the investigation of the world’s first documented serial killer, Jack the Ripper.

There are of course fictional detectives as well as real life ones today. The most famous, perhaps, being Sherlock Holmes. Holmes is a fictional character created by Arthur Conan Doyle. However, Conan Doyle did model Holmes’ methods and mannerisms on those of Dr. Joseph Bell, who had been his professor at his university. I find it interesting that such a successful detective who can solve anything, was based on a non-fictional person who isn’t even a detective. This leads back to the fact that detective work is in everyone’s lives. He combines efficiency with observation, deduction, forensic science, and logical reasoning that borders which he employs when investigating cases for a wide variety of clients, including Scotland Yard. His popularity and fame are such that many have believed him not to be a fictional character but a real individual. I thought that this was quite interesting.

Although Sherlock Holmes is fake, there are many real murder cases, that interestingly are still a mystery. If Holmes indeed was real, would he be able to solve them? A famous example is one I mentioned before, Jack the Ripper. Between August and November 1888 five poor women were brutally murdered in London. They were all killed in very similar ways, at night and in the notoriously dangerous Whitechapel area of the city. The police at the time did not know how to properly investigate the scene of a crime, and so couldn’t work out who the murderer was. So, the killer began to tease them. He wrote a letter telling him that they would never catch him, signed Jack the Ripper. Jack was right, as still to this day, he was never caught.

However, there were some suspects. The police first thought it was a hairdresser who worked nearby called George Chapman. He was a Polish immigrant which made the police more suspicious of him. Although Chapman was probably not guilty of being Jack the Ripper, he did poison several of his wives. However, the methods were not the same so some believe he should be ruled out. Secondly, they thought it was a famous actor called Richard Mansfield. He was acting in a play where a villainous alter ego created by the main character goes rampaging through London murdering and causing chaos. The play was then closed due to the murders, and the actor had to convince everyone that he only played a murderer on stage, not in real life.

There is one more explanation that is more probable. From the way that they were murdered, it’s likely that the murderer was a doctor or surgeon. The body of a doctor, Montague John Druitt was found floating in the Thames. Coincidence, or could he have been Jack?

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Secondly, I’d like to talk about the Road Hill House Murder. This is a Victorian murder mystery begins on the evening of the 29th June 1860 when Samuel Kent locked up his family home, Road Hill House. In the house with him were his servants, his children from both his first and second marriages, his second wife and their little son Francis. No one heard anyone breaking in but in the morning Francis’ nursemaid, Elizabeth Gough woke up to discover that Francis was missing and there was a window open downstairs. The family and neighbours searched everywhere, and finally Francis was found dead in the outhouse. The police were called as well as a Scotland Yard detective called Whicher. He ordered an efficient search of the house which uncovered a bloody nightgown hidden up a chimney. The nightgown was simple and plain, and so it was first thought that it might be Elizabeth’s, Francis’ nursemaid. There was a theory that she and Samuel Kent had been in love, and the nursemaid killed Francis because he had discovered their affair. However, I find this extremely unlikely, as Francis was only three, so would not be interested nor understand grown-up affairs. But then another suspect was found, Constance Kent. She was Samuel’s daughter from his first marriage. She was not treated well by her stepmother, and she resented her half-brothers and sisters, especially the favourite, Francis. Constance was strong enough to have killed Francis, and she was missing one of her nightdresses... The detective accused her and everyone was outraged. She was wealthy and English and no one liked the idea that someone who seemed nice could commit such an awful crime, and wealth meant a lot in court back then, so her trial collapsed, and no one else was ever accused. However, years later, Constance confessed to her murder. But was she telling the truth?

Finally, the disappearance of one of the most famous crime writers of all time, Agatha Christie. On the evening of Friday 3rd December 1926, the writer was at the country estate she shared with her husband, Archie. After putting her daughter to bed, at 9:45pm, she took the car and drove away from the house. Her car was found abandoned near the Silent Pool, a nearby natural spring- the site of the death of a young girl and her brother many years ago- but Agatha Christie was nowhere to be found. Lots of people worried that Agatha Christie had chosen this as a place to kill herself. Others wondered whether she might have been murdered by her husband. They thought this because Mr and Mrs Christie had a very unhappy marriage, and I guess she had just discovered that Archie was having an affair, which she was very upset about. Had Archie killed Agatha to shut her up? One other suggestion was that the whole thing was a publicity stunt- a way for Agatha to get her name in the papers and sell more books. She was missing for 11 days, and the country was in turmoil. Her face appeared in the papers, and there were many pleas for information of her whereabouts. On 14th December she was spotted in a hotel in Harrogate, hundreds of miles from where she had last been seen. She was alone, and she was using the name Theresa Neele. She claimed that she had amnesia and didn’t know who she was until she was discovered. But this doesn't seem likely to me. Archie Christie’s mistress’s name was Nancy Neele, and so using the name Theresa Neele seems like a deliberate dig at Nancy and Archie.

My theory is that Agatha knew perfectly well who she was, and where – but after she found out about Archie’s affair, she decided she needed some time to herself. So, she ran away, and used her abilities as a creator of mysteries to do it artistically, which would also help to get her name in the news, and to spread the awareness of her books.

I chose to write about this topic because I have always loved to read mystery books. One of the main aims of an author is to get the reader to want to keep reading and feel connected to the characters as well as intrigued to find out what is going to happen next. I think that in mystery books this is really prominent because you almost feel like you are part of the book, as you are also trying to figure out the case alongside the characters. I hope that this article has intrigued you to also read some mystery books and find out more about the topic. Thank you for reading.

- Tabitha M (Re)