That Patrick forged such a letter was evidence that
his connection with the murder was premeditated and deliberate. To
cremate the body before an autopsy it was necessary to procure a
physician's certificate that Rice had died from natural causes. He
therefore made preparation to secure such a certificate, and then upon
the strength of the cremation letter to give directions for the
immediate destruction of the body.
Patrick, with the view of having at hand a physician who would be
unsuspicious, and who would issue a certificate of death from natural
causes, induced Jones to send for Dr. Curry, his own friend and
physician, on an occasion when the valet was ill. This was in March,
1900. Dr. Curry came, and Jones, acting under Patrick's advice,
cautioned him not to mention the lawyer's name to Rice. In course of
time he saw Rice, gained his good opinion and became his attending
physician. But Rice did not die, and curiously enough it was he himself
who suggested to Jones the instrumentality of death which was finally
employed, for he read an article dealing with the dangers of chloroform
as an anaesthetic, and discussed it with the valet.
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