water
snake. Last time they'd been there she was afraid Rodney would eat the
snake and that made her queasy. She'd been on the point of saying to
him that she'd never go to Pacific Rim again, but for some reason she
hadn't. Now she'd have to go there. It was her fate.
Christie's first victim, as far as is known, was a young woman of Austrian
origin called Ruth Fuerst. She had been a nurse, but when Christie first
met her in 1943 was working in amunitions factory and as a part-time
prostitute. Whether he first met her while a policeman on the beat or in a
cafe or pub is a matter of doubt, but he claimed that she came to see him
in Rillington Place while Ethel Christie was at work in Osram's factory.
No one involved in the case could say if he ever visited her in the single
room she rented at 41 Oxford Gardens.
Mix looked up from the book, keeping his finger on thepage. What an
amazing thing! Although he had read everybook on Christie he could get
hold of, mainly from hunting through secondhand bookshops, none of
them had stated precisely where Ruth Fuerst had lived. But here it was,
a few houses along the street from the address Danila had given him. If
only it had been the same house, he thought with a stab of regret. If only
she had had the same room! He imagined going back there with her,
maybe screwing her in the very place .. Still, what he'd discovered made
going out with her quite an exciting experience rather than a chore.
He read on. "Christie killed Ruth Fuerst one day in the middle of
August. 'She undressed,' he said, 'and wanted me to have intercourse
with her.' " In his book 10 Rillington Place, which Mix had among the rest
of his library, Ludovic Kennedy,writing that their relationship developed
gradually, suggeststhat it was far more likely she had a straightforward
transactionwith him, prostitute and client, or granted her favors as
hisprice for not reporting her soliciting in his capacity as a
specialconstable.
"During sexual relations, he strangled her with a piece of rope. Then he
wrapped her leopard--skin coat round her"-a fur coat in August!--"took
her into the front room and placed her under the floorboards with the
rest of her clothes.
"That same evening, Ethel, who had been away in Sheffield with her
relations, arrived home with her brother Henry Waddington, who
intended to stay the night. Because they had only one bedroom and that
was occupied by Christie and Mrs.Christie, Henry Waddington slept in
the front room, a few feetaway from the temporarily interred body of Ruth
Fuerst ... "
Mix had to stop there. He was calling for Danila at eight and he meant
to leave early in order to stand outside and contemplate the house where
that first victim had lived. Number41 Oxford Gardens was on the other
side of Ladbroke Grove, rather shabby, much in need of painting and
general refurbishment. No doubt it would now be worth some enormous
sum, incredible to its wartime occupants if any of them were still alive. A
cat, rather like Otto but older and with a gray muzzle, came over the wall
and stopped when it saw Mix staring. Mix shooed it and made a face, but
it was streetwise and experienced. It gave him an inscrutable look and
strolled slowly into a clump of bushes.
Had Reggie ever stood where he was, then making up his mind, gone up
the path and rung the bell? There may have been other occasions when
he came here before that final fatal meeting. Hadn't the author of the
best-known book on Reggie suggested they had known each other for a
long time? Very probably all his relationships with his victims developed
gradually. It stood to reason he must sometimes have gone to their
places. After all, Ethel Christie was usually at home in Rillington Place
and he couldn't always just have met them in cafes and pubs.
Mix was growing more and more convinced that Reggie had visited
Gwendolen at St. Blaise House. When he first began renting the flat, she
had
snake. Last time they'd been there she was afraid Rodney would eat the
snake and that made her queasy. She'd been on the point of saying to
him that she'd never go to Pacific Rim again, but for some reason she
hadn't. Now she'd have to go there. It was her fate.
Christie's first victim, as far as is known, was a young woman of Austrian
origin called Ruth Fuerst. She had been a nurse, but when Christie first
met her in 1943 was working in amunitions factory and as a part-time
prostitute. Whether he first met her while a policeman on the beat or in a
cafe or pub is a matter of doubt, but he claimed that she came to see him
in Rillington Place while Ethel Christie was at work in Osram's factory.
No one involved in the case could say if he ever visited her in the single
room she rented at 41 Oxford Gardens.
Mix looked up from the book, keeping his finger on thepage. What an
amazing thing! Although he had read everybook on Christie he could get
hold of, mainly from hunting through secondhand bookshops, none of
them had stated precisely where Ruth Fuerst had lived. But here it was,
a few houses along the street from the address Danila had given him. If
only it had been the same house, he thought with a stab of regret. If only
she had had the same room! He imagined going back there with her,
maybe screwing her in the very place .. Still, what he'd discovered made
going out with her quite an exciting experience rather than a chore.
He read on. "Christie killed Ruth Fuerst one day in the middle of
August. 'She undressed,' he said, 'and wanted me to have intercourse
with her.' " In his book 10 Rillington Place, which Mix had among the rest
of his library, Ludovic Kennedy,writing that their relationship developed
gradually, suggeststhat it was far more likely she had a straightforward
transactionwith him, prostitute and client, or granted her favors as
hisprice for not reporting her soliciting in his capacity as a
specialconstable.
"During sexual relations, he strangled her with a piece of rope. Then he
wrapped her leopard--skin coat round her"-a fur coat in August!--"took
her into the front room and placed her under the floorboards with the
rest of her clothes.
"That same evening, Ethel, who had been away in Sheffield with her
relations, arrived home with her brother Henry Waddington, who
intended to stay the night. Because they had only one bedroom and that
was occupied by Christie and Mrs.Christie, Henry Waddington slept in
the front room, a few feetaway from the temporarily interred body of Ruth
Fuerst ... "
Mix had to stop there. He was calling for Danila at eight and he meant
to leave early in order to stand outside and contemplate the house where
that first victim had lived. Number41 Oxford Gardens was on the other
side of Ladbroke Grove, rather shabby, much in need of painting and
general refurbishment. No doubt it would now be worth some enormous
sum, incredible to its wartime occupants if any of them were still alive. A
cat, rather like Otto but older and with a gray muzzle, came over the wall
and stopped when it saw Mix staring. Mix shooed it and made a face, but
it was streetwise and experienced. It gave him an inscrutable look and
strolled slowly into a clump of bushes.
Had Reggie ever stood where he was, then making up his mind, gone up
the path and rung the bell? There may have been other occasions when
he came here before that final fatal meeting. Hadn't the author of the
best-known book on Reggie suggested they had known each other for a
long time? Very probably all his relationships with his victims developed
gradually. It stood to reason he must sometimes have gone to their
places. After all, Ethel Christie was usually at home in Rillington Place
and he couldn't always just have met them in cafes and pubs.
Mix was growing more and more convinced that Reggie had visited
Gwendolen at St. Blaise House. When he first began renting the flat, she
had
Similar Books
