Courting Couple: Caught in the Headlights: Court in a Skirt

Not, this is not Jimmy Savile and Marthe Fleurant, sitting in front of a Rolls Royce. It’s two more blonds, a courting couple, caught in the headlights. Rolls Royce headlights. He’s holding a cigarette and you can see up her skirt (she’s wearing stockings, not tights). The image comes from the cover of Russ Conway’s record, ‘Time to Play’. Let's read the blurb on the back of the album. "Conway’s showbiz career started when he was only 10 when he made a public appearance with an accordion band at the Bristol Ideal Home Exhibition. But before going into the professional big time he was, among other things: plumber’s mate, barman, Butlins redcoat and a carpet-fitter. On this disc you’ll find all your Russ Conway favourites. There’s that spanking million-seller ‘Side-Saddle’, chartmakers like ‘Pixilated Penguin’ and oldies like ‘The Wedding of the Painted Doll’, bouncing-bright as a button under the fleet Conway fingers. Russ is a top pianist with a to Die for style that’s fresh as paint."

The discovery of a body (in a children's book, 'Science and Crime'): it was known as the ‘little saint murder’ because the victim was a seventeen-year-old Sunday school teacher. Her body was found under a hedge near a village in Lancashire. She had been strangled. This was the start of a sixteen week murder hunt and before it finished the police had interviewed 28,000 people, analysed 10,000 saliva samples, investigated 15 cars, 50 paint clippings, 35 pieces of car carpet, 10 car seats and countless tyres. But the ‘breakthrough clue’ that caught the murder was a small fleck of paint found on the inside of the girl’s skirt. Under the microscope it showed three coats of paint, a red topcoat, a darker red middle coat and a cream undercoat.

To be continued…