“Saloon and Jail,” one of the Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death created by Frances Glessner Lee in the 1940s to train state police in death scene investigation.
The statement by Dennis Mulcahey, city patrolman, reads as follows:
“On Saturday night, November 11th at 11:30pm, I was walking my beat on Dock Street. I saw a man lying sprawled out on the sidewalk in front of Pat’s Place, a saloon. The man was breathing and smelt strongly of liquor. I called the wagon which took the man to Station Two, where he was locked up in a single cell. His Union card bore the name of Frank Harris, address 27-1/2 Walter Street. He appeared to be very drunk. There were no marks of violence on him. On Sunday morning, November 12th at 7:00am when rounds were made in Station Two, Mr. Harris was found dead in his cell.”
The left side of the model, seen above, shows the scene on Dock Street as it appeared when Mulcahey found Harris. The right side of the model (not included here), shows the prison cell as it appeared when Harris was found dead.
This Nutshell served as the inspiration for Frances McNamara’s newest mystery novel, Joy Street Jail Murder in a Nutshell, released in early 2025. Purchase your copy through our online store by clicking here.