Preface

The Mystery of a Hansom Cab

by Fergus HUME (1859 - 1932)

“The following report appeared in the Argus newspaper of Saturday, the 28th July, 18-- “Truth is said to be stranger than fiction, and certainly the extraordinary murder which took place in Melbourne on Thursday night, or rather Friday morning, goes a long way towards verifying this saying. A crime has been committed by an unknown assassin, within a short distance of the principal streets of this great city, and is surrounded by an inpenetrable mystery. … “On the twenty-seventh day of July, at the hour of twenty minutes to two o'clock in the morning, a hansom cab drove up to the police station in Grey Street, St. Kilda, and the driver made the startling statement that his cab contained the body of a man who he had reason to believe had been murdered….” (Excerpt from the first chapter.)

Listen next episodes of The Mystery of a Hansom Cab:
A Daughter of Eve , A Woman of the People , Across the Walnuts and the Wine , Another Richmond in the Field , Brian Receives a Letter , Brian Takes a Walk and a Drive , Counsel for the Prisoner , De Mortuis nil nisi Bonum , Evidence at the Inquest , Hush-Money , In the Queen's Name , Kilsip Has a Theory of His Own , Madge Makes a Discovery , Mark Frettleby Has a Visitor , Missing , Mother Guttersnipe Joins the Majority , Mr. Calton's Curiosity is Satisfied , Mr. Gorby is Satisfied at Last , Mr. Gorby Makes a Start , Mr. Gorby Makes Further Discoveries , Mrs. Hableton Unbosoms Herself , Nemesis , One Hundred Pounds Reward , Sal Rawlins Tells All She Knows , She was a True Woman , The Argus Gives its Opinion , The Confession , The Hands of Justice , The Love that Lives , The Trial , The Verdict of the Jury , The Wool King , Three Months Afterward , What Dr. Chinston Said , What the Argus Said