William Serville was a man who was universally disliked and who in turn hated the world. In Mrs Margaret Tildon boarding house where Serville had been bedridden for a number of years there were three people who hated him anyone of whom and a good and sufficient motive for murder. There was Margaret Tildon the landlady. then there was George Avely and the third Lawrence Mathews.  And so it was no surprise to anyone when on the morning of July 9th last the dead body of William Serville was dragged from his gas filled room in Mrs Tildon's boarding house.