Page 19 - The Devil's Arsonist

innocent? A view shared by the Cambridge Court of Assize, whose verdict of not guilty was
pronounced at his trial. Yet the testimony of the poor souls I did hear thought him guilty. And
yet the most damming evidence of his guilt, was his deathbed confession to this vilest of
crimes, nigh on fifty years later. What did Elisabeth see that night, that made her declare his
innocence and her husband’s guilt? And what became of James Brinley, if Elisabeth did die?
Did he too die or did he live out his life elsewhere? Am I he and not Richard Whittaker as I
once thought? Too many questions without answers.