Detective and mystery stories; Murder -- Fiction; Yachts -- Fiction
I told of the long nights without sleep, while, with our few available
men, we tried to work the Ella back to land; of guarding the after
house; of a hundred false alarms that set our nerves quivering and our
hearts leaping. And I made them feel, I think, the horror of a
situation where each man suspected his neighbor, feared and loathed
him, and yet stayed close by him because a known danger is better than
an unknown horror.
The record of my examination is particularly faulty, McWhirter having
allowed personal feeling to interfere with accuracy. Here and there in
the margins of his notebook I find unflattering allusions to the
prosecuting attorney; and after one question, an impeachment of my
motives, to which Mac took violent exception, no answer at all is
recorded, and in a furious scrawl is written: “The little
whippersnapper! Leslie could smash him between his thumb and finger!”
I found another curious record—a leaf, torn out of the book, and
evidently designed to be sent to me, but failing its destination, was
as follows: “For Heaven’s sake, don’t look at the girl so much! The
newspaper men are on.”
But, to resume my examination. The first questions were not of
particular interest. Then:
“Did the prisoner know you had moved to the after house?”
“I do not know. The forecastle hands knew.”
“Tell what you know of the quarrel on July 31 between Captain
Richardson and the prisoner.”
“I saw it from a deck window.” I described it in detail.
“Why did you move to the after house?”
“At the request of Mrs. Johns. She said she was nervous.”
“What reason did she give?”
“That Mr. Turner was in a dangerous mood; he had quarreled with the
captain and was quarreling with Mr. Vail.”
“Did you know the arrangement of rooms in the after house? How the
people slept?”
“In a general way.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“I knew Mr. Vail’s room and Miss Lee’s.”
“Did you know where the maids slept?”
“Yes.”
“You have testified that you were locked in. Was the key kept in the
lock?”
“Yes.”
“Would whoever locked you in have had only to move the key from one
side of the door to the other?”
“Yes.”
“Was the key left in the lock when you were fastened in?”
“No.”
“Now, Dr. Leslie, we want you to tell us what the prisoner did that
night when you told him what had happened.”
“I called to him to come below, for God’s sake. He seemed dazed and at
a loss to know what to do. I told him to get his revolver and call the
captain. He went into the forward house and got his revolver, but he
did not call the captain. We went below and stumbled over the captain’s
body.”
“What was the mate’s condition?”
“When we found the body?”
“His general condition.”
“He was intoxicated. He collapsed on the steps when we found the
captain. We both almost collapsed.”
“What was his mental condition?”
“If you mean, was he frightened, we both were.”
“Was he pale?”
“I did not notice then. He was pale and looked ill later, when the crew
had gathered.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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