England -- Fiction; Mystery fiction; Trials (Murder) -- Fiction
Miss Dallas deposed that she had been engaged to deceased. Prisoner
wished to marry her, and was jealous of the late Mr. Alymer. Once or
twice he had threatened him. The negress, Dido, was accustomed to
hypnotize Mrs. Dallas for nervous headaches. While under the influence
of hypnotism Mrs. Dallas would act according to the dictates of Dido.
On the night that the devil-stick was stolen from the house of Major
Jen, Mrs. Dallas had been hypnotized by Dido. Witness had followed
her, and had seen the theft of the stick. Afterward Mrs. Dallas had
delivered it into the hands of Dido. Witness never saw the devil-stick
again. She had seen Mr. Alymer on the night he was murdered, as he had
called to see her. Witness had parted with him at the gates, and had
seen him go down the road toward "Ashantee." It was the last time
witness saw him. It was well known to witness that Dido was under the
influence of Dr. Etwald, on account of the latter possessing the
Voodoo stone charm. Dido had manufactured the fresh poison of the
devil-stick as a panacea for nervous headache, from which witness
suffered. So far as witness knew, deceased was in the best of spirits
at the time of his death, and had no intention of putting an end to
his life. Witness could swear that prisoner was a bitter and jealous
enemy of deceased.
Mrs. Dallas declared that she suffered--like her daughter--from
nervous headaches. To cure these she submitted frequently to hypnotic
treatment at the hands of Dido, who was gifted with a strong will. On
the night the devil-stick was stolen she had been hypnotized, but she
did not know what she did while under the influence. While in the
trance--as it may be called--she never knew what she did, and she had
hitherto had every confidence in Dido, as an old and faithful servant,
that she--Dido--would not induce her to do wrong things while
hypnotized. She had never seen the devil-stick, either at the house of
Major Jen or in her own. The negress had prepared a drug for the cure
of headaches, which witness believed was similar--as was judged from
the perfume--to the poison contained in the devil-stick. She knew
that her daughter wished to marry the deceased, but for certain
reasons--not pertinent to the case--she had declined to sanction the
engagement. She would not have permitted her daughter to marry Dr.
Etwald, as she did not like him or approve of the influence which he
exercised over Dido. She knew that prisoner possessed the Voodoo
stone, and by means of it could make any member of the black race do
his will. Prisoner was a declared enemy of the deceased, as a jealousy
existed between them on account of her daughter. In presence of
witnesses prisoner had threatened deceased. She knew nothing of the
theft of the body.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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