The Mystery of the Clasped Hands: A NovelBoothby, Guy
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The Mystery of the Clasped Hands: A Novel
Boothby, Guy
Detective and mystery stories; Fiction
The first witness called was the proprietor of the lodging-house, who
had identified the body. He was followed by the German cabinet-maker,
who had made the first and most important discovery. The police officer,
who had been called in when the door had been opened, followed next,
succeeded by the doctor who had made the post-mortem examination. The
question of identity and discovery having been settled, what the counsel
next proposed to do was to connect the prisoner with the crime. The
cabman who had picked them up in the Strand and had driven them to
Burford Street, was called, and the policeman who had seen them talking
together on the pavement there. Victor Fensden next deposed as to the
affection the deceased had entertained for the prisoner, and the efforts
he had made to induce the latter to give her up. He described Godfrey’s
receipt of the letter from Teresina when on the Nile, and stated that
the prisoner had said nothing to him concerning his intention to visit
the woman in Naples. His next meeting with the prisoner was at the Mahl
Stick Club, where he had noticed a reluctance on his part to refer to
his association with the woman in the past. This was accentuated on the
following Saturday at the prisoner’s residence in Midlandshire. He
recognised the knife produced, and recollected the circumstances under
which it had been purchased by the prisoner. This concluded Fensden’s
evidence, and he accordingly sat down. Various other unimportant
witnesses followed, and then the case was adjourned for the day.
Wrapped in suspense, Godfrey was driven back to the jail to turn the
evidence over and over in his mind all night long. Whatever trust he
might place in Burrell and his discoveries, it was quite certain that
another twenty-four hours would elapse before his deliverance could be
expected. Once more he scarcely slept. The various events connected
with the trial thronged his brain with merciless reiteration. With
phonographic distinctness he could recall almost every word that was
said. He could see the judge upon the Bench making his notes with
pitiless exactness, the various counsel in the well of the Court
whispering together, the importance of the jury, and the
self-sufficiency of the Court servants. Yet he had Codey’s assurance
that all was to be put right in the end, and with this knowledge he was
perforce compelled to be content.
At the same hour as on the previous day he was ordered to prepare
himself for his journey to the Court. The evidence already given against
him was so incriminating that the officials of the jail felt sure that
his condemnation was assured. They already looked upon him as a dead
man, and marvelled among themselves that he could carry himself with so
much assurance.
Once more the Court was crowded. Fashionable London felt that the end of
one of the most interesting cases of late years was drawing near, and it
was anxious not to lose an opportunity of witnessing the _dénouement_ of
the tragedy.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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