During these transactions, several persons came daily to Mr. Westbrook’s to see the head.  A poor woman at Kingsland, whose husband had been missing the day before it was found, was one amongst them.  At first sight she fancied it bore some resemblance to that of her husband, but was not positive enough to swear to it; yet her suspicion at first was sufficient to ground a report, which flew about the town, in the evening, and some enquiries were made after the body of the person to whom it was supposed to belong but to no purpose.

Mrs. Hayes, in the meanwhile, took all the pains imaginable to propagate a story of Mr. Hayes’s withdrawing on account of an unlucky blow he had given to a person in a quarrel, and which made him apprehensive of a prosecution, though he was then in treaty with the widow in order to make it up.  This story she at first told with many injunctions of secrecy, to persons who she had good reason to believe would, notwithstanding her injunctions, tell it again.  It happened, in the interim, that one Mr. Joseph Ashby, who had been an intimate acquaintance of Mr. Hayes, came to see her.  She, with a great deal of pretended concern, communicated the tale she had framed to him.  Mr. Ashby asked whether the person he had killed was him to whom the head belonged; she said, No, the man who died by Mr. Hayes’s blow was buried entire, and Mr. Hayes had given or was about to give, a security to pay the widow fifteen pounds per annum to hush it up.  Mr. Ashby next enquired where Mr. Hayes was gone; she said to Portugal, with three or four foreign gentlemen.

He thereupon took his leave; but going from thence to Mr. Henry Longmore’s, cousin of Mr. Hayes, he related to him the story Mrs. Hayes had told him and expressed a good deal of dissatisfaction thereat, desiring Mr. Longmore to go to her and make the same enquiry as he had done, but without saying they had seen one another.  Mr. Longmore went thereupon directly to Mrs. Hayes’s, and enquired in a peremptory tone for her husband.  In answer she said that she had supposed Mr. Ashby had acquainted him with the misfortune which had befallen him.  Mr. Longmore replied he had not seen Mr. Ashby for a considerable time and knew nothing of his cousin’s misfortune, not judging of any that could attend him, for he believed he was not indebted to anybody.  He then asked if he was in prison for debt.  She answered him, No, ’twas worse than that.  Mr. Longmore demanded what worse could befall him.  As to any debts, he believed he had not contracted any.  At which she blessed God and said that neither Mr. Hayes nor herself owed a farthing to any person in the world.  Mr. Longmore again importuning her to know what he had done to occasion his absconding so, said I suppose he has not murdered anybody? To this she replied, he had, and beckoning him to come upstairs, related to him the story as before mentioned.