How, it may be asked, could Ivy Matthews and Harding become possessed of the information the police had? That question is not difficult to answer. It will be shown later that Ivy Matthews was driving around with the police on January 9, assisting them to get evidence in the case, and that she, on her part, was trying to get it manufactured. If that is so (and a sworn declaration to that effect has gone unchallenged) then she was not likely to lack any information that the police thought it might be useful to them for her to have. It has been stated in the Press that the police employed Chinese spies to see if evidence could be got against any of the Chinese in the neighbourhood. The statement, though it ill accords with Piggott’s evidence that “we had the case well in hand” on December 31, has not been denied. If Chinese spies were called in to assist in the unravelling of the crime—and that course of action may have been quite justifiable—the detectives are not likely to have cried “non tali auxilio” when Matthews volunteered her services. As to Sydney Harding, the source of his knowledge can be guessed if not inferred. Harding was a criminal with a record, like one of the Arbitration Court disputes, extending beyond the limits of one State. He was “wanted” in Sydney, when he favoured Melbourne with his society on January 4. At that time, Detective Walsh, of Sydney, was doing duty in Melbourne as an exchange officer. He was one of the detectives engaged on the Ross case and was present at the arrest. On Sunday, January 22, according to statements since made to Ross’s advisers, Harding sent for Walsh, whom he knew, and Walsh visited him at the gaol and had a long interview with him. On Monday, January 23, Ross made the “confession” to Harding, and that night Harding again sent for Walsh, as is admitted, and recounted the confession to the Governor in the presence of the detective. Neither of these facts—that Ivy Matthews was acting as assistant detective on January 9, and that Detective Walsh had visited Harding in the gaol by invitation on January 22—was known at the trial. Had they been so, they would have provided excellent material for cross-examination, and would have given the jury something to consider which was never present to their minds.