BRIGHTON BOROUGH POLICE — WITNESS STATEMENTS Case file: Death of Mrs Violet Ensworth, Grand Hotel, 7th June 1927

Superintendent J.R. Graves, interviewing officer.

Statement of Mr Clive Farraday, nephew of the deceased:

I called on Aunt Violet at half past seven to take her down to dinner. She was in fine form — dressed in her blue silk, wearing the cameo brooch she always favoured. We dined in the hotel restaurant until nine o'clock. Over dessert she told me she intended to change her will, leaving the bulk of her estate to a cats' home in Lewes. I was amused rather than alarmed; Aunt Violet was always threatening to disinherit one person or another. After dinner I escorted her back to her suite and said goodnight at the door. I went to the American Bar and stayed until closing time at eleven.

Statement of Miss Rose Glennie, lady's maid to the deceased:

I prepared Mrs Ensworth's cocoa at half past nine, as I do every evening. I used the spirit lamp in the suite's dressing room to heat the milk. I brought it to her on a tray with two digestive biscuits. She was sitting up in bed reading a novel — one of those Edgar Wallace thrillers she enjoyed. I turned down the gas and left her at a quarter to ten. I retired to my own room on the floor above.

Statement of Mr Horace Tull, solicitor:

I had arranged to call upon Mrs Ensworth at nine o'clock to discuss certain amendments to her will. She received me in her sitting room wearing a dressing gown over her nightclothes. She was drinking her cocoa when I arrived. We discussed the provisions for approximately forty minutes. She was in excellent health and sharp as ever. I left at twenty minutes to ten, passing Miss Glennie on the landing as I departed. The maid was carrying a tray — I assumed she was collecting the empty cup.