Disappearance of Ambrose Small

The police launched an extensive investigation. Small was officially declared dead in 1923.[5] The case remained unsolved until being closed in 1960.

The week of his disappearance, Small's Opera House was playing Revelations of a Wife, a play that attracted full houses. Police analyzed the plot and its themes but found no leads. Small had not used this play to provide cryptic hints.

His wife Theresa suggested that Small had fallen into the hands of a "designing woman" but police found no candidates.

Along with his office, "Amby", as he was known locally, had a "private, secret room" with its own entrance. The room is said to have had a dual purpose: first and foremost, it was for the settling of gambling debts, and secondly, it was for Ambrose Small's many private liaisons with actresses and chorus girls, employees at his Ontario theatres. The room was scoured for leads but with no success.

Ambrose Small was not the only notable disappearance in December 1919. His former secretary, John (Jack) Doughty, had not been seen since December 2, 1919. The last sighting of Doughty in Canada was at a bank where he was observed cashing in $100,000 in bonds. He was eventually located in the United States and extradited back to Canada to stand trial. He was convicted only of the theft of the bonds. No evidence was ever found he was responsible or had any knowledge of the disappearance of his boss, Ambrose Small.

Photo of Jack Doughty, Ambrose's assistant

Reported in several newspapers in 1921,[6] a man was purportedly discovered in Iowa bearing resemblance to the missing man. Private detective John J. Brothy stated that the man, who he claimed was Small, was a "half-crazed cripple." He stated that he had been dropped off in Des Moines, Iowa, by an unidentified motorist who claimed he'd accidentally struck Small with his car, badly wounding him and that he hoped he'd receive the best medical care available.

Brothy claimed that the man had a gunshot wound in his neck, a serious concussion and both his legs had been severed from the knee down. He further stated that the man didn't speak for three weeks before finally breaking his silence, stating, "I am John Doughty. I came here from Omaha. That is all I remember." At this time however John "Jack" Doughty was incarcerated in Canada and had been for several months, meaning the crippled man could not have been him.

Brothy further claimed that he showed a photo of Ambrose Small to the man to which he responded by pointing at the photo and stating, quote "Yes, that is me." Brothy stated the man's facial characteristics were identical to the missing magnate's, however the mystery man weighed a significant amount more than Small had at his disappearance, having weighed only around 100 pounds.

Further reports state that the man was taken into custody by the P.I.(s), however the Des Moines police were quoted as being unaware of any of these actions and had not been contacted by the investigator(s).

It can be assumed that this lead turned out to be a dead end, as the case continued on long after this event.

In 1936 the case was re-investigated by the Ontario Provincial Police at the behest of the Attorney General. O.P.P. inspector Edward L. Hammond consulted with the original investigators from the Toronto police, obtained typed copies of their report and various other source documents, and re-interviewed some witnesses.

Hammond's conclusion, that Small was murdered in a plot of which his wife was the "prime mover," is in marked contrast to the Ontario government's public position that Mrs. Small (and hence also her large monetary bequest to the Catholic church) was beyond reproach. Hammond also strongly implies that the original chief investigator, Austin Mitchell of the Toronto Police, ignored or repressed evidence which would lead to Mrs. Small as a suspect.[7]

Theresa Small died October 14, 1935, bequeathing the majority of her holdings to the Roman Catholic Church, valued at over 500,000 pounds. In June 1936, her remaining possessions were to be auctioned off. Ambrose Small's sister, Florence Small, presented a letter of confession from someone known only as "Reuter," who claimed to have been the murderer.[8]

"Poor Ambrose was killed on December 2, 1919, and I know that part of his body, the trunk, was buried in the Rosedale ravine dump and other parts of the body were burned in the Grand Opera House furnace. You will be surprised, my dear Florence and Gertrude, to learn that I am more responsible for your brother's death. God forgive me. — Reuter."

The sale, however, continued, and the letter was published in several news publications worldwide, including the New York Daily News and the Portsmouth [UK] Evening News.

Toronto reporters contacted Sir Arthur Conan Doyle about the case when the author was on a New York visit. Doyle politely ignored the case, but it produced the headline "Sherlock Holmes takes Small case under wing".[4]

American writer and researcher into anomalous phenomena Charles Fort wrote about the unexplained disappearances of Ambrose Small and Ambrose Bierce, and asked "Was somebody collecting Ambroses?"[9]