I should perhaps point out at this juncture of my tale that Jack’s parents were not with him when their son read the contents of the package bequeathed to him by his late ‘Uncle Robert’. Whatever was contained within the file of papers handed over to him remained in his possession. His father testified at Jack’s trial that he had no idea what his cousin had left in trust for Jack, denying any knowledge of what Jack claimed in his defence it contained, therefore having no reason to give that could have caused such a sudden change in his demeanour and behaviour.
Tom Reid went on to describe how, on the night he received his legacy, Jack retired to his room at about nine p.m. and Tom and Jennifer weren’t to see him again until he arrived in the kitchen for breakfast at about nine the followi
