Sad Cypress

Sir Edwin's voice held a subtly menacing note. Elinor frowned, suddenly jerked back to reality. Why was Counsel bullying his own witness?

Roderick had turned rather pale. He was silent for a minute or two, then he said with an effort, 'Well – yes, that is so.'

'Did you go to see this girl Mary Gerrard in London on the 25th at her lodgings?'

'Yes, I did.'

'Did you ask her to marry you?'

'Er – er – yes.'

'What was her answer?'

'She refused.'

'You are not a rich man, Mr. Welman?'

'No.'

'And you are rather heavily in debt?'

'What business is that of yours?'

'Were you not aware of the fact that Miss Carlisle had left all her money to you in the event of her death?'

'This is the first I have heard of it.'

'Were you in Maidensford on the morning of July 27th?'

'I was not.'

Sir Edwin sat down.

Counsel for the Prosecution said: 'You say that in your opinion the accused was not deeply in love with you.'

'That is what I said.'

'Are you a chivalrous man, Mr. Welman?'

'I don't know what you mean.'

'If a lady were deeply in love with you and you were not in love with her, would you feel it incumbent upon you to conceal the fact?'

'Certainly not.'

'Where did you go to school, Mr. Welman?'

' Eton.'

Sir Samuel said with a quiet smile, 'That is all.'

III

Alfred James Wargrave.

'You are a rose-grower and live at Emsworth, Berks?'

'Yes.'

'Did you on October 20th go to Maidensford and examine a rose tree growing at the lodge of Hunterbury Hall?'

'I did.'

'Will you describe this tree?'

'It was a climbing rose – Zephyrine Droughin. It bears a sweetly scented pink flower. It has no thorns.'

'It would be impossible to prick oneself on a rose tree of this description?'

'It would be quite impossible. It is a thornless tree.'

No cross-examination.

IV

'You are James Arthur Littledale. You are a qualified chemist and employed by the wholesale chemists, Jenkins Hale?'

'I am.'

'Will you tell me what this scrap of paper is?'

The exhibit was handed to him.

'It is a fragment of one of our labels.'

'What kind of a label?'

'The label we attach to tubes of hypodermic tablets.'

'Is there enough here for you to say definitely what drug was in the tube to which this label was attached?'

'Yes. I should say quite definitely that the tube in question contained hypodermic tablets of apomorphine hydrochloride 1/20 grain.'

'Not morphine hydrochloride?'

'No, it could not be that.'

'Why not?'

'On such a tube the word morphine is spelled with a capital M. The end of the line of the m here, seen under my magnifying glass, shows plainly that it is part of a small m, not a capital M.'

'Please let the jury examine it with the glass. Have you labels here to show what you mean?'

The labels were handed to the jury.

Sir Edwin resumed: 'You say this is from a tube of apomorphine hydrochloride? What exactly is apomorphine hydrochloride?'

'The formula is C₁₇H₁₇NO₂. It is a derivative of morphine prepared by saponifying morphine by heating it with dilute hydrochloric acid in sealed tubes. The morphine loses one molecule of water.'

'What are the special properties of apomorphine?'

Mr. Littledale said quietly, 'Apomorphine is the quickest and most powerful emetic known. It acts within a few minutes.'

'So if anybody had swallowed a lethal dose of morphine and were to inject a dose of apomorphine hypodermically within a few minutes, what would result?'

'Vomiting would take place almost immediately and the morphine would be expelled from the system.'

'Therefore, if two people were to share the same sandwich or drink from the same pot of tea, and one of them were then to inject a dose of apomorphine hypodermically, what would be the result, supposing the shared food or drink to have contained morphine?'

'The food or drink together with the morphine would be vomited by the person who injected the apomorphine.'

'And that person would suffer no ill results?'

'No.'

There was suddenly a stir of excitement in court and order for silence from the judge.

V

'You are Amelia Mary Sedley and you reside ordinarily at 17 Charles Street, Boonamba, Auckland?'

'Yes.'

'Do you know a Mrs. Draper?'

'Yes. I have known her for over twenty years.'