Chickenfeed — by Minette Walters

EPILOGUE

 

Norman Thorne was found guilty of the murder of Elsie Cameron on March 16th, 1925. He was sentenced to death by hanging. The date of his execution was fixed for April 22nd. By strange chance, this would have been Elsie’s twenty-seventh birthday had she lived.

Public concern was expressed about the verdict. There were many who felt the trial had failed to prove “beyond reasonable doubt” that Norman had caused, or meant to cause, Elsie’s death. Even Sir Arthur Conan Doyle—the creator of Sherlock Holmes—was moved to ask questions.

It came to nothing. Norman’s appeal against his conviction and sentence was rejected. The night before his hanging, he wrote to his father. It was a letter full of hope.

There will be a flash and all will be finished. No, not finished, just starting for I go to God. I’ll wait for you just as others are waiting for me. I am free from sin. With all my love . . .

 

AUTHOR’S NOTE

 

It interests me that Norman Thorne never confessed to killing Elsie Cameron. Not even on the gallows. To the end, he swore he found her hanging in his shack. This doesn’t prove he was innocent. But for a young man who believed in God, it was a dangerous gamble to take if he was guilty. Norman knew that a sinner must repent if he wanted to go to heaven.

I believe the truth is what I’ve suggested in this story. Elsie planned to frighten Norman when he came home by standing on a chair with a noose round her neck. But her cry for attention went wrong. Perhaps the cold made her clumsy. Perhaps she pulled the noose too tight by accident.

In some people, the vagal or carotid reflex kills rapidly. Compressing the nerves and arteries in the neck causes the brain to shut down and the heart to stop. This form of “accidental” death can occur during solo sex acts when a noose is used to enhance orgasm. Victims—usually men—tend to be recorded as “suicides” to avoid upsetting their families. However, the best-known use of reflex black- out is when Mr Spock presses his fingers to a person’s neck in Star Trek. Even though Star Trek is fictional, the principle is the same.

Psychoanalysis was still in its infancy in 1924, but those who knew Elsie Cameron described her as mentally unstable. They said she was “depressed,” “neurotic” and “nervy.” She had a fear of being left on the shelf and thought people laughed at her. Her co-workers complained that she was “moody” and “difficult.”

Her problems grew during her four-year relationship with Norman. She couldn’t hold down a job. She wanted to be loved in a “fairy tale” way and was obsessed with getting married. She swung between anger and depression when she couldn’t have her own way. A doctor tried to cure her condition with sedatives (probably an early form of barbiturates).

Elsie’s behaviour suggests she suffered from Borderline Personality Disorder. Sufferers of BPD have low self-image and are often depressed. They can be difficult to live with. They have constant mood swings and become angry when they feel let down. They think in black-and-white terms, and form intense, conflict-ridden relationships. Threats of suicide are common.

Whatever happened the night Elsie died, I am sure her disturbed state of mind played a part in her death. Either her stubborn refusal to leave provoked Norman into hitting her, or she staged a “suicide” to make him feel guilty enough to give up Bessie.

At Norman’s trial, the jury was swayed by Sir Bernard Spilsbury’s testimony. They decided that Elsie collapsed as the result of an attack and that Norman had intended to kill her. Yet, even if he had hit her, there was no evidence she was dead when he left the shack. Nor that he could have predicted she would die later from shock.

I’m more persuaded by a sentence in Norman’s statement. He said he found Elsie suspended from the beam with her “frock off and her hair down.” Yet it was a cold December night. Norman himself would have been wearing an overcoat. Why would it even occur to him to say he found Elsie hanging naked . . .

. . . unless it was true?