“You still think Kane guilty, then?”
“Avice! Who else is there to suspect? Where is any other possible way to look? And so, I must invent a suspect. I beg of you, my darling, do not impede or prevent my progress,—it is all for you. You asked of me what is practically an impossibility. If I achieve it, it will be at great,—at colossal cost. But I undertake it, for your sweet sake. Avice! Beloved! Can you imagine, have you the faintest idea of how I love you? Who else would sin for you? Do you know the impeccability of my past record? Do you know what it would mean to me to have the slightest smirch on my untarnished honor? Yet I chance this for you. I do not expect to be found out, but there is, of course, a risk. That risk I take, my glorious girl, for you. And I take it willingly, gladly, whatever the penalty, because—I love you.”
The last words, whispered, thrilled Avice to the soul. She did not love Judge Hoyt; her heart was bound up in Kane Landon, but this impassioned declaration, every word throbbing with truth, moved her,—as it must have moved any woman. She felt a guilty sensation at the thought of Fleming Stone’s connection with the case, but she was not willing to retract. It must go on. Kane must be exonerated, if possible, without Leslie’s help, and then she would be free to join her heart’s true love. And if Kane were freed by Judge Hoyt’s plans,—Avice shuddered to think of her promise. Well she knew that the judge would hold her to it, no matter how much Landon protested the contrary. Landon was determined, but his determination was a weak thing compared with the iron will of Judge Hoyt.
CHAPTER XXIII
IN KITO’S CARE
The case of “The People vs. Kane Landon” was before the court and jury. Few, if any, of the listening audience realized the great amount of time, thought and skill that had been expended in preparation or had any idea of the care with which the district attorney had framed his opening speech.
Whiting well knew the responsibility resting on the jury’s first impression of the case, and also their judgment of himself. He knew too, his jurors’ records, and he was alert and alive to all the effects of his short but comprehensive statement.
Judge Hoyt was warily on the defensive, and though Whiting had built up his case most carefully, Hoyt hoped to prove that the evidence was not crucial.
First came the details of the crime. Mysterious rather than revolting were the circumstances related of Rowland Trowbridge’s death.
Proceedings went on slowly, for the two lawyers were masters of their profession, and each foresaw and was prepared to evade the traps of the other.
Moreover the situation was difficult because of the lack of material. There were no star witnesses. The clues led only to conjecture and theory, and while facts were conceded, the inferences to be drawn from them were bitterly contested.