The Middle Temple MurderFletcher, J. S. (Joseph Smith)
General
The Middle Temple Murder
Fletcher, J. S. (Joseph Smith)
Detective and mystery stories
not one penny of this money had been, or ever could be, recovered. He
believed that the prisoner’s learned counsel was about to urge upon the
Court that the prisoner himself had been tricked and deceived by
another man, unfortunately not before the Court—a man, he understood,
also well known in Market Milcaster, who was now dead, and therefore
could not be called, but whether he was so tricked or deceived was no
excuse for his clever and wholesale robbing of his employers. He had
thought it necessary to put these facts—which would not be
denied—before the Court, in order that it might be known how heavy the
defalcations really had been, and that they should be considered in
dealing with the prisoner.
“The Recorder asked if there was no possibility of recovering any part
of the vast sum concerned.
“Mr. Stephens replied that they were informed that there was not the
remotest chance—the money, it was said by prisoner and those acting on
his behalf, had utterly vanished with the death of the man to whom he
had just made reference.
“Mr. Doolittle, on behalf of the prisoner, craved to address a few
words to the Court in mitigation of sentence. He thanked Mr. Stephens
for the considerate and eminently dispassionate manner in which he had
outlined the main facts of the case. He had no desire to minimize the
prisoner’s guilt. But, on prisoner’s behalf, he desired to tell the
true story as to how these things came to be. Until as recently as
three years previously the prisoner had never made the slightest
deviation from the straight path of integrity. Unfortunately for him,
and, he believed, for some others in Market Milcaster, there came to
the town three years before the present proceedings, a man named
Chamberlayne, who commenced business in the High Street as a
stock-and-share broker. A man of good address and the most plausible
manners, Chamberlayne attracted a good many people—amongst them his
unfortunate client. It was matter of common knowledge that Chamberlayne
had induced numerous persons in Market Milcaster to enter into
financial transactions with him; it was matter of common repute that
those transactions had not always turned out well for Chamberlayne’s
clients. Unhappily for himself, Maitland had great faith in
Chamberlayne. He had begun to have transactions with him in a large
way; they had gone on and on in a large way until he was involved to
vast amounts. Believing thoroughly in Chamberlayne and his methods, he
had entrusted him with very large sums of money.
“The Recorder interrupted Mr. Doolittle at this point to ask if he was
to understand that Mr. Doolittle was referring to the prisoner’s own
money.
“Mr. Doolittle replied that he was afraid the large sums he referred to
were the property of the bank. But the prisoner had such belief in
Chamberlayne that he firmly anticipated that all would be well, and
that these sums would be repaid, and that a vast profit would result
from their use.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account