Contributed by SERGEANT CUFF Dorking, Surrey, July 30th, 1849. To Franklin Blake, Esq. Sir,--I beg

to apologise for the delay that has occurred in the production of the

Report, with which I engaged to furnish you. I have waited to make it a

complete Report; and I have been met, here and there, by obstacles which

it was only possible to remove by some little expenditure of patience

and time.

The object which I proposed to myself has now, I hope, been attained.

You will find, in these pages, answers to the greater part--if not

all--of the questions, concerning the late Mr. Godfrey Ablewhite, which

occurred to your mind when I last had the honour of seeing you.

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I propose to tell you--in the first place--what is known of the manner

in which your cousin met his death; appending to the statement such

inferences and conclusions as we are justified (according to my opinion)

in drawing from the facts.

I shall then endeavour--in the second place--to put you in possession

of such discoveries as I have made, respecting the proceedings of Mr.

Godfrey Ablewhite, before, during and after the time, when you and he

met as guests at the late Lady Verinder's country-house.

CHAPTER Second Period Sixth Narrative - Chapter II As to your cousin's death, then, first.

It appears to be established, beyond any reasonable doubt, that he was

killed (while he was asleep, or immediately on his waking) by being

smothered with a pillow from his bed--that the persons guilty of

murdering him are the three Indians--and that the object contemplated

(and achieved) by the crime, was to obtain possession of the diamond,

called the Moonstone.

The facts from which this conclusion is drawn, are derived partly from

an examination of the room at the tavern; and partly from the evidence

obtained at the Coroner's Inquest.

On forcing the door of the room, the deceased gentleman was discovered,

dead, with the pillow of the bed over his face. The medical man who

examined him, being informed of this circumstance, considered the

post-mortem appearances as being perfectly compatible with murder by

smothering--that is to say, with murder committed by some person, or

persons, pressing the pillow over the nose and mouth of the deceased,

until death resulted from congestion of the lungs.

Next, as to the motive for the crime.

A small box, with a sealed paper torn off from it (the paper containing

an inscription) was found open, and empty, on a table in the room.

Mr. Luker has himself personally identified the box, the seal, and

the inscription. He has declared that the box did actually contain the

diamond, called the Moonstone; and he has admitted having given the

box (thus sealed up) to Mr. Godfrey Ablewhite (then concealed under a

disguise), on the afternoon of the twenty-sixth of June last. The fair

inference from all this is, that the stealing of the Moonstone was the

motive of the crime.




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