Ever since Rumpole of the Bailey first appeared in Englishman John Mortimer’s mysteries, he has made asides referring to the Penge Bungalow Murders, a court case from very early in his career, in which he triumphed.
He hasn’t gone into details. Most of the people to whom he mentions it never heard of it. But, as do certain episodes in one’s youth, it obviously made a gigantic impression on Rumpole.
In “Rumpole and the Penge Bungalow Murders,” Mortimer hasn’t written a “prequel” to his Rumpole saga. He has done the much more sensible thing of having senior citizen Rumpole write a memoir of the Penge Bungalow Murders case. Although it happened soon after World War II, he still remembers it perfectly.
One reason the Rumpole stories are so delightful is that Mortimer infuses humor into his sentences. He doesn’t build to a punch line; his sentences are often just quietly amusing. There are pointed retorts that he remembers thinking and knows he didn’t say because of his somewhat timid youth and his desire to keep his job.
There are descriptions, such as “a voice which, having hit on an effective note of amused contempt, was disinclined to try any change of expression.”
Also, of course, there is the character and personality of Rumpole, lover of cheap wine and fine literature, disparaged by some, admired by more. In the new book, the reader learns what Rumpole was like as a youth, new to defending the accused in criminal cases, with no interest in either prosecuting the accused or in practicing civil law.
In this book, Rumpole has his first meeting with a member of the Timson family, whom he defends. The Timsons are pleased with his handling of that case. Because theirs is a cottage industry of small nonviolent crime and because it was often discovered, the Timsons brought plenty of business Rumpole’s way during the years.
In the book, he also meets the intelligent and definite-minded Hilda Wystan, who will become Mrs. Rumpole. Her spouse usually refers to her as She Who Must Be Obeyed and speaks less about his real appreciation of her good qualities.
But the focus here is the Penge Bungalow Murders.
The accused is Simon Jerold, 21, who’s terrified and depressed. He won’t adopt a story, not too subtly suggested to him, that he killed in self-defense after being attacked. He says he didn’t murder anybody. The young Rumpole believes him and, knowing that a guilty verdict means the fellow will hang, decides that since Jerold didn’t do it, he needs to know who did.
Unfortunately, the investigation is over and the trial is starting. What Rumpole needs is an inspiration.
And, as in all Mortimer’s wonderful books about Rumpole, he has one.
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