visitor at six o'clock this evening. He may give some trouble, for he is not to be trusted.''
'What did you say to this?'
‘I said: 'Yes, sir.''
'And when was the next occasion on which you heard of it?'
'At about five-fifteen, or it may have been a few minutes later. Mr Hume called me into the study.' 'Describe what happened.'
'He was sitting at his desk, with a chess-board and pieces in front of him, working out a chess-problem. Without looking up from the board he told me to close and lock the shutters. I must have expressed surprise, without meaning to do so. He moved a piece on the board and replied: 'Do as I tell you; do you think I want Fleming to see that young fool making trouble?''
'Was it his custom to
'Never, sir,' answered the witness emphatically.
'I understand that the windows of Mr Randolph Fleming's dining-room face those of the study across a paved passage between the two houses?'
'That is. so.'
The Attorney-General made a sign. From under the witness-box there was produced the first of the two curious exhibits: the steel shutters themselves, fastened to the inside of a dummy window-frame with a sash window. Some excited whispering greeted them. They were constructed after the French style, like two small folding doors, except that there were no slits or openings in them; and across the centre ran a Bat steel bar with a handle. They were hoisted up for the inspection of the witness and the jury.
'We have here,' continued Sir Walter Storm imperturbably, 'the pair of shutters from the window marked A in the plan. They were set up by Inspector Mottram under the direction of Mr Dent of Messrs Dent & Sons, Cheapside, who fitted them to the windows originally. Will you tell me if that is one of the pairs of shutters you locked on Saturday evening?'
Dyer inspected the exhibit carefully, and took his time.
'Yes, sir, it is.'
'Will you now lock the shutters as you did on Saturday evening?
The bar, which was a little stiff, snapped into its socket with a bump and clang which had a grisly effect in that legal schoolroom. Dyer dusted his hands. More than a window was locked away with the movement of that bar. Behind us the girl in the leopard-skin coat whispered conversationally:
'I say; they draw a bolt, don't they, when the trap goes down on the gallows?'
Dyer pulled back the bar, satisfied. He dusted his hands again.
'Outside these shutters, I believe,' the Attorney-General went on, 'there were two sash-windows?' 'There were.'
'Were these also locked on the inside?' 'Yes, sir.'
'Very well. Now tell my lord and the jury what occurred after you had locked the shutters.'
'I went round to see that the room was in order.'
'At this time did you observe on the wall over the mantelpiece the three arrows which were accustomed to hang there?'
'I did.'
'Did the deceased say anything to you at this time?'
'Yes, sir. He asked me, still without looking up from the chess-board, whether we had enough drink on hand. I saw that there was a full decanter of whisky on the sideboard, a syphon of soda-water, and four glasses.'
'Look at this decanter here, and tell me whether it is the same one you saw on the sideboard at about five- fifteen on Saturday evening?'
'It is the same one,' answered the witness. 'I bought it myself, at Mr Hume's order, from Hartley's in Regent Street. I believe it is a very expensive cut-glass decanter.'
'Did he say anything else to you at this time?'
'He remarked that he was expecting Mr Fleming there that night to play chess, and that we must always have a suitable amount to drink ready when Mr Fleming came. I understood him to be speaking in the way of a joke.'
'At ten minutes past six, then, you let the prisoner in at the front door?'
Dyer's account of this substantiated the first witness's. Then it grew dangerous.
'I took the prisoner to Mr Hume's study. They did not shake hands. Mr Hume said to me: 'That is all; you may go; go and see whether the car is ready.' I went out and closed the door. At that time Mr Hume was sitting behind his desk, and the prisoner in a chair in front of it I do not remember hearing anyone bolt the door after I had gone out I was not exactly alarmed, but I was uneasy. Finally I went back and listened.'
It is these shorn words of the court-room which seem to me most powerful. We seemed to see Dyer standing in the little dark passage outside the door. There was not much light in the passage even by day, he explained. At one end of it there was a door giving on the paved brick way between this house and Mr Fleming's, and there had formerly been a glass panel in this door; but Mr Hume's love of privacy had made him change that door for a solid one six months before. By night there was only the light from the main hall. Reduced to the form of a statement, Dyer's testimony would have run like this:
'I heard the prisoner say: 'I did not come here to kill anyone unless it becomes absolutely necessary.' I heard little of what Mr Hume said, because he usually spoke in a low tone. Presently Mr Hume began talking rather sharply, but I could not make out his words. At the end of it he suddenly said: 'Man, what is wrong with you? Have you gone mad?' Then there was a sound which I took to be the sound of a scuffle. I tapped on the door, and called out to ask if anything was wrong. Mr Hume called out and told me to go away: he said he could deal with this. He spoke in a voice as though he were out of breath.
'But he had told me to go and get the car, and I did. I had to, or I should have lost my position. I put on my hat and overcoat, and went round to the Pyrenees Garage. It is about a three or four minutes' walk. They had not quite finished repairing the car, and said they had told us they intended to be even longer. I tried to hurry back, but there was a mist and this impeded me in driving. When I got back it was about six-thirty-two by the grandfather clock.
'Beyond the turning of the little passage that goes to the study, I met Miss Jordan. She said they were fighting, and asked me to stop them. There is not much light in the hall. Miss Jordan fell over a big suitcase belonging to Dr Spencer Hume; and when I said that it would' be more sensible to fetch a policeman, she kicked at me. I think she was crying.
'Then she went to get Mr Fleming, at my suggestion, while I procured a poker. All three of us went to the door. About a minute after we had knocked, the prisoner opened the door. There is absolutely no doubt that up to this time the door had been bolted on the inside.
'When the prisoner said: 'All right; you had better come in,' Mr Fleming and I did so. I went at once to Mr Hume, who was lying as he is in that photograph. The arrow you show me was protruding from his chest. I did not feel his heart, because I did not wish to get blood all over my hand; but I felt his pulse, and he was dead.
'There was no person hiding in the room. I went immediately and looked at the shutters, calling Mr Fleming's attention to them as I did so. The reason was that even then I could not associate a thing like this with a gentleman such as I had heard the prisoner to be. Both the shutters were still barred, and the windows locked behind them.'
Other eyes, other opera-glasses. The Attorney-General took him over confirmation of Miss Jordan's account.
'Now, Dyer, when mention was made of bringing in the police, did the prisoner say anything?'
'He said: 'Yes, I suppose we had better get it over with.''
'Did you make any comment on this?'
'Yes, sir. I know I should not have spoken, but I could not help myself. He was sitting in that chair with one leg thrown over the arm of the chair as though he owned it, and lighting a cigarette. I said: 'Are you made of stone?''
'What reply did he make to this?'
'He replied: 'Serve him right for drugging my whisky.''
'What did you make of that?'
