On March 20, 1946

On March 20, 1946, Evelyn Dick was arrested by Hamilton Police and detained on a vagrancy charge.
“Vagrancy does not mean anything. A lot can be behind a vagrancy charge,” Magistrate Burbidge told Evelyn’s lawyer, Orville Walsh, when he requested bail.

The Toronto Daily Star of that day reported that when she appeared in court, ‘The widow appeared in a snappy black pillbox hat and grey fur coat, took a glance from under her dark lashes over the packed courtroom, then turned her back and lowered her head.

“My client has lived with her family in Hamilton all her life,” the paper reporting Mr. Walsh arguing, “and I don’t know any previous—”

“Due to the exigencies of the situation she should be required to be in custody at least one week … It is a very serious matter,”

Very, very serious, indeed. In fact, even though the body of her husband had just been identified a day earlier, Evelyn wouldn’t see release from institutions until 1958, twelve years later.

The Toronto Daily Star went on to report that ‘An 11-year-old niece of John Dick volunteered: “Uncle John visits us two weeks ago for grandma’s funeral. When he was going away I heard him say, ‘If you don’t see me again you’ll know who got me.’ We don’t know what he meant. He must have expected something terrible to happen.’

On the same day, The Globe and Mail reported that, ‘Available information on the victim of the callous murder included the fact that he was born in Russia and had lived in this city about 21 years. He had been employed as a bus driver with the Hamilton Street Railway, which firm he joined on June 15, 1943.

Prior to that Dick (the family name is said to be spelled Dyck in Russia and at his home near Beamsville) had been employed with the Cope Construction Co., the F. W. Fearman Packing Co., and the Frost Steel and Wire Co.’

Nothing would ever be the same again for Evelyn.

[1] 2022 version of Cambridge Dictionary describes as ‘the difficulties of a situation, especially one that causes urgent demands.’