AMBROSE SMALL

Opening

On 2 December 1919, Ambrose Small, one of the richest theatre owners in Canada, sold his chain of theatres for $1.7 million and deposited a $1 million cheque that morning. That evening he met his lawyer at his office in Toronto's Grand Opera House. The lawyer left at about 5:30 p.m. to catch a train. Small was never seen again. His body was never found, and the case became Canada's most famous disappearance.

Timeline

1 December 1919Small completes the sale of his theatres to Trans-Canada Theatres Ltd.

2 December 1919, morningHe and his wife Theresa deposit the $1 million down payment.

2 December 1919, about 17:30Lawyer E. W. M. Flock leaves Small at the Grand Opera House. Flock is the last confirmed person to see him. Some unconfirmed accounts put him at a newsstand later that evening.

Following weeksTheresa Small doesn't report him missing at first. When the disappearance becomes public, a large reward is offered.

Also December 1919Small's former secretary, John Doughty, disappears too, along with bonds taken from Small's safe.

November 1920Doughty is found working under a false name in Oregon. He is convicted of stealing the bonds, but denies any role in Small's disappearance.

1923Small is declared legally dead. Theresa inherits most of the estate.

1920s to 1940sPolice follow many leads, including a search of the Grand Opera House and digs on various properties. None finds him.

Key figures

Ambrose Small was a rich, unpopular businessman, known for affairs and hard dealing.

Theresa Small, his wife, was slow to report him missing and inherited his fortune. She was suspected in the press but never charged.

John Doughty, his secretary, disappeared with the bonds and served time for the theft. He was never charged with harming Small.

E. W. M. Flock, the lawyer, is the last reliable witness.

Physical and documentary trail

What survives: police files, court records from Doughty's trial, press coverage, and probate records. There's no body and no crime scene.

Things you might not know

• The reward had two prices. Theresa Small offered $50,000 if her husband was found alive and $15,000 if he was found dead. Nobody claimed either.
• The secretary left with $105,000. That was the value of the bonds John Doughty took from Small's safe before he vanished himself.
• Toronto Bay was dredged. Searchers dragged the bay several times and dug up the basement of the Smalls' house on Glen Road. As late as 1944 they were still digging under the Grand Opera House.
• A provincial inspector blamed the first detective. Edward Hammond of the Ontario Provincial Police later accused Toronto's lead investigator, Austin Mitchell, of ignoring evidence that pointed toward Mrs Small.
• Sherlock Holmes got a headline. Arthur Conan Doyle politely ignored the case, but a newspaper still ran "Sherlock Holmes takes Small case under wing."
• Theresa left the fortune to the Church. She died on 14 October 1935 and left most of her estate to the Roman Catholic Church.
• The case was closed in 1960. Forty-one years after he vanished, the police file was closed unsolved. Katie Daubs' 2019 book The Missing Millionaire reopened it for a new generation.

Competing explanations

Murder. Someone with a motive, such as Doughty, his wife, or a rival or lover, killed him that evening and hid the body. Doughty's theft and flight made him the prime suspect for many.

A planned disappearance. With a fortune in the bank and a troubled marriage, Small may have chosen to vanish. He never touched the deposited money, which argues against it.

An accident or opportunistic killing. He may have met a stranger on the street that night.

Later life of the case

Small is said to haunt the Grand Theatre in London, Ontario, one of his former theatres. His story is a staple of Canadian true crime and ghost stories. It also inspired a character in Michael Ondaatje's novel In the Skin of a Lion.

Finding

A wealthy man with enemies disappeared after 5:30 p.m. on 2 December 1919, and a century of investigation hasn't found him. Murder is the most likely explanation. The evidence to name the killer doesn't exist.

What still will not resolve: where Ambrose Small went after Flock left.