Читать книгу The Fatal Cup: Thomas Griffiths Wainewright and the strange deaths of his relations - John Price Williams - Страница 65

and there an application was made for a policy on Helen’s life for £3,000

Two days later Wainewright took her to the Pelican Office in Spring Gardens. This time the sum insured was £5,000. Next on March 26, it was the Eagle’s turn. By tradition the chief executive of a life insurance company was called the actuary and the Eagle’s actuary, Henry P Smith was to become Wainewright’s nemesis.

The proposal was made for an insurance on her life for £3,000, acceptance subject to a medical report, which of course had already been procured. Dr Graham was able to certify that not only was she healthy when she was examined, he had never known her to have a day’s illness in her life.

At life offices in several parts of London, clerks and officials were to deal with Miss Helen Frances Phoebe Abercromby’s applications for policies. There was one common factor, apart from the unusual number of them, they were all very short term, for only two years or, as in the case of the Palladium, three. An ideal prospect for the insurance companies - for why should a healthy young woman die within two or three years?

On April 20th, Eliza took Helen to the Palladium office again. The actuary, Nicholas Grute, showed understandable curiosity. Why was the insurance for so short a period? Eliza had a ready answer. It was to raise money to enable the family to get possession of property which would fall in within three years. In other words the policy could be used as security to raise money; if Helen died in the meantime, the loan would be paid off with the insurance.

JOHN PRICE WILLIAMS

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