In 1931 Liverpool, we witness a crime that seems physically "impossible": Julia Wallace is brutally murdered inside her locked home, with no sign of forced entry and no clear way for the killer to escape. What begins with a mysterious phone call to a chess club and a nonexistent address spirals into one of history’s most famous real-life locked room mysteries.

In part one, we meet William Herbert Wallace and his wife Julia, and follow the strange chain of events that lead up to her murder. In part two we will discuss the investigation and trial that follows, all the while asking ourselves: "Did William kill his wife?"

Today's research couldn't have been possible without my friend and talented Records Custodian, Sarah Schilling. Special thanks to her!

Follow us on instagram

@mysteryfortwopodcast

Sources:

Liverpool City Police, “The Murder of Julia Wallace,” official case summary.

Court of Criminal Appeal, R v Wallace [1931], judgment quashing conviction.

Trial testimony of William Herbert Wallace and key witnesses, Liverpool Assizes, April 1931.

Curtis, J. H., The Trial of William Herbert Wallace. London: Geoffrey Bles, 1934.

Murphy, James, The Murder of Julia Wallace. 2001.

Nickell, Joe, “The Impossible Murder of Julia Wallace,” Skeptical Inquirer 45, no. 5 (2021).

“William Herbert Wallace,” Wikipedia.

“The Julia Wallace Murder,” Historic Mysteries.

William Herbert Wallace case files, williamherbertwallace.com.

One morning in August 1994, a small town in Washington watched as translucent, gelatin-like blobs of goo fell from the sky, making people violently ill, and sparking a mystery that recently resurfaced 30 years later. From medieval “star jelly” to real cases of fish raining from the sky around the world, this episode explores bizarre happenings in nature.

Follow Mystery For Two on Instagram -

@MysteryForTwo

Sources:

The UnBelievable with Dan Aykroyd, Season 2, Episode 1

“The Day Blobs Rained Down on Oakville,” The Chronicle

“Return of the Blobs: SW Washington Revisited by Decades-Old Gooey Mystery,” KUOW

“Can You Solve the Mystery of the Oakville Blobs?” KUOW

Gordon, Benjamin Lee. Medieval and Renaissance Medicine (1959)

Belcher, Hilary & Swale, Erica. “Catch a Falling Star,” Folklore (1984)

“Star Jelly,” Wikipedia (with historical medical references)

“Lluvia de Peces: The Rain of Fish,” Atlas Obscura

“Animal Rain: A Real Phenomenon?” Sinapsi e Diaria

“Why Does It Rain Fish in Honduras?” CaterPickles

During a midnight shoot for Titanic in Halifax, nearly 80 cast and crew members, including director James Cameron, suddenly began hallucinating after eating bowls of lobster chowder. This mystery begs the question: who spiked the chowder?

Follow us on Instagram: @mysteryfortwo

Sources:

• https://www.newspapers.com/article/star-phoenix/31135045/
• https://www.newspapers.com/article/calgary-herald/31137984/
• https://www.businessinsider.com/titanic-pcp-laced-chowder-mystery-what-happened-2024-4
• https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2017/12/titanic-pcp-chowder
• https://globalnews.ca/news/10462345/titanic-movie-set-pcp-chowder-halifax-details/
• https://www.vulture.com/2022/12/25-years-later-no-one-knows-who-spiked-the-titanic-chowder.html
• https://mysticsciences.com/ghost-stories/ghosts-of-the-titanic-haunting-tales-that-endure-time/