CO129-556-5 Mary MacGregor- investigations into death 19-2-1936 - 20-5-1936 — Page 18

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Enclosure No.1.

COPY.

The Honourable Colonial Secretary.

1. I attach a certified copy of the telegram sent by

Police and also a Police Report, based on information obtained

from the Superintendent of The Great Northern Telegraph Co.,

which shows that the $41.98 charged is the correct fee.

2.

The Police are under no obligation to send telegrams

and do not usually send them in cases of this nature, but in

this case, an exception was made, as a letter left by the

deceased for her relatives in England had to be retained for

the Coroner's Inquiry. When in similar cases, the deceased person

has no relatives in the Colony, it is customary for the Police to

inform the relatives at home by letter. Had that been done in

the present case, the writer would not have heard of the death,

until close on a month after its occurrence.

3. The letter to the Police, referred to, was received

about the same time as the one sent to the Government. I decided

not to reply to that letter until the conclusion of the Death

Inquiry. The Inquiry was concluded on January 22nd, 1936, and

I replied to the letter on February 6th.

4. Following the suicide, the Police were busily

engaged in taking statements and collecting information for the

Coroner, which included information from Tientsin where the

deceased worked for some years prior to coming here.

5. An inventory of her belongings had to be taken and

all her property, including money, was handed over to the Official

Administrator.

6. I submit that no undue delay was made in this case

and that having regard to all the circumstances, there was no

cause for complaint of the manner in which the Police handled

this case.

28.3.36.

(Sgd.) T. Murphy.

per Inspector General of Police.