Trial of John Jasper, lay precentor of Cloisterham Cathedral in the County of Kent, for the murder of Edwin Drood, engineer

by England) Dickens Fellowship (London

Witness: I think I have done so.

Mr. Walters: You have probably heard that unsuccessful authors and dramatists, when they cannot get their plays or books accepted by ordinary means, adopt little devices?

Witness: I don’t think I have.

Mr. Walters: You have never heard of an actress losing her jewels, or an author pretending to commit suicide?

Witness: I have heard of them actually doing it.

Mr. Walters: Ever heard of an author saying he has been to the North Pole, and writing a book? Would it not be absolutely providential if something occurred to you to bring you into notoriety?

Witness: No.

Mr. Walters: It would not relieve your “Thorn of Anxiety”?

Witness: No.

Mr. Walters: In other words, would it not rather be to your advantage to be talked about as a hero.