Detective and mystery stories; Murder -- Fiction; Yachts -- Fiction
After a long battle, the prosecuting attorney was allowed to show that,
following the breaking off of her relations with Singleton, she had
been a witness against him in an assault-and-battery case, and had
testified to his violence of temper. The dispute took so long that
there was only time for her cross-examination. The effect of the
evidence, so far, was distinctly bad for Singleton.
His attorney, a young and intelligent Jew, cross-examined Mrs. Sloane.
Attorney for the defense: “Did you ever write a letter to the
defendant, Mrs. Sloane, threatening him if he did not marry you?”
“I do not recall such a letter.”
“Is this letter in your writing?”
“I think so. Yes.”
“Mrs. Sloane, you testify that you opened your door and saw Mr. Vail
and the captain taking Mr. Turner to his room. Is this correct?”
“Yes.”
“Why did they take him? I mean, was he not able, apparently, to walk
alone?”
“He was able to walk. They walked beside him.”
“In your testimony, taken at the time and entered in the ship’s log,
you say you ‘judged by the sounds.’ Here you say you ‘opened the door
and saw them.’ Which is correct?”
“I saw them.”
“You say that Mr. Singleton said he wished to ‘get at’ the captain. Are
those his exact words?”
“I do not recall his exact words.”
“Perhaps I can refresh your mind. With the permission of the court, I
shall read from the ship’s log this woman’s statement, recorded by the
man who was in charge of the vessel, and therefore competent to make
such record, and signed by the witness as having been read and approved
by her:—
“‘Mr. Singleton said that he hoped the captain would come, as he and
Mr. Turner only wanted a chance to get at him.... There was a sound
outside, and Karen thought it was Mr. Turner falling over something,
and said that she hoped she would not meet him. Once or twice, when he
had been drinking, he had made overtures to her, and she detested
him.... She opened the door and came back into the room, touching me on
the arm. “That beast is out there,” she said, “sitting on the companion
steps. If he tries to stop me, I’ll call you.”’”
The reading made a profound impression. The prosecution, having
succeeded in having the log admitted as evidence, had put a trump card
in the hands of the defense.
“What were the relations between Mr. Turner and the captain?”
“I don’t know what you mean.”
“Were they friendly?”
“No—not very.”
“Did you overhear, on the night of August 9, a conversation between Mr.
Turner and Mr. Vail?”
“Yes.”
“What was its nature?”
“They were quarreling.”
“What did Williams, the butler, give you to hide, that night?”
“Mr. Turner’s revolver.”
“What did he say when he gave it to you?”
“He—said to throw it overboard or there would be trouble.”
“Mrs. Sloane, do you recognize these two garments?”
He held up a man’s dinner shirt and a white waistcoat. The stewardess,
who had been calm enough, started and paled.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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