"There is at least a distinct connection between the two facts," said
Crewe, who after his mistake in regard to Holymead was reluctant to
accept any praise. "Kemp's description of the way in which Sir Horace was
dressed showed that he had seen him. The inference that Kemp had been
inside the house was irresistible. Sir Horace had arrived home at 7
o'clock and it was not likely that Kemp would hang about Riversbrook--the
scene of a prospective burglary--until after dark, which at that time of
the year would be about 8.30. He must have seen Sir Horace after dark,
and in order to be able to say how the judge was dressed he must have
seen him at close quarters. The rest was a matter of simple deduction.
Kemp inside the house listening to the angry interview between Holymead
and Fewbanks--Kemp with his hatred of the judge who had killed his
daughter in the dock and with his desire to do Holymead a good turn--I
had previously had proof of that from my boy Joe, whom you have seen.
Besides Kemp fitted into my reconstruction of the tragedy on the vital
question of time. How long did Sir Horace live after being shot? The
medical opinions I was able to obtain on the point varied, but after
sifting them I came to the conclusion that though he might have lived for
half an hour, it was more probable that he had died within ten minutes of
being hit."
"How is that vital?" asked Walters, who was keenly interested in
understanding how Crewe had arrived at his conviction of Kemp's guilt.
"Holymead's appointment with Sir Horace at Riversbrook was for 9.30 p.m.
The letter found in Sir Horace's pocket-book fixed that time. It was
exactly 11 p.m. when he got into a taxi at Hyde Park Corner after his
visit to Riversbrook. On that point the driver of the taxi was absolutely
certain. I was so anxious for him to make it 11.30 that I went to see him
twice about it. Assuming that Holymead arrived at Riversbrook at 9.30, I
allowed half an hour for his angry interview with Sir Horace, half an
hour for the walk from Riversbrook to Hampstead Tube station, and half an
hour for the journey from Hampstead to Hyde Park Corner, which would have
involved a change at Leicester Square. As I could not induce the driver
of the taxi to make Holymead's appearance at Hyde Park Corner 11.30
instead of 11, I had to admit that Holymead must have left Riversbrook at
10. But it was 10.30 according to Mademoiselle Chiron when she found Sir
Horace dying on the floor of the library. Therefore if Holymead did the
shooting, the victim's death agonies must have lasted half an hour or
more. Medically that was not impossible, but somewhat improbable. But a
meeting between Kemp and Sir Horace after Holymead had gone filled in the
blank in time. That came home to me yesterday when Kemp was in the
witness-box committing perjury in his determination to get Holymead off.
I take it that the interview between Kemp and his victim lasted about 20
minutes.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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