The photo arrived in a long manilla envelope with the words “DO NOT BEND” stamped importantly on both sides. This is what we’d been waiting for, the ‘Rare Acquisition’ claiming to be Evelyn. The envelope could have been half the size to protect the small photo, which I pulled delicately from the protective plastic. Someone had written – with a somewhat un-sturdy hand – ‘Evelyn Dick 1945’ on the back. They must have done so after October 4th of that year, 1945, since that’s when she married John Dick and left the name Maclean behind.
Whomever it is in the photo looks beautiful and elegantly appointed in a fashionable scallop-necked dress, apparently about to go somewhere lovely. The young woman is standing in front of a window of a brick house, seeming to show off her pretty outfit and hair-do. Shadows criss-cross the deck or front porch. On the brickwork, the number ’21’ hides in a white shield.
I look at the details in the photo. Her pretty, peep-toe shoes with a black bow detail; a three-tiered brooch which perhaps is some kind of animal; a delicate watch on her wrist, and her plaited hair-do.
Up until winning the bidding for this mysterious photo, I had been too nervous to write to the seller. It might sound silly, but I was scared that if I asked too many questions it might break the spell – that my interaction might generate energetic interest and I’d miss out in those final ten seconds to someone who knew better the tricks of the online bidding game. But now, I owned the photo. I took to my email to firm up details and find out what I could about the image. The seller responded quickly, they were happy to chat back and forth for a bit – enough for me to believe that the photo could actually be authentic. But still – I couldn’t stop thinking that her nose looked different – wider, perhaps?
And if it wasn’t her, was it someone pretending to be her – or had someone just written her name on the back claiming it was her and set it up on E-bay as a trap? Evelyn did have a pair of shoes with an over-size bow, they’d been famously photographed in her trial – but hers were sling-backs – at least, that’s what I recall from a photo of her. Who had written the name on the back? Was the #21 on the wall significant? The seller had already verified a link to William Bohozuk who lived at 21 Picton Street West in the north end – whether it was real or fake, I was relieved to have it in my possession and to be able to bring it to the world. To bring it to you guys. Maybe, even to family.
Fact or fake? And why does it exist in the first place? A conflict between Bill and Evelyn’s versions of events was the length of time they had known each other. Bill said he had met Evelyn through his wife, Helen, while Evelyn said she had known him before he was married. The photo is dated 1945. She married John Dick on October 4th 1945. Does this mean the photo – if it is her – was taken before that date? Bill Bohozuk had married Helen Kleean Mitchell in July 1944. Could this photo be dated to before then?
Now photos of Evelyn.
The residents of 21 Picton Street West were the Bohozuk family. Bill (William) Bohozuk (pictured in centre below) was acquitted in all involvement with the murder of Evelyn’s husband, John Dick, and that of baby Peter David White Maclean.
William Bohozuk married widowed Helen Kleean Mitchell (shown far left in photo) in July 1944. She left and moved to California soon after the trial was over. They divorced in June, 1950. Bill’s sister, Lillian Bohozuk, is in the middle. Could this be the young woman in the photo?
The Evelyn Dick Files 