The corpse of a little girl of about eleven years
of age, well nourished, but, it is said, without food in the stomach, or any sign of its recent presence, was discovered on Wednesday, wrapped up in brown paper, in the garden of one of the houses in Clarendon Gardens, Maida gale, by a maidservant, who saw some parcel lying under the shrubs. There was no clothing on the body, and it had not yesterday been identified. The excitement in the neighbourhood is naturally very great. It is said that there is no indication of violence, and that death is ascribed simply to three or four days' starvation, for previously the child had been well fed. It would seem that those who starved her to death most have hidden away the body to prevent being called to account for the deed. That implies, of course, that those who were responsible for her death could not have believed that her presence would be missed in the neighbourhood of her home so as to excite remark. And it would seem likely that she must have been brought from a distance either in a dead or dying state. Yet the chances are, we hope, greatly against the escape of those who starved her, to whatever class they may have belonged. In time, the girl's absence will probably be noticed by some one or other who is not interested in concealing her fate ; and when noticed, it must lead to inquiry and suspicion.
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