A British girl was murdered in Peiping (now Peking) around midnight next to the Tartar City walls in January 1937. Her face was brutally mutilated, beyond recognition. Her internal organs were extracted. It was a most brutal murder on the eve of the Japanese invasion of China across the Marco Polo Bridge.
The Chinese police, with the aid of an ex-Scotland Yard detective seconded from Tientsin, failed to identify the murderer.
Her dad devoted the rest of his life to investigating her death. He relentlessly wrote letters to London to urge further investigations and supplied information and facts he dug up.
It was all in vain. The British Empire, on which the sun never sets, had set forever and had no time nor resources to investigate a long-forgotten death.
Two recent books tried to get to the bottom of the murder.
Paul French, in his Midnight in Peking (2011), postulated that the murderers are three Westerners.
Graeme Sheppard, a retired police officer, in his A Death in Peking (2018), disagreed. He said the murderer is Pamela Werner’s Chinese boyfriend. Graeme said Han Shou Ching was jilted and jealous and thus had the motive (P 358).
I am not convinced. While Han may have a motive, the fact remains that there was no direct witness to his murdering Pamela. There is no circumstantial evidence linking Han to the murder.
Paul’s book evoked the atmosphere well. The storyline is exciting.
Graeme’s book is strong on the newspaper reports of the murder and investigations. He has given us excerpts from The Times UK, The Peiping Chronicle, The North-China Herald, etc.
Both books complement each other and are worth reading.
LWH, 27 July 2025, 11 p.m.