By A. CONAN DOYLE. George H. Doran Co. 103pp. Price $.50; by mail
of THE SURVEY $.57.
The case of Oscar Slater, sentenced in the High Court of Edinburgh to
life imprisonment for the murder of an old lady in Glasgow, was some
time ago brought to the attention of the famous writer of detective
stories, together with certain circumstances which cast doubt on
Slater’s guilt. With a sincere desire to clear the man, the creator
of Sherlock Holmes set to work to examine the evidence and testimony
presented at the trial, and to analyze the conduct of the case and
the decision of judge and jury.
The result is a convincing argument for the man’s innocence of
the offence for which he was convicted and an arraignment of
the ineffective methods of the police who were engaged in the
investigation, both in Scotland and in this country.
The undeniably bad character of the suspect created so strong a
presumption of guilt that even the total refutation of the strongest
piece of evidence and an obviously false accusation by the judge in
his final charge, secured only a commutation of the death sentence to
life imprisonment when an appeal was made.
It will be interesting to know whether the detective knight’s efforts
toward securing justice meet with success.