Herbert Rowse Armstrong - Excuse Fingers

Excuse Fingers

Oswald Martin was Armstrong's only rival solicitor in Hay. They were representing opposing parties in a property sale, the Velinewydd estate, which could have ended with Armstrong's client losing and Armstrong having to pay a large sum to Martin's client. The details of the whole transaction remain unclear; Martin subsequently said there was a question about the titles. Perhaps Armstrong's reluctance to pay Martin was due to him having speculated with his client's funds and then losing it. If this was the case, the only thing Armstrong could do was gain time by quietening Martin somehow at least for a while until he could raise the necessary funds by some other means. It would certainly appear that the money entrusted to Armstrong as a deposit on the sale was gone. Martin kept mentioning the matter of completion to Armstrong, but the latter repeatedly delayed and it remained uncompleted by the time of Armstrong's trial.

Armstrong eventually invited Martin to a meeting at his home on 26 October 1921. Martin found tea laid out with cakes and buttered scones. Martin probably thought the Major wanted to discuss completion of the property sale, but the two men merely discussed everyday things and office organisation, although Martin could have raised the matter himself. Armstrong spoke of being lonely after the death of his wife. During the meeting over tea, Armstrong picked up a scone, said "Excuse fingers" and handed it to Martin, who ate it. Having returned home, Martin became violently ill.

Martin's father-in-law, John Davies, the chemist (pharmacist) in Hay, had made several sales of arsenic to Major Armstrong supposedly to kill dandelions despite the fact that it was the autumn and there were only twenty dandelions in the garden of Mayfield, the Armstrongs' home. The chemist was now suspicious of Martin's sudden illness, and when Martin told him he had been to tea at Mayfield, certain ideas started to form in Davies' mind. Meanwhile, Dr Hincks became struck by how similar Martin's symptoms were to those of Katharine Armstrong. Hincks, Martin, and Davies discussed the situation and Davies warned the Martins against receiving gifts.

It was subsequently discovered that a few weeks before the tea party, a box of chocolates had been anonymously sent to the Martins. Mrs Martin's sister-in-law had eaten some and become violently ill. Fortunately, some chocolates remained and when examined some were found to have a small nozzle-like hole in the base. Dr Hincks contacted the Home Office and explained his suspicions about what had happened to Martin, and later voicing suspicions about Mrs Armstrong's death. Samples of the chocolates and Martin's urine were examined and found to contain arsenic, and the Home Office now passed the case to Scotland Yard. Meanwhile, and with a note of black comedy, Armstrong began to bombard Martin with further invitations to tea, for which Martin found it increasingly difficult to find excuses to avoid.

Scotland Yard had to move slowly so as not to warn Armstrong of their suspicions. They eventually arrested him on 31 December 1921, and he was charged with the attempted murder of Oswald Martin. The Major maintained he was innocent. When he was arrested, the police found a packet of arsenic in his pocket and many more in his house. Mrs Armstrong's body was exhumed and examined by the eminent Home Office pathologist Dr Bernard Spilsbury. Her body was riddled with arsenic ten months after death, and on the 19 January 1922 Major was charged with the wilful murder of his wife. "I repeat what I said before. I am absolutely innocent" said Armstrong.