“Wycliff would prefer to have this case go to court. He would like to show up these immaculate Baldwins—these Christian philanthropists—in their true attitude toward labor. Only one reason impels him to a private settlement. Jehu Baldwin, who would be shown up as the principal transgressor, is little more than a boy, and less to blame than his father who set him on,� said Sturgis.
“But,� protested Stimson, “are you not taking a great deal for granted on very slight evidence?�
“By no means,� replied Sturgis. “We have full proof of every step of this whole crime, from the time when Zechariah Baldwin, on his own premises, persuaded his son Jehu to set this trap for Wycliff, until the instant when Jehu Baldwin threw his pistol upon Wycliff’s lawn. A kind Providence, more than his own exertions, has placed full proof in my client’s possession. You and I, Stimson, are both too old, and have won too honorable a place at the Berkshire Bar to indulge in a game of bluff, and I have something here which will convince you that I am not bluffing.�
He opened his safe, and took from it a photograph.
“Do you recognize anything in that picture?�
“Yes, that is Dobbs’ Corner, in Papyrus. The guide-board tells the story. ‘Elmfield, six miles; Sprucemont, nine miles; Wendell, five miles.’ And that old elm—there’s no mistaking that. I was out there in my auto yesterday.�
“But the person?�
“Looks like Jehu Baldwin, surely, and the pistol still in his hand. But here’s an important point which you might be troubled to prove. How can you prove that this flashlight—for a flashlight photo it is, evidently—was taken on the night which you claim? If we assert that it was secured on some other night than the one of the riot, you cannot prove that it was taken on that identical night.�
“Easily enough, Stimson. Do you see nothing else in the picture?�
“Yes, some sort of a machine, or wagon, with the word ‘Vesuvius’ on it.�