Swapped Day Off

London, Friday, November 8, 1974, 11 pm. Last night, shortly after 9 pm, the nanny Brenda Hulme, 29, was beaten to death in the dark basement kitchen of a terraced houseterraced house A house joined to its neighbours on both sides, part of an unbroken row of identical homes. in BelgraviaBelgravia An elegant and expensive district of central London, known for white stucco mansions and embassies.. The body was stuffed into a canvas sack.

Minutes later, the lady of the house, Lady Corinna Wrexham, was attacked at the top of the basement stairs, in the dark: the bulb had been unscrewed and left on a chair. She escaped and stumbled, bloodied, into the pub on the corner at 9:45 pm, without having seen the man's face.

Her husband, separated from her for nearly two years, vanished during the night. He was found today at 6:30 pm at the port of NewhavenNewhaven A port town on the south coast of England, with ferry crossings to France., with a ticket under a false name for the night ferry to Dieppe and his right hand bandaged.

Nobody broke into the house. Whoever came in knew how to move in the dark, and knew who usually went down those stairs.

Basement kitchen in BelgraviaBelgravia An elegant and expensive district of central London, known for white stucco mansions and embassies., London, 1974, with a loose light bulb on a chair.