Conan Doyle for the Defense

by Margalit Fox

  Dr. Joseph Bell: Conan Doyle’s medical-school teacher, master diagnostician, and the model for Sherlock Holmes.

  Margaret Birrell: Miss Gilchrist’s niece.

  Hugh Cameron: Glasgow bookmaker and friend of Slater’s; he directed police to the shop where Slater had pawned a diamond crescent brooch.

  Francis Charteris: Eminent Glasgow physician and nephew of Miss Gilchrist.

  David Cook: Glasgow lawyer; friend and supporter of Detective Lieutenant Trench.

  William Miller Douglas: Superintendent, Glasgow police.

  George Edalji: Anglo-Indian lawyer whose wrongful conviction for animal maiming Conan Doyle helped overturn in 1907 in a case that prefigured Slater’s.

  Maggie Galbraith Ferguson: Miss Gilchrist’s former maid, who, with her daughter, Marion Gilchrist Ferguson, was the chief beneficiary of Miss Gilchrist’s new will.

  Charles Fox: Counsel for the British Crown at Slater’s extradition hearing in New York.

  Marion Gilchrist: The victim.

  Sir John Gilmour: Secretary of State for Scotland, 1924–29.

  John Glaister: Forensic-medicine expert; witness for the prosecution at Slater’s trial.

  William A. Goodhart: Slater’s primary defense lawyer at his New York extradition hearing.

  William Gordon: Slater’s fellow convict; on his release in 1925, he smuggled Slater’s urgent message to Conan Doyle.

  Agnes Guthrie: Helen Lambie’s former employer.

  The Hon. Lord Charles John Guthrie: The judge at Slater’s trial.

  James Hart: Procurator fiscal for Lanarkshire, instrumental in Slater’s wrongful conviction.

  Helen (Nellie) Lambie (later Gillon): Miss Gilchrist’s maid.

  Adolf Leschziner: father of Slater (born Oskar Josef Leschziner).

  Euphemia (Phemie) Leschziner: Slater’s sister.

  Georg Leschziner: Slater’s brother.

  Pauline (or Paula) Leschziner: Slater’s mother.

  Rowena Adams Liddell: Sister of Arthur Adams.

  Duncan MacBrayne: Glasgow greengrocer who could have alibied Slater; he was not called at trial.

  Colin MacCallum: Glasgow bootmaker and employer of Mary Barrowman.

  Alexander Logan McClure: Slater’s barrister; argued his defense at trial.

  Ramsay MacDonald: British Labour Party leader; British prime minister, 1924, 1929–31, 1931–35.

  Allan McLean: Glasgow bicycle dealer; informed the police of Slater’s pawn ticket.

  Erna Meyer: Daughter of Slater’s sister Phemie.

  James Gardner Millar: Lawyer and sheriff of Lanarkshire; presided at the 1914 secret inquiry.

  John Ord: Senior superintendent, Criminal Investigation Department, Glasgow police.

  John Orr: Chief superintendent, Glasgow police.

  Ernest Clephan Palmer (“The Pilgrim”): British journalist; author of a 1927 newspaper exposé on the Slater case.

  William Park: Glasgow journalist, and author of the 1927 book The Truth About Oscar Slater, edited and published by Conan Doyle.

  Rev. Eleazar P. Phillips: Leader of the Garnethill Hebrew Congregation; a Glasgow Jewish clergyman who was Slater’s longtime supporter.

  John W. M. Pinckley: United States deputy marshal at Slater’s extradition hearing.

  John Pyper: Detective inspector, Glasgow police; instrumental in Slater’s extradition proceedings in New York.

  William Roughead: Scottish lawyer, criminologist, and journalist; editor of Trial of Oscar Slater, published in four editions between 1910 and 1950.

  Catherine Schmalz: Slater’s maid.

  Alexander Shaughnessy: Slater’s second Glasgow solicitor; succeeded Ewing Speirs.

  John A. Shields: United States commissioner for the Southern District of New York; presided at Slater’s extradition hearing.

  John Sinclair: Secretary of State for Scotland, 1905–12.

  Ewing Speirs: Slater’s first Glasgow solicitor.

  Amalie (Malchen) Leschziner Tau: Slater’s sister.

  Käthe (Kätel) Tau: Daughter of Slater’s sister Malchen.

  John Thomson Trench: Detective lieutenant, Glasgow police; his support of Slater in the 1914 inquiry resulted in his own ruin.

  Alexander Ure: Lord Advocate; chief prosecutor at Slater’s trial. Later elevated to the peerage as Baron Strathclyde.

  William Warnock: Chief criminal officer of the Glasgow sheriff court; instrumental in Slater’s extradition proceedings in New York.

  Thomas McKinnon Wood: Secretary for Scotland, 1912–16.

  GLOSSARY

  Close (n., rhymes with “gross”): The vestibule of a Scottish apartment house, with a staircase leading to the upper floors.

  Donegal cap: A flat, round, soft tweed cap, traditionally associated with Ireland.

  Gey (adv.): Scottish dialect term meaning “very” or “really.” Comparable to the American colloquial term “pretty” in this sense.

  Home Office: The British ministerial department in charge of domestic affairs, including judicial matters in England and Wales.

  Identity parade: A lineup.

  Lord Advocate: The chief prosecutor for the Crown.

  Maindoor house: The ground-floor flat in a Scottish apartment building; it has its own entrance onto the street, separate from the close door.

  Master of Polworth: Chairman of the prison commission for Scotland.

  Memorial (n.): In Scottish law, a type of closely argued legal memorandum.

  Not proven: In Scottish criminal trials, one of the three available verdicts, along with guilty and not guilty, that jurors may render.

  Panel (or Pannell): The defendant (accused) in Scottish criminal trials.

  Procurator Fiscal: Scottish judicial office combining investigative and prosecutorial functions; somewhat akin to that of district attorney in the United States.

  Production: An exhibit in Scottish criminal trials.

  Release on license: To parole a convict.

  Reset: Scottish legal term denoting the receipt or resale of stolen goods. It can also denote the illegal harboring of a criminal.

  Secretary of State for Scotland (formerly “Secretary for Scotland”): The chief British government minister in charge of Scottish affairs.

  Sheriff: A member of the Scottish judiciary who presides over a local court.

  Wain (or wean): A child.

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