Shape of Snakes

MEMO

To: Police Superintendent Hathaway

From: PS Drury

Date: 29.01.79

Subject: Advice re cautioning Mrs. Ranelagh against wasting police time

Sir,

As you know, Mrs. Ranelagh has made a number of accusations against Derek Slater, including: 1) harassing and murdering Ann Butts; 2) making abusive telephone calls to the Ranelagh household in the middle of the night and; 3) attempting to keep Mrs. Ranelagh a prisoner in her own home by loitering outside her front door. None of these accusations stands up to investigation. 1} The inquest verdict on Ann Butts was unequivocal. 2)The Slaters have no telephone-nor do they have access to the Ranelaghs' new ex-directory number. 3) Mrs. Charles at 3 Graham Road-next-door neighbor and friend of Mrs. Ranelagh-denies ever seeing Derek Slater at their end of the street.

There is no evidence that the above incident took place other than Mrs. Ranelagh's word. The clothes she claims to have been wearing are unmarked and unstained-i.e., there are no muddy marks on the knees of her trousers and no semen staining between the thighs.

Despite the aggressive way in which she says she was held "in a bear hug" and slammed against a fence, her face and arms are unmarked. (N.B.: She waited nineteen hours to report the incident and claimed to have cleaned herself up.)

Mrs. Ranelagh admitted to me that her husband has left her. She is clearly disturbed by Mr. Ranelagh's desertion. She says she phoned him to tell him about the alleged assault and was upset when he accused her of lying. "He said I'd invented it to make him jealous. I sometimes think the only thing he thinks about is sex." (N.B.: Mrs. Ranelagh has lost a lot of weight and appears to be anorexic. Also, her behavior is irrational-she breaks off in the middle of a conversation to listen for rats.)

I spoke to Mr. Ranelagh by telephone. He claims his wife is "bored with being a teacher and is reveling in her fifteen minutes of fame." According to him, nothing she says can be believed at the moment. I have questioned Derek Slater and he denies being anywhere near Graham Road at 15:00 hours on 24.01.79. He says he was at Kempton Park Races until the early evening and has a ticket stub to support this. He has supplied names and telephone numbers of three friends who were with him-one supports the alibi; two yet to be checked.

Please advise. My personal view is that Mrs. Ranelagh is pursuing a vendetta against Derek Slater because she believes him to be responsible for the death of Ann Butts. I consider this vendetta to be: a) an invention; b) paranoid; and c) strongly linked to shock and/or the failure of her marriage. I strongly recommend an official caution against wasting police time.

I Drury