Robert McCowan was called as he had seen a man leaving what he believed was 29 St Pauls Road at about 4.55 am (within the estimated time of death). He had the possibility of some work in Brewery Road, which is on the other side of York Way from St Pauls Road. He said he had seen a man leave the gate with a turned up collar of an overcoat, a hard bowler hat and a slight jerk of his right shoulder as he walked with his left hand in his pocket.

Witnesses were able to identify Wood from the manner of his personal way of walking. The police also called John Crabtree, Emily's previous landlord. He continued to prove unhelpful but when pressed he identified Wood as the man who had visited 1, Bidborough Street on several previous occassions.

The identification of Wood by witnesses, the postcard in his handwriting and the burned letter and as the last person to have been seen with Emily at the Eagle all convinced the police that they had their man and Wood was charged..

The evidence against Wood was at best circumstantial. It must be remembered that these events occurred in 1907, long before the introduction of forensic science, fingerprinting and certainly DNA testing. Emily had been killed by having her throat cut from left to right. By examination of her stomach contents and time of discovery of her body, death was said to have occurred between 3.00am and 6.00am on the morning of 12 September 1907.

Emily was still in the position of one who is sleeping. There were no defensive cuts on her arms and the wound that killed her was inflicted with some force. It was assumed that Emily was on the left of the bed, her assailant on the right; when she was asleep her hair was pulled to one side and her throat cut by a right handed person. The medical books I have read all state that to cut someones throat when struggling is not an easy option. It is best carried out when the victim is unaware.

The last person to have been seen with her was Robert Wood as they left the Eagle pub on the evening of 11 September. Wood was seen there by several of Emily's friends and also Joseph Lambert, a bookseller from Charing Cross Road. The latter had not seen Wood since the previous February, something on which Lambert had remarked.

On the final morning of her life Emily received two letters. One was an advertising flyer from a tailor and the other a large piece of paper folded in four to resemble a letter. Emily threw them both on to the fire but before burning the letter Emily showed it to Roberts, mentioning to him how similar the writing on the letter was to the writing on the postcard. This was Roberts testimony and the only corroberation is the remains of the letter itself.

The charred remains, rescued by the police, were not clearly decipherable but according to Roberts said:'Dear Phyllis. Will you meet me at the bar of the Eagle at Camden Town 8.30 tonight Wednesday - Bert.'

It was not until he was clearing out Emily's possessions that Bert Shaw found the postcard from Robert Wood. It had been posted on the Monday morning. Believing this to be a vital piece of evidence the police had it reproduced in many daily newspapers and then in the News of the World on Sunday September 30 1907.

The Camden Town Murder is now published in hardback and can be bought from most good bookshops or from on-line stores such as Amazon. co.uk.

More of my published articles can be found on my home page, from where you can also contact me.

The postcard was seen by amongst others Ruby Young, a past girlfriend of Wood's. Realising how dangerous this could be he met her the next day and asked her to agree that they had been regular partners and always saw each other on Mondays and Wednesdays.

At first Ruby agreed but could not keep it a secret. She told a friend who had a friend who worked in Fleet Street. Ruby was contacted by the police and identified Robert Wood as he walked down Grays Inn Road, close to his home in Frederick Street. Wood was arrested and put before an identification parade.