The Chieftain: Victorian True Crime Through The Eyes Of A Scotland Yard Detective - Plot & Excerpts
Before then he had held the fort at Scotland Yard while Superintendent Williamson was overseas, investigating mutiny and murder on the British merchant ship Lennie.2 In February the hazards of the job were highlighted by the unexpected death of Detective Inspector Davey, who had been sent to Naples to extradite a prisoner. While in Italy, Davey had gone down ‘with an attack of a malarious fever’ but had insisted on returning to Britain with his prisoner. On arrival he had collapsed and died; his prisoner escaped but was later re-arrested by Detective Sergeant Greenham.3 Davey’s position was promptly filled by John Meiklejohn, who had previously been overlooked for promotion in 1875.4 Meiklejohn’s replacement as detective sergeant was German-born Charles von Tornow; ‘blessed with a rare amount of courage, daring, and resourcefulness’, he would work closely with Clarke during the next two years.5A Curious Case of Conspiracy to MurderAt the end of March, Clarke’s attention was alerted to some correspondence from the post office ‘dead letter office’ that contained intriguing references to death by poison.
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