WAS CHUNG LING SOO MURDERED?

CHUNG Ling Soo, the famous Chinese magi cian, was shot through the chest on the stage of the Wood Green Empire, on 23rd March, 1918. A few minutes later he died from internal hemorrhage. The tragedy caused something of a stir in theatrical circles at the time, for Soo was a well-known figure throughout the world. Although he masqueraded as a genuine Chinese, he was in reality a Scotch-American whose name was William Elsworth Robinson. This is a fact which was known to very few people outside the profession even in his own native America.

Chung Ling Soo's death was universally lamented, for he was a magician of undoubted ability--an acknowledged master of his craft. At the inquest which was subsequently held, a verdict of Accidental Death was returned. Everyone seemed satisfied with this opinion. That is, everyone except Will Goldston--and possibly one or two other people who knew more than they cared to disclose. And because I had nothing to go on except a few abstract theories which fitted in with the rather queer circumstances of the case, I preferred to keep a discreet silence. I feel that no harm can now be done in bringing my views before the public.

Was Chung Ling Soo murdered? No, I do not think so. I have given the matter a good deal of thoughtful attention, and I am convinced that not one of the enemies which I knew Soo to possess would have been clever or unscrupulous enough to have planned such a terrible crime.

But I am just as equally certain that there was at least one man who knew what was about to happen on that fateful Saturday night at the Wood Green Empire. That man was none other than Chung Ling Soo himself!

Suicide--the most ingenious and cold-blooded suicide that was ever planned! That is my theory. Already I can hear the mocking, deriding cries of the sceptics asking me for proof. Of course, I have no proof. But the facts are pregnant with suspicion.

Let us examine the details of Soo's death. He was killed in his last trick on the second performance of a Saturday night. This illusion, known as "Catching the Bullets," was extremely good, and he had performed it on hundreds of previous occasions without the slightest hitch or difficulty.

I must trespass on the good nature of my readers in order to furnish a brief explanation of the working of the trick. Two live bullets were passed to the audience and carefully marked. They were carried back to the stage by a lady assistant, and apparently handed to a male assistant who placed them in a rifle. In reality the live bullets were retained by the girl, who handed them to Chung Ling Soo concealed beneath the rim of a plate. The bullets placed in the rifle were duplicates.

Soo then took several steps up stage and held the plate to his chest. The assistant took careful aim with the rifle and pulled the trigger. At the same time a faint click was heard, and it was seen that Soo had apparently caught the two bullets on the plate. He had, of course, merely dropped the marked bullets on the surface of the plate. I should emphasize the fact that the rifle which was used had a specially sealed barrel in order to minimise the possibility of an accident.

On the fatal night everything seems to have gone wrong. A fraction of a second after the assistant pulled the trigger, Soo pitched forward on his face with a cry of "My God I You've shot me!"

The plate fell from his grasp, and was broken on the stage. But it had not been shattered by the bullets. This goes to prove that the magician had not held the plate over his chest according to his usual custom. Had he done so it must inevitably have been shattered. Why had Soo suddenly become so careless?

An examination of the rifle after the tragedy revealed the fact that the sealed barrel had been opened. Was this by accident or design? There is no doubt that Soo would never have been shot had the rifle been in its usual condition. And, supposing that the rifle barrel had been deliberately opened, whose hand was responsible?

Again, I repeat, I have no proof. However, a friend of mine who must remain nameless, happened to call on Soo in the interval between the two performances. As my friend entered the dressing room, he found the magician toying with the rifle. This fact takes on an added importance when one considers that any damage done to the rifle must, have been done during the first and second performances on the Saturday night.

And what of the marked bullets--those which should have been caught on the plate? I made a personal search of the stage and auditorium of the theatre on the following Monday, shortly after the news of Soo's death had reached me. I found nothing. Thinking I might have overlooked them, and wishing to rid myself of the many uneasy suspicions in my mind, I offered to pay £1 for each of the marked bullets when found. Nobody ever claimed the reward. The bullets had disappeared as strangely and as mysteriously as if they had never existed.

I might add that I never expected the bullets to be recovered. I was convinced that they were in poor Soo's body.

On the night in question, Soo loaded the rifle himself. As I have already explained, this was a task which was allocated to a male assistant. Here again the magician departed from his usual mode of procedure for no apparent reason.

I think it will be generally agreed that I have outlined a pretty strong case against an accidental death. The details I have so far described are consistent with a deliberate and well schemed suicide (I have already indicated that the theory of murder cannot be accepted). But no suicide theory can be considered complete unless a motive is supplied. Not even the most violent lunatic would take his own life from sheer blood-lust.

In this special case, the motive was not lacking. Not long before the tragedy, Soo had asked my opinion on a domestic affair which was obviously worrying him a great deal. I had replied in a non-committal manner, for I was not anxious to be concerned in affairs that might adversely affect my professional reputation.

Lastly there was Soo's strange settlement of all his debts. On the Thursday before he was killed, Soo walked into my office in Green Street.

"Good morning, Will," he said, taking a chair, and helping himself to a piece of chocolate. "How much money do I owe you?"

I thought this an unusual greeting, and told him so. But he did not appear to be in the least disturbed.

"It's like this," he explained. "I'm paying off all my debts. I guess it's just about time I got all my affairs in order. The sooner I get things straightened out, the better I shall like it."

He paid his account, and took his departure. As the door closed behind him, I little thought I had seen the last of a man whose dramatic death, two days later, was to startle the whole of England. Why had Soo been so anxious to settle his liabilities?

There you have my theory with regard to Chung Ling Soo, as briefly as I can put it. In conclusion, I would like to tabulate the various points in the case, which, to my mind, point definitely to suicide.

1. Chung Ling Soo was worried by domestic troubles.

2. He cleared up all his business affairs before his death.

3. He was shot on his last performance on a Saturday night.

4. The gun which killed him had been tampered with.

5. Soo himself was seen handling the gun a few minutes before his performance.

6. The marked (real) bullets which were used in the trick were never found.

7. The plate was not shattered by the bullets, proving that Soo could not have held the plate before his chest according to his usual custom.

8. Soo himself loaded the rifle which fired the fatal shots.