George Gallstone

George's earliest memories were older kids at the orphanage beating him. In time, George beat up younger kids himself. Nobody there knew their real name, age or birthdays ... they were just assigned these by the staff. They named him George and made his birthday April 23rd and, because Mr. Wirtz was taken to the emergency room that night, his last-name became Gallstone. They figured he was six. He grew up fast and was mean and strong but could turn on his charm when he needed to.

One night, when he felt ready, he stole the biggest knife he found in the kitchen, it had a solid black handle, and ran away. He walked North, up towards Bloor Street and robbed at knife-point the first three people he met ... he got almost a hundred bucks and two watches. It was enough to get into a boarding house at Queen and Strachan. Next day he bought himself some decent clothes. He got some cigars at a tobacconist's at Queen and Shaw where he met Amelia, a plump sad looking girl a few years older. Every night he went out mugging drunks and every day he got himself cigars chatting up Amy and her elderly parents. A month later he asked her to marry him and they were happy to accept the young, nice looking commercial traveller George Gladstone as a son in law. The dowry was the store with the small apartment above and the parents retired to Oakville where they had a little cottage. 

George ran the store well and, after a while, bought a building up on College and then another further West becoming a successful landlord. He cheated on his wife and beat her often but never left her because she was such a great cook.

One night Amelia called the police. She told them that she got home to find George dead on the kitchen floor, stabbed thru the heart. The constable looked at the huge kitchen knife with the solid black handle and concluded that it was a robbery gone bad. 

They never found out who did it. Amelia never remarried and started a soup kitchen right in time for the Great Depression of 1929.