CH 7 – The Train Ticket Nobody Noticed
Think on it, here’s a body only recently dead propped up on a sea wall on a busy beach looking like he’s dressed for a day at the races. No signs of violence, no signs he had been thrashing around in his death throes, no wallet, no ration card, no money, no ID.
Detective Strangways of Glenelg Station was the senior man in charge that day and was assisted by detective Gollan and constable Holland together with sergeant Lavender of Adelaide’s Metropolitan Station who notified detective sergeant Leane of the circumstances surrounding both the finding of the body together with details of the items found on the body by PC Moss. One of which was a train ticket purchased the day before the body was found, purchased at Adelaide Train Station.
That’s three detectives, one sergeant and two constable, three if you include const. Sutherland (below).
But nobody noticed.
And time passed.
December came and went, all 31 days of it.
Still nobody noticed.
Then on January 11, when detective Brown joined the party someone suggested checking the hundreds of local hotels and boarding houses in Adelaide for any abandoned luggage.
More time passed.
Then, on January 14 DS Leane found the suitcase at the Station’s luggage office.
At no stage did the investigating police make use of the train ticket, the one that pointed them to the same station where they unearthed the bag six weeks later and given there were so many police involved, including senior officers it’s impossible to believe they were all equally incompetent.
But six weeks was plenty of time for someone to get their story right and make sure the narrative went in the direction they wanted it to go. And six weeks was more than enough time for the railway luggage staff to forget who checked the bag, though you could be almost certain that would not have been the case (not now Clive) if they were asked to remember who checked the bag the day after it was lodged, and it’s more than likely that it wasn’t Carl Webb.
The Somerton Man .. 
I agree the ticket is strange, but not sure the luggage stuff is all that weird. How long do people leave luggage at the station, and at what point does the station consider it unclaimed? Even if they had been on the ball, if they were at the station on Dec 3, how many cases from the 30 Nov might there be? But why would they be on the ball anyway? They didn’t think this death was all that suspicious (unexplained, but not necessarily suspicious) and that’s why they didn’t necessarily chase up some of those details. Secondly, how many people check luggage at a station for a metropolitan trip? The thought that he even might have had luggage requires the assumption that he’d come in from further afield – and while that’s a starting point in the modern-day story, that’s not necessarily where they were at back then.
My thoughts on the ticket is that they were planted, but not staged. This might be someone at the time chucking random stuff in the pockets (maybe because he’s in clothes that aren’t his and someone thinks “nothing on him seems a bit sus”) or it might be a pickpocket who replaced his wallet with junk they were carrying.
In any case, the Henley ticket needs scrutiny, because it would seem it needs to fit in a finite number of scenarios (this is not necessarily the complete set, but the options are finite nonethteless):
1. It belonged to him – in that case, why wasn’t it used; why was it carried loosely in the pocket; what interest did he have at Henley (and does it somehow relate to ending up at Somerton)
2. It was chucked in by people who put him on the beach.
2.a These people just put random junk on him (planted not staged) – in that case who was carrying an unused Henley ticky and why
2.b The ticket was deliberately planted – in that case what was the intended meaning; what did the person planting the ticket hope the cops would infer from it? Is it some sort of message to someone?
3. The tickets (and possibly TS slip) belong to the pants not the body. Still asks some questions about what the Henley interest is (and whose)
4. Pickpockets replaced his wallet with junk. This still begs questions about who has a UNUSED Henley ticket and why,
5. Something else that I forgot
In almost any of those scenarios (maybe except 2b) we have to wonder why has someone got an *unused* train ticket. Had they hoped to catch a train *from* Henley (and would they even be able to on that ticket – expand that to whether the ticket might still be valid tomorrow or next week if it hadn’t been punched)?
If they weren’t trying to catch a Henley train, what are the reasons for keeping a useless ticket? Hoping to get a refund or pass onto someone else? Hoping to swap for another ticket?
If the ticket is valid for any trip on the Henley line on any day from any stop the ticket becomes less of a problem, because we could easily have something like:
– SM arrives in Adelaide planning to meet someone down Glenelg way
– He knows he’s subsequently going with them to Henley, and figures while he’s at the station he’ll buy a ticket to get back (maybe this is consistent with checking luggage at the Station too).
– He then goes and catches his bus to St Leonards (NB this to me suggests he either wasn’t going to Somerton or had plenty of time on his hands)
– Somewhere in between he meets his end.
Incidentally, presumably you only check a suitcase if you plan on getting it back. If you’re planning to go kill yourself (and I know that’s not necessarily your hyopthesis), wouldn’t it be just as easy to leave your bag on the bus or train?
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a lurker: Two possible scenarios come to mind.
1. Prosper lived about 10 seconds walk from the Henley Beach terminus. Only problem is that was in early 1947! So, unless Prosper was still using that HB address, it’s a no-no.
2. The ticket was intended to be used as a method of recognition, I.e. like matching two pieces of a page from a book etc.
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Just a thought, but if someone left a bag/suitcase at a railway/bus station-wouldn’t they ask for a signature/address?
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Maybe not, some travellers leave their bag while they go looking for accommodation, beats carrying it around.
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