Back from London and Working on Video

So, it's been several months since my last post and much has happened since then. First, the trip to London was amazing, if not taxing. I met with Deborah Maggoch -- who is delightful -- and met her mother Charlotte and visited the house where the murders were committed.

I retraced Mary's steps and video taped the entire journey, which I'm currently ripping into a DVD that will be edited and uploaded this weekend, I hope. After spending 15 days in the cold, wet snow I was hoping the ghost of Mrs. Pearcey would reward my research with a late-night visit but no luck. I could not conjure the late Mrs. Pearcey and though the research went well, it is never ending, and, frankly, I don't feel any closer to solving this mystery.

My latest delimma is trying to find out more information about her solicitor Freke Palmer. I need a good-natured researcher who understands how to get information from the inns of court in London. Anyone, anyone?

I did, however, stumble upon a most interesting fact. There was an entry in a passport catalogue of a Frank Hogg from Camden who applied for passports for -- get this -- 2 people in October 1890. Was that for he and Mary, or he and Phoebe or was it just a ruse? Despite my best efforts, I couldn't find Frank Hogg in any of the censues after the death of his wife and child. Did he abscond to Spain? Fascinating, but the trail runs cold there.

I learned a bit more about Mary's life, and got a personal tour of the bowels of Newgate Prison thanks to a very friendly and interested historian who also worked as a gaurd. I saw where Mary was kept in her last days (her actual cell) and I saw where her bones are burried. I actually walked the Green Mile (very terrifying). I shot video and still photos of the door that she walked through on her way up to Courtroom No. 1. I also collected several more newspaper clippings from the local papers, some of which have photos of she, Frank, and Phoebe's family.

That was remarkable and I can't wait to share it with you.

Finally, and perhaps most noteably, the entire trial transcripts have, at last, been published into the public domain. I have downloaded them, compared them to my notes, and found several discrepancies and interesting ommissions from Mr. Hogg and others.

So, sit tight for the video (complete with sound effects and the latest research).

Still working away on the book (up to 160 pages), and I meet with an editor/agent on my birthday (Sept. 20) and will get initial feedback then.

I'm thinking about asking for help from you, my readers, with the plot as a way to stir interest in the book and since it looks like there won't be resolution to this mystery after all, why not have fun creating a compelling drama based on the facts as we know them. Thoughts?

Happy Thursday - SBH