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HUNTED AND THE HUNTERS
    In regard to the condition of the
county, as far as undergrowth
is concerned, I should say it was
rather heavily scrubbed country
DETECTIVE SERGEANT T HILL
    Two young people had gone missing, and the story of their disappearance captured the attention and imagination of Sydneysiders. The papers carried reports of the couple with their photographs as well as statements from their relatives that they had not eloped and had no reason to conceal themselves. Following a report that a couple answering the description of Frank Wilkinson and Dorothy Denzel had checked into a Singleton hotel for one night, the police briefly entertained the idea that the couple had run away together, but the lead proved to be false.
    The police did not find it difficult to identify Moxley as a suspect after the violent crime and his movements were not difficult to track; they were not calculated to save him from capture. With possession of the Alvis sports car and lorry he had a need for petrol so stole some, leaving traces of his presence. The tin he used to steal the fuel was kept in the Alvis.
    At the time, Moxley was living in Burwood as a lodger, in a house rented by a woman named Linda Fletcher, with whom he had a friendly relationship – although some people thought it was rather more than that. He had a 14-year-old son named Douglas, whom Mrs Fletcher minded a good deal of the time. It is not known whether Douglas was Moxley's son by the woman he had married in England.
    Moxley left his lorry in the yard of the Burwood house and drove the Alvis to Ashfield, where he rented a garage. He began the process of stripping the car of certain parts – the carburettor, the tyres, the generator, the magneto – and offering them for sale to mechanics and garages in the area. He left the torn rug and the hessian mask in the rented garage. His appearance was distinctive enough, with his mop of fair hair and prominent ears, but he also had a noticeably damaged hand. Several of the people he encountered at this early stage – when the alarm was raised about the missing couple - observed that his fingers were bruised and a nail was torn away. He explained the injury by saying the cranking handle on his truck had kicked and struck him.

    THE HOUSE AT 29 ARCHER STREET, BURWOOD, WHERE WILLIAM MOXLEY WAS LIVING IN APRIL 1932
    Moxley paid 5 shillings rent for the garage and managed to sell one spare part for 10 shillings and another for £1. Asked to sign a receipt for this amount, he said he was unable to on account of his hand and he had the buyer sign it in his stead as C Heath Each of the people he approached regarded his manner as suspicious. Urged by one of these contacts and by Mrs Fletcher to have his hand attended to, Moxley went to the Parramatta District Hospital where the wound was dressed and bandaged. According to the doctor he had contusions to the third and fourth fingers of one hand and severe bruising to the little finger. The nurse later reported that his manner was nervous - but that was nothing unusual in her experience. He gave his name as Fletcher, his correct address, and the same account of the cause of the injury.
    Frank Wilkinson's father offered a reward of £200 (perhaps the equivalent of $20 000 today) for information leading to the discovery of the couple, alive or dead, and in the latter event for the capture of whomever was responsible. The police announced that foul play was suspected. At this time Moxley began to follow the newspaper reports and his anxiety mounted.
    Four days after the crime, he left the Burwood boarding house and rented a room in Belmore, paying 8 shillings for the room and breakfast and agreeing to pay 1 shilling for any other meals he might have. He carried a kitbag and something wrapped in a grey blanket. When asked what it was, he said it was a gun. Rabbits abounded then in the outer suburbs of Sydney and were welcome additions to the table during the Depression.