The Case of the Notary's Three Witnesses

It was the third Monday of January 1894 when Mrs Frith of Notting Hill brought to Baker Street a will, a confession, and a great unhappiness.

"My husband died at Christmas, Mr Holmes. The will was drawn up by Mr Pickering of Lincoln's Inn last March; I attended the signing as I am told one must. Now the will is read and the substance of three thousand pounds is left to a cousin I have never met. The young clerk who attended the signing has come forward of his own accord and confessed to having forged my husband's hand at his employer's instruction. The case is to be heard in Magistrates' Court on Wednesday and the boy will go to gaol for it. But, sir — I cannot believe that he is the man."

We walked across to Lincoln's Inn through a clear morning. A flower-seller's barrow stood at the gate as we passed, the woman calling violets in a tuneful sing-song; she was missing a front upper-left tooth and gave us a sharp, unhurried glance. Mr Pickering's chambers were upon the second stair, panelled in oak, and the clerk in question — a slight, anxious young man named Mr Crewe — was at his desk awaiting our examination.

The Scene

Hand-drawn case map for The Case of the Notary's Three Witnesses, showing Pickering & Co., solicitors, Lincoln's Inn. — The ground in question.

Setting: Pickering & Co., solicitors, Lincoln's Inn
Time: Monday morning, third week of January 1894
Weather: Crisp; a bright winter sun on the brick of the courts
Atmosphere: A panelled solicitor's chamber with three high windows; a partner's desk under a green-shaded lamp; the smell of leather-bindings and tobacco.

The Suspects

Mr Pickering

Senior partner of Pickering & Co., solicitors

A grave, white-bearded man of sixty, with a wife three years bedridden in a quiet villa at Hampstead. He had drawn the will at the late Mr Frith's instruction and had himself attended the signing. His own daughter was engaged, since Easter, to his junior clerk, Mr Crewe.
Mr Crewe

Junior clerk, two years in chambers; the confessor

A slight, anxious young man of twenty-three, who had walked into the Bow Street magistrates' office on Friday and confessed to having forged the late Mr Frith's signature at Mr Pickering's instruction. He was engaged to Mr Pickering's daughter and lived in modest Bloomsbury lodgings.
Mr Wattling

Stationer of Chancery Lane, named witness to the will

A respectable tradesman of fifty, whose attestation appeared on the will and who had no acquaintance with the Frith household beyond that single signing.
Mr Verrill

Distant cousin, beneficiary under the disputed will

A florid, prosperous man of forty-five, in shipping at Greenwich, who had received Mr Pickering's letter notifying him of the legacy on Christmas Eve and had retained his own counsel by Boxing Day. He had a clerk's friendship of long standing with Mr Crewe's brother-in-law.

The Evidence

Mr Crewe's confession

The young clerk's confession was made of his own accord on Friday morning. It described in particular detail the route by which the late Mr Frith's signature had been forged — but, on careful reading, did not describe the use to which the proceeds had been put. He could not, when pressed, say what the legacy of three thousand pounds had purchased.
Mr Pickering's wife at Hampstead

Mr Pickering's wife was three years in a quiet villa with two trained nurses and a regular visit from a Harley Street consultant. The cost of her care, on Mrs Pickering's brother's reluctant testimony, was upwards of three pounds the week.
Mr Verrill's friendship

The beneficiary's only City connection of the Frith household was through Mr Crewe's brother-in-law, a clerk in a shipping office. They had drunk together regularly at the Black Bull on Friday evenings these three years.
The signing-day register

Mr Pickering's day-book for the date of the signing showed three appointments: the Frith signing at eleven, a half-hour conference at noon, and an afternoon spent at Hampstead. Mr Crewe was at his desk in the outer office at noon, by the chambers' time-book.
The bank's record of the transfer

The legacy was to be paid through Coutts on probate. Mr Pickering had, on Christmas Eve, drawn against his own private account at Coutts a sum of one hundred pounds for his wife's nursing for the quarter — a private matter the firm's books did not show.

Statements & Testimony

Mr Crewe Partial

Junior clerk; the confessor

“"It was at Mr Pickering's instruction, sir. I forged the late Mr Frith's signature on the will. I am very sorry. I do not know what was done with the money. I was given a small sum for my trouble. I — I cannot say more."”
Miss Pickering Partial

Daughter of the senior partner; Mr Crewe's fiancée

“"My father has been a saint to my mother these three years, Mr Holmes. We have managed by careful economies. I will not — I cannot — speak ill of him. Mr Crewe is a good man and I love him; if he says he did this thing then he did this thing."”

The Scene

The Suspects

The Evidence

Mr Crewe's confession

Mr Pickering's wife at Hampstead

Mr Verrill's friendship

The signing-day register

The bank's record of the transfer

Statements & Testimony

Your Verdict