Strangulation isn’t a very lovely thing to gaze upon.’
‘I sympathise with you. Horrible!’
‘Yes, it certainly was. I wonder what the police had to say to those two students?’
‘What two students?’
‘The boy and girl who were slinging the food-stuffs about. They must have gone past the entrance to the passage half a dozen times or more while the party was in progress and past Bull’s table in that corridor. According to the medical evidence, the weapon found sticking in the body was a very ordinary kitchen knife, but they don’t specify what kind of kitchen knife. I mean, they come in all sizes and have various uses. From the interest the police took in James Minch and his
‘And even if it had,’ said Sandy, ‘the two students who were operating in that kitchen on the day of the party wouldn’t have missed it. There were no vegetables to prepare.’
‘Of course there were! What about peeling and chopping up the onions for the hamburgers?’
‘Do you put onions with ham?’
‘The original hamburgers were named after Hamburg, I believe, and did not contain ham. They incorporated minced steak and chopped onions. I remember eating one at, of all places, the London Zoo when England first took to them.’
The set-up at the police court was in some respects like that at the inquest and in some ways very different. For one thing there seemed to be police everywhere. This, and the number of solicitors present, could be accounted for by the fact that Bull’s case was only one of several which were to be heard that morning, although none of the others dealt with an accusation of murder.
In place of the coroner, his clerk and the medical witnesses, there was a bench of five magistrates, and in front of them at a lower level sat the magistrates’ clerk and a couple of typists. The press was well represented, too, and the public gallery was full. Escorted by a policeman who remained with him during the proceedings, Bull appeared in the dock from down below, where I suppose the cells were, and in place of the coroner’s jury there were Bingley and his sergeant, and next to where they sat was the witness box.
A selection of drunks, muggers and petty pilferers, together with a couple of motorists who had exceeded the speed limit in a built-up area, were all dealt with before it came to Bull’s turn. He had been produced in answer to a succession of what appeared to me to be totally unnecessary police calls, and the policeman acting as warrant officer gave the magistrates the case number.
Bull was asked whether his name was Henry Thomas Bull, agreed that it was and then Bingley read out the charge. Bull pleaded Not Guilty and then the prosecuting solicitor told the story and I was called from the public gallery to bear witness to the discovery of Carbridge’s body. I took the oath, agreed to my name and to the date on which the party had been held.
‘What were you doing when you discovered the body?’
‘I was going along to have a cigarette.’
‘Were you acquainted with the layout of the premises?’
‘No, I had never been there before.’
‘What made you go down an unlighted passage?’
‘Just chance, I suppose. I was looking for a way out to the open air.’
‘And in the passage you stumbled over the body?’
‘Yes.’
‘What did you do then?’
‘I struck a match and saw that it was Carbridge.’
‘I will take you back to the previous answer. You say you were not familiar with the premises?’
‘That’s right.’
‘Yet you chose to go blundering down a totally unlighted passage?’
‘Yes.’
‘Why? You might have encountered any number of obstacles. You could see nothing in the darkness, could you?’
‘No, or I should not have stumbled over the body.’
‘Quite so. So why did you choose to go down the passage?’
I had done what I could to keep Bull’s name out of my answers, but it was clear that the solicitor knew the truth and was determined to get it out of me. I capitulated, for my own sake. I did not see the fun of being charged as Bull’s accessory through being obstructive.
‘As a matter of fact,’ I said, ‘I was following directions given me.’
‘By whom?’
‘By Bull. I ought to say that he gave them with the kindest intentions. He thought I wanted to be directed to the men’s cloakroom, which I now know is at the end of the passage.’
That was about the lot, so far as I was concerned. There were questions about how long and how well I had known Carbridge and also about the drinks we had had at the party, but over all this I had nothing to hide. The next witness was the policeman who had first been called to look at the body. According to custom, he was not questioned, but, having taken the oath, he gave a straightforward factual account of his actions, and the defending solicitor was asked whether he had any questions to put to the officer.
