The counsel for the crown thanked his learned friend for the
admission, and would continue. The devil-stick was stolen by Mrs.
Dallas, who committed the theft under the hypnotic influence of the
negress Dido. By the direction of Dr. Etwald, Dido refilled the stick
with fresh poison, being enabled to manufacture the same from a recipe
of her grandmother's--said grandmother having come from Ashantee,
where the stick--the devil-stick, be it understood--had been
constructed and used. She had given this terrible weapon to the
prisoner, who with it had killed Mr. Alymer, his rival.
Counsel for the defense submitted that the crime had yet to be proved.
His learned friend was assuming too much.
The public prosecutor said that he asserted no more than he could
prove to their lordships and the gentlemen of the jury. The prisoner
had killed Mr. Alymer, and it was for this offense that he stood in
yonder dock. As regards the theft of the body---
The lesser offense, said prisoner's counsel, was swallowed up and
merged in the greater; therefore, he protested against the
introduction of the theft of the body.
The judge thought that the two crimes were, judicially speaking, one
and the same. It was right that the crown prosecutor should place
before him the whole facts of the case. One part might neutralize or
enhance or explain the other. The crown prosecutor was quite in order.
Counsel for the prosecution accepted his lordship's ruling and would
proceed. The body of Mr. Alymer was taken to the residence of his
adopted father. Major Jen. There it was placed in the bedroom which
had formerly belonged to the living man. Thence it was stolen by the
prisoner.
Counsel for the prisoner: "All this has yet to be proved."
Counsel for the crown: "I shall prove it and at once. The jury are now
in possession of all the facts of this very interesting case, and
every detail will be confirmed by the most responsible witnesses. Call
Major Jen."
Evidence--in brief--of Major Jen: "I was the guardian of the deceased
Maurice Alymer. I adopted him as my son. He was in love with, and
engaged to, Miss Dallas, but the mother did not approve of the
engagement. Dr. Etwald, the prisoner, also loved Miss Dallas, but she
refused to marry him. I showed the prisoner the devil-stick and
explained its use, whereupon he wished to purchase it. I declined to
part with it, and afterward it was stolen. After its disappearance,
Mr. Alymer was killed by means of the devil-stick poison. His hand was
but slightly scratched, and he could not have died from so trivial a
cause had not the weapon used been poisoned. Moreover, I recognized
the perfume which emanated from the body as that of the devil-stick
poison. Dr. Etwald had threatened the deceased once or twice.
Afterward the body of deceased disappeared, and the drug used to
stupefy the watcher of the dead was the poison of the devil-stick."