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The
conductor, William Knyvett, knew Larter and said, `What,
is the mussel trade looking up?' Larter replied,
'My trade is like yours. Old women come and spend
one-and-a-halfpence and want a clean towel, and think
they've bought the ***** show.' He then said, 'I had six
bottles of cider last night and whisky.'
Knyvett asked, 'What is the meaning of you going on the
drink like this?' Larter thought before replying,
'I have got wrong with my missus. I will put an end to
this today.'
As the
tram approached The Whalebone public house at the
bottom of St Clement's Hill, Larter suddenly said, 'I'm
going to have a drink before I go any further; you can't
get away to come and have one?'
Knyvett declined to leave his tram and watched Larter
enter the public house. If Larter planned to
commit murder he had no thought of keeping a low
profile, or did he care?
The
landlord of The Whalebone, William Wright,
remembered Larter coming in briefly at about three
o'clock, and again at about half-past three when he had
a young lady with him. She drank lemonade and he
had whisky.
At
5.30 pm Larter walked with Nellie to the cab rank at the
Agricultural Hall and asked George Howard to drive them
to Ber Street Gates. Howard obliged and on the way
they stopped at The Norwich Arms for refreshment.
Nellie remained in the cab while Larter and the cabman
went inside. Larter took a glass of port wine out
to her. They continued to Larter's home where
Larter and Nellie went inside, the cab waiting five
minutes for their return. Back at the Agricultural
Hall Larter tried to persuade Howard to drive them to
The Maid's Head at Catton. Howard refused,
saying he had other orders, though he may have been
influenced by Larter not paying him for the service he
had already rendered.
Larter
and Nellie boarded a tram near the Agricultural Hall and
once again the conductor knew Larter. George
Chaplin recalled that Larter had obviously been drinking
and when the couple got off his tram at The Whalebone
public house, at about six o'clock, Larter insisted
on shaking his hand, telling him he was about to walk to
Hainford, creating another in a trail of potential
witnesses. If he was really planning a murder he
was not planning to get away with it. Chaplin
watched the couple walk into St Clement's Hill and stop
at a sweet shop. Nellie's love of chocolate had
interrupted their journey.
A little over an hour later Larter entered The Maid's
Head Inn in Spixworth Road (a continuation of St
Clement's Hill), excited, bleeding and spilling beer,
swearing and getting himself ejected.
Around
7.30 pm he entered
The Whalebone,
still
excited, ordering a ‘small lemonade'. William
Wright served him, noticing and remarking upon the blood
on his hands and clothing. Larter said he had had
an accident with his bicycle. The sharp-eyed landlord
commented upon the heavy clasp knife protruding from
Larter's waistcoat pocket, asking if the opened blade
had cut him when he fell from the bicycle. Larter
did not reply but took the knife from his pocket, seen
by the landlord as a 'buckhandled clasp knife with a
rather long pointed blade', closed the blade and
replaced the knife, in doing so revealing a deep cut to
his right forefinger.
Before
the inquisitive landlord could pose further questions
Larter finished his drink, and said, `Good night',
adding `Perhaps I shall see you later.' He must
have known William Wright was another witness against
him.
Horace
Larter went on to create yet another witness, one he
presented with a confession. After leaving
The Whalebone
he
visited his sister, Florence Ludkin, in Sprowston Road,
telling her he was `boozy', which she could see for
herself. He asked to see Florence's husband and
was tersely informed that he was in bed and was not to
be disturbed. He then asked for a cup of tea and
Florence said she had none. He said he had cut his
hand and asked if he could wash it. His sister
replied, 'No, you will mess the place up, let me do it
for you.' She told him to sit still on the chair
or he would fall over but instead he walked to the door,
saying, 'Will you shake hands with me for the last time?
I've killed Nellie.' As he walked away from his
thunderstruck sister he said, 'I shall give myself up to
the first Constable I come to.'
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