Tom Morley was a familiar sight around the Gainsborough area. He had been an apprentice in the Hull grocery business, but since coming to Lincolnshire he had been making his money as a professional gambler. The mystery of his death may well be related to that often risky occupation, and he may well have made an enemy of Alexander Morgan, his murderer.
The killing was done by poisoning, and what is most puzzling about this complicated case, it was done in public: in the bar of the Newcastle Arms in Casketgate Street. The amazingly complex and indefinable personality of Alex Morgan gave the reports of this remarkable story many bizarre twists and turns as it came to trial.