Dyer returning from the kitchen with a poker, and all three went to the study door. Dyer knocked; after a minute they heard a noise which they correctly believed to be that of the bolt being slowly withdrawn from its socket on the other side of the door. I say 'correctly', members of the jury. That the bolt was indeed withdrawn at this moment, and that it was a stiffly working bolt which required some effort to draw, has repeatedly been acknowledged by the prisoner himself.
'The prisoner opened the door a few inches. On seeing them, he opened it fully, and said: 'All right; you may as well come in.'
'You may or may not think the remark a callous one under the circumstances. The circumstances were that Mr Hume was lying on the floor between the window and the desk, in a position you will hear described. An arrow had been driven into his chest, and remained upright in the body. You will hear that arrow identified as one which, when deceased was last seen alive in the company of the prisoner alone, had been hanging on the wall of the study: this, indeed, has been acknowledged by the prisoner himself.
'With regard to this arrow, we shall demonstrate by medical evidence that it had been driven into the body with such force and direction that it penetrated the heart and caused instantaneous death.
'You will hear, on the testimony of expert witnesses, that this arrow could not possibly have been shot or fired - as, that is to say, one might discharge it from a bow - but that it must have been used as a hand-weapon, as one might use a knife.
'You will hear from police officers that there was on this arrow (which had been hanging for some years against the wall) a coating of dust. This dust had been disturbed at only one place, where there were found clear finger-prints.
'You will hear, finally, that these finger-prints were those of the prisoner at the bar.
'Now, what happens when the prisoner opens the door of the study to Miss Jordan, Mr Fleming, and the butler? He is alone in the room with the dead man, as they establish. Mr Fleming says to him: 'Who did it?' The prisoner replied: 'I suppose you will say I did it.' Mr Fleming says: 'Well, you have finished him, then; we had better send for the police.' Still, they proceed to examine the room: discovering the steel shutters still barred on the inside, and the sash-windows locked on the inside as well. The prisoner, it will be our course to demonstrate to you, has been found alone with a murdered man in a room rendered inaccessible in this fashion; and nowhere, we may say literally, can there be shown a crack or crevice for the entrance or exit of any other person. During the time that Mr Fleming searched the room, the prisoner sat in a chair with what was apparently complete calm (but you must hear this from the witnesses) and smoked a cigarette.'
Someone coughed.
It was an inadvertent cough, since every face in the court wore a strain of gravity; but it caused a stir. How most of the people had taken all this I could not tell. Still, such things have an atmosphere; and this atmosphere was sinister. Behind us in the seats of the City Lands Corporation were two women. One was good-looking and wore a leopard-skin coat; the other was plain, not to say ugly, and made up her aristocratic face several times. It is only fair to admit that they did not shift round or laugh or make their voices carry; the metallic whispers reached only us.
Leopard-Skin said: 'Do you know, I met him at a cocktail party once. I say, isn't it frightfully exciting? Just think, in three weeks he'll be hanged.'
Plain-Face said: 'Do you find it amusing, darling? I do wish they would give one a comfortable place to sit.'
Sir Walter Storm leaned against the back of the bench, spreading out his arms along it, and contemplated the jury.
'Now, members of the jury, just what does the prisoner himself have to say to all this? How does he explain the fact that he, and he alone, could have been with the deceased when Mr Hume died? How does he explain the presence of his finger-prints on the weapon? How does he explain (a fact which will further be presented to you) that he went to that house armed with a pistol? You will hear in detail the various remarks he made to Mr Fleming, to Dyer, and to Dr Spencer Hume, who arrived shortly after the discovery of the body.
'But most of these remarks are contained in the statement he made to Divisional Detective-Inspector Mottram at 12.15 a.m. on January 5th. The prisoner accompanied Inspector Mottram and Sergeant Raye to Dover Street, where he voluntarily made the statement which I now propose to read to you. He said:
'I make this statement voluntarily and of my own free will, having been told that anything I say will be taken down in writing and may be used as evidence.
'I wish to clear myself. I am absolutely innocent. I arrived in London at 10.45 this morning. The deceased knew I was coining, since my fiancee had written to him saying that I would take the nine o'clock train from Frawnend, in Sussex. At 1.30 Mr Hume rang me up on the telephone, and asked me to come to his house at six o'clock. He said he wished to settle matters concerning his daughter. I went to his house at 6.10. He greeted me with complete friendliness. We spent a few minutes talking about archery, and I then noticed the three arrows hanging on the wall. He said that you could kill a man with one of those arrows. I said, meaning it as a joke, that I had not come there to kill anybody unless it became absolutely necessary. At this time I am certain that the door was not bolted, and I did not have any kind of weapon on my person.
'I told him I wished to marry Miss Hume, and asked his consent. He asked me if I would have a drink, and I said I would. He poured out two glasses of whisky and soda, giving me one and taking the other himself. Then he said that he would drink my health, and he gave his full consent to my marriage with Miss Hume.'
Sir Walter lifted his eyes from the paper. For what seemed a long time he remained looking steadily at the jury. We could not see his face; but the back of his wig was eloquent.
'The Crown will indeed ask you to believe that the deceased invited him there to 'settle matters concerning his daughter'. You will have to decide whether you think this statement reasonable, or probable, on the face of it. He goes there, they fall to talking of archery as soon as the prisoner enters the room, and Mr Hume in the friendliest possible manner announces that you could kill a man with one of those arrows. You may think this extraordinary conduct, although it allows the prisoner to make his joke about murder. You may think it still more extraordinary that the deceased, having expressed before other witnesses such sentiments towards the prisoner as you will hear, should drink success to the prisoner and approval to the marriage. But what follows?
'I had drunk about half of the whisky and soda when I felt my head going round, and I knew I must be losing consciousness. I tried to speak, but could not. I knew a drug must have been put into that drink, but I felt myself falling forward, and the last thing I remember is Mr Hume saying: 'What is wrong with you? Have you gone mad?'
'When I came to myself again I was sitting in the same chair, though I believe I had fallen out of it before. I felt ill. I looked at my watch, and saw it was half-past six. Then I noticed Mr Hume's foot on the other side of the desk. He was lying there dead, just as you saw him. I called to him to get up. I could not think what had happened. I went round the room, noticing that one of the arrows had been taken off the wall. I tried the door and found it was bolted on the inside. I also examined the shutters, and they were locked as well. It occurred to me that possibly I might be suspected of having killed him, so I went to look for the glasses of whisky that Mr Hume had poured out. I could not find them. The decanter of whisky was full again on the sideboard, and the syphon of soda did not seem to have been used. There were four clean glasses: but two of them may have been the glasses we used; I don't know.
'A short time after this I went over and looked at the door again. I then noticed that dust on my hand, as you called my attention to it later. I went back and looked at the arrow. While I was doing so, someone knocked at the door; and I saw there was nothing else to do, so I opened it. The big man you call Fleming came charging in, and the servant behind him carrying a poker, and Miss Jordan hanging about the doorway. That is all I can tell you. I never touched that arrow at any time.'
There was a rustle as Sir Walter flipped over the flimsy, typewritten sheets, and put them down. That rustle went through the court.
Leopard-Skin whispered: 'Why, he's as mad as a hatter.'
Plain-Face said: 'Do you really think so. darling? How terribly naive of you. That's what he
'Ss- t!'
'Members of the jury,' continued Sir Walter, spreading out his hands with a gesture of magnanimity and even perplexity, 'I shall not offer to comment on that statement, nor on such physical evidence as will be outlined by the
