The Hunt Ball

Hugh Gifford’s novel Hunt Ball Mystery begins with a crisis when he realizes that the guard in charge of unloading his baggage made an error, leaving him with no evening wear. He departs in the hope that the problem will be resolved by the time he returns. Hughs and his friend Harry Kelson are both at the hunt Ball, which is being held at the Wynford estate. Hugh needed to collect his bags in order to prepare for the handball. The circumstances leading up to this night are insufficient to justify Hanshaw’s suspected suicide. According to the novel, the evening’s activities were smooth. There was no hint that anyone was going to be killed as all the friends’ seemed to be going along well. Although Giffons luggage wouldn’t reach him until ten, he still had time to get to the hunt ball on time and had fun (Croft, 12).

While Harry Kelson and Hugh Giffon were having dinner at the Golden lion hotel, they were joined by a stranger. According to Giffons assessment, the stranger wasn’t of their class. He came to this conclusion based on the manner and looks of the stranger. The stranger, Henshaw happened to be the brother of a prominent legal eagle known as Gervase. From Hanshaw conversation with the two friends, Harry and Hugh, one could easily assume that the two friends would have ended up dead, instead, its Hanshaw.

Hanshaw was found dead the next morning at the tower of Wynford Place. Since the crime scene had a window from which n adult could have used as a passage, the immediate assumption by the police and those present was suicide by stabbing. The police have however a procedure for ruling out deaths. The detectives need to do an investigation on the people who were in contact with the victim before his death as well as expect a report from the medical examiner (Croft, 32).

Gervase Hanshaw holds a different opinion as he disagrees with the consensus that his brother committed suicide by use of the chisel. Police procedural writers understand that when you write about the police, there needs to be a crime. In other cases such as movies, however, some events are exaggerated and can’t happen in real life. The writers, therefore, are limited in the stories they tell. The investigation and the circumstance surrounding Hanshaw’s death, therefore, needed to be as close to reality as possible.

Once the investigation into the death of Hanshaw ruled out murder, the police procedural takes into account all the evidence as they understand there is no such thing as perfect crime. Murderers are messy and leave clues that lead right back to them. The investigation into the death of Hansen was a team effort. The medical examiner was involved and performed the autopsy; forensic teams also took part in the investigation collecting evidence and handing them over to the detectives (Stoel, Itiel & Larry, 91). All this collective effort was necessary for solving the murder of Hanshaw.

The write also sheds some light on the life of the detectives. Their lives affect their duties as detectives either positively or negatively. Also, the writers need to understand various information before writing police procedural. Basic information for the writer includes bullets, the structure of the police force, autopsy and wounds. The writer displays an extensive knowledge of the detective work (Stoel, Itiel & Larry, 91). Crime is among the ills of the society which are examined by police procedural writers to bring out the motives for various carmines such as murder.

References

Crofts, Freeman W. The Hunt Ball Murder. London: Vallancey Press, 1943. Print.

Stoel, Reinoud D., Itiel E. Dror, and Larry S. Miller. “Bias among forensic document examiners:

Still a need for procedural changes.” Australian Journal of Forensic Sciences46.1 (2014): 91-97.