"'That's poor Leighton getting it in the neck,' witness remarked to Ann Weber.
"But the girl only giggled and shrugged her shoulders. Then she said: 'Do you think so?'
"'Yes,' witness replied, 'aren't you sorry to see your devoted admirer in such hot water?'
"Again the girl giggled and then ran away upstairs. Mr. Leighton was not at the office the whole of that afternoon, but witness understood, either from his father or from his brother—he couldn't remember which—that Leighton was to come in late that night to interview the guv'nor.
"Witness was next questioned as to the events that occurred at Mr. Jessup's home in Fitzjohn's Avenue, while the terrible tragedy was enacted in Fulton Gardens. It seems that Mr. Jessup had an old mother who lived in St. Albans, and that he went sometimes to see her after business hours and stayed the night. As a general rule, when he intended going he would telephone home in the course of the afternoon. On the sixteenth he rang up at about five o'clock and said that he was staying late at the office—later than usual—and they were not to wait dinner for him. Mrs. Jessup took this message herself, and had recognised her husband's voice. Then, later on in the evening—it might have been half-past eight or nine—there was another telephone message from the office. Witness went to the telephone that time. A voice, which at first he did not think that he recognised, said: 'Mr. Jessup has gone to St. Albans. He caught the 7.50, and won't be home to-night.' In giving evidence witness at first insisted on the fact that he did not recognise the voice on the telephone. It was a man's voice, and sounded like that of a person who was rather the worse for drink. He asked who was speaking, and the reply came quite clearly that time: 'Why, it's Leighton, you ass! Don't you know me?' Witness then asked: 'Where are you speaking from?' and the reply was: 'From the office, of course. I've had my wigging and am getting consoled by our Annie-bird.' Annie-bird was the name the pretty housemaid went by among the young clerks at the office. Witness then hung up the receiver and gave his mother the message. Neither Mrs. Jessup nor any one else in the house thought anything more about it, as there was nothing whatever unusual about the occurrence. Witness only made some remarks about Arthur Leighton having been drinking again, and there the matter unfortunately remained until the following morning, when witness and his brother arrived at the office and were met with the awful news.
"Both Mrs. Jessup and Mr. Aubrey, the eldest son, corroborated the statements made by the previous witness with regard to the telephone messages on the evening of the sixteenth. Mr. Aubrey Jessup also stated that he knew that his father was worried about some irregularities in Arthur Leighton's accounts, and that he meant to have it out with the young clerk in the course of the evening. Witness had begged his father to let the matter rest until the next day, as Leighton, he thought, had got the afternoon off to see a sick sister, but the deceased had rejected the suggestion with obvious irritation.
"'Stuff and nonsense!' he said. 'I don't believe in that sick sister a bit. I'll see that young blackguard to-night.'
"The next witness was Mrs. Tufnell, who was cook-housekeeper at Fulton Gardens. She was a middle-aged, capable-looking woman, with a pair of curiously dark eyes. I say 'curiously' because Mrs. Tufnell's eyes had that velvety quality which is usually only met with in southern countries. I have seldom seen them in England, except, perhaps, in Cornwall. Apart from her eyes, there was nothing either remarkable or beautiful about Mrs. Tufnell. She may have been good-looking once, but that was a long time ago. When she stood up to give evidence her face appeared rather bloodless, weather-beaten, and distinctly hard. She spoke quite nicely and without any of that hideous Cockney accent one might have expected from a cook in a City office.
"She deposed that on the sixteenth, just before the luncheon hour, she was crossing the hall at 13, Fulton Gardens. The door into the office was ajar, and she heard Mr. Jessup's voice raised, evidently in great wrath. Mrs. Tufnell also heard Mr. Leighton's voice, both gentlemen, as she picturesquely put it, going at one another hammer and tongs. Obviously, though she wouldn't admit it, Mrs. Tufnell stopped to listen, but she does not seem to have understood much of what was said. However, a moment or two later, Mr. Jessup went to the door in order to shut it, and while he did so, Mrs. Tufnell heard him say quite distinctly:
"'Well, if you must go now, you must, though I don't believe a word about your sister being ill. But you may go; only, understand that I expect you back here this evening not later than nine. I shall have gone through the accounts by then, and...'