Detective and mystery stories; Forensic scientists -- Fiction
At last came what the evening papers called “Dramatic Evidence”: the
housemaid who had found the body and had hysterics over again as she
described it; Mrs. Betts, who had found May Weston sleeping beside
it, waked her, and heard her say, “I did it--oh, I did it!”
“Sensation in Court” was the cross-head for that. The coroner looked
over his glasses at the jury, and the jury muttered together, and May
Weston came into the box. With the manner of a chaplain at an
execution the coroner warned her that she need not give answers that
would incriminate her. “I want to tell you everything,” she said. She
was very pale in her black, and listless of manner, but quite calm.
What she told was the queer story she had told Reggie, but she was
not allowed to tell it her own way. The coroner badgered her with
continual questions designed to make the queerness of it seem
queerer. He made her nervous, confused her, frightened her. “You
bother me so that I don’t know if I’m telling the truth or not,” she
quavered.
Then, in the language of the newspapers, “another sensation.” Mr.
Ford, large and red, started up and roared, “I ought to be there,
sir. Let her alone. I ought to be there.”
Reggie put his head between his hands and bowed himself, groaning.
Every one else was much excited by Mr. Ford. He was pulled down in
his seat. The coroner rebuked him with awful majesty. The foreman of
the jury wanted to know if he would be called. The coroner pronounced
that the court would most certainly require Mr. Ford to explain
himself--and came back to May Weston.
“The fool that he is, he’s done the trick, though,” Reggie muttered
to Mr. Gordon, and Gordon nodded and grinned. For after this
interruption the coroner handled May Weston much more gently, almost
indulgently, as a good man sorry for a woman’s weakness. And he was
soon done with her.
“Any questions?” He looked at the lawyers. Reggie bent forward and
whispered to the solicitor appearing for Miss Weston.
That large, bland man stood up. “Now, Miss Weston, about that
coffee.” He had his reward. Every one in the court, and Miss Weston
not least, stared surprise at him. Slowly he extracted from her (she
seemed bewildered at each question) the whole history of that
after-dinner coffee. Coffee had been brought to the boudoir just
before Mr. Ford came; no one but she had expected Mr. Ford; another
cup was brought for Mr. Ford; Mr. Ford and she had both drunk their
coffee. Miss Bolton--why, no, Miss Bolton had not. Miss Bolton had
been very gay, and in doing a few steps of a dance had upset her
coffee.
“No more questions, sir.” The large solicitor sat down smiling.
The coroner was visibly unable to understand him, and made a great
business with his papers. It was now long after tea-time. “I suppose
we shan’t finish to-day, gentlemen?” the coroner suggested.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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