“You should read the Torso book,” suggests the person on duty behind the archives desk at the Hamilton Public Library. “It pretty much covers the whole story.”

I looked around at row-upon-row of mysterious index files alphabetically ordered in long narrow wooden drawers. This was my first visit to the archives on the Central library’s third floor. I felt a little out of my league, like I was digging for secret information.

I’d been inspired to visit the archives after seeing a post on social media from a local writer who also lights up at the mention of Evelyn. Jessica Rose (@Notmytypewriter) had been at the library going through scrapbooks – a collection of newspaper clippings collected by archivists on a wide range of subjects relating to people, places and events in Hamilton’s history – and had posted the photo below during her visit.

‘I found it in a scrapbook @HamiltonLibrary has about the Evelyn Dick case. It’s full of amazing gems!’ she replied to questioning to where she’d found the information.

Libraries hold a lot more than books. They are gateways to historical adventures. I’m going to ask each of you to pack an important item (other than your toothbrush) for our trip together. Our ‘passport to history’ is a library card – no matter where you are located in the world. The Hamilton Public Library, as with other libraries throughout Ontario, provides free (yippee!) access to archived newspapers which you can (da-da-dum!) access from the comfort of your couch and a laptop. The barcode from a Hamilton Public Library card allows you to read issues of the Globe and Mail from 1844 onwards!. I will – as time goes on – have a page here which links to some of the most interesting stories I find, and for you to also add to! You can search for stories linked to street addresses, and for names of course.

The ease of accessing historical newspapers online was something not available to Brian Vallée when he wrote his book The Torso Murder: The Untold Story of Evelyn Dick published in 2001.

From the beginning of his book, Brian took the stance that Evelyn was guilty. There had been so much evidence you see; bone fragments in the alley, blood type ‘O’ on the seat of a black Packard auto, a suitcase full of dead baby, a red cross skirt with her name embroidered in it, and laden heavy with cement. An unmarried, shamed mother who lied and said she had a husband when she didn’t at the time she gave birth on three occasions. One baby was stillborn, two were born alive. Only one of them had the opportunity to grow up.

Yet the story of what happened on March 6, 1946 – the supposed date of Mr. Dick’s demise – is as much a matter of contention now as it was back then. The story is embedded in Hamilton’s infamous history.

Evelyn was good at story-telling, no matter which way you look at it. She provided a series of contradictory statements to police involving members of a ‘Windsor-based’ criminal gang, frustrating and confusing those investigating the case. Since 1946, the story – like the statements – has evolved, but nobody knows the full story.

As I began searching online, I was flooded by the references at my fingertips, but it was fed from previous books: Vallée’s Torso and a 1974 publication by Marjorie Freeman Campbell, called Torso: The Evelyn Dick Case. Mark McNeil, formerly of the Hamilton Spectator has also addressed – in detail – the story of Evelyn. But hanging over all of this is the screaming question of why did any of this happen in the first place?

If you want the nuts and bolts of the story in audio form, I’ll recommend Catherine Fogarty’s Story Hunter Podcasts, ‘Where Are You Mrs. Dick?’ She’s recorded 8 episodes of a well-researched and beautifully sound-effected audio time trip. At the time of writing this, only the first episode has dropped so I can’t yet comment on the whole journey, but she’s put time and effort into her work. I’m glad she’s done it. It’s kicked me in the ass to write this, and for me to finally get my thoughts down on err… interweb paper.

But one of my searches was particularly revealing. Vallée’s research was archived. If I was willing to travel, I could read it. And so it was that I flew to Sault Ste. Marie to read his extensive notes and research. I quickly discovered reference to something I had suspected: That the man commonly known as her father, Donald MacLean, may not have been her biological father. I also discovered Brian was rushed. Being past deadline for a contract that stated ‘Time is of the essence,’ in his quest to determine if Evelyn was alive, he may have missed important details.

This email to Key Porter, Torso’s publishing house, shows the pressure he faced: 

January 8, 2001

From: Brian

Susan: 

Don’t be alarmed at the scarcity of pages in this first batch. As I mentioned to you, I’ve written many sections throughout this book (over 50,000 words to date) and 99 percent of research is completed. It will move faster from here on. Even though this is a ‘quickie’ book, I obviously want the writing to be the best I can make it under the time restraints.

Five months on, the publishers were getting nervous. The manuscript was not yet completed.

May 25, 2001

From: Susan

Brian: It is difficult for us to know exactly how much of the manuscript you have written to date. Sometimes it sounds as if you simply need to tie up a few loose ends; other times it sounds as if you have a terrific amount of research and writing still to do.

Brian responded stating he would meet the publisher’s deadlines but hoped they had flexibility regarding identifying Evelyn, ‘and stating whether or not she is dead or alive.’

But Evelyn remained elusive and the book went to print without a swooping of curtains or big reveal. I can see why. The amount of research in the case is unfathomable. There are two trials alone to read through, but when you rush things you get things wrong, and Brian might not have known the magnitude of information he would find. In flying over details, he missed beautiful, broken pieces. 

The people of Hamilton want answers. They’d like to know where Sheryl Sheppard is, and why her then-boyfriend won’t talk. They’d like to know why Cindy Williams never made it one floor. Did Evelyn Dick kill her husband? 

Perhaps this began on a hunch – and maybe it’s just me – but gut instincts are fun to follow. I set off to pick up the broken pieces and try to make sense of something that makes no sense at all.