“Did you hear them speak?”
“I heard Mr. Bellamy say, ‘Sue, no matter how innocent we are, we’ll never get one person to believe that we aren’t guilty if they know that we were in that room, much less twelve. I’ve got to get you home.’ ”
“Yes. Are you engaged to be married, Miss Dunne?”
“I don’t know,” said Miss Dunne simply. “I was engaged, but my—my fiancé didn’t want me to testify in this case. You see, he’s studying for the ministry. I think perhaps that he doesn’t consider that he’s engaged any longer.”
“Were you yourself anxious to testify?”
“I was anxious to do what Mr. Phipps thought was right for us to do,” said Miss Dunne. “But I am afraid that I was not very brave about wanting to testify.”
“Were you in the habit of going on these—these picnic expeditions with Mr. Phipps?”
“Oh, no, sir. We had taken only two or three quite short little walks—after school, you know. He was helping me with my English literature because I wanted to be a writer. The party that night was a farewell party.”
“A farewell party?”
“Yes. School had closed on Friday, and we—Mr. Phipps thought that perhaps it would be better if we didn’t see each other any more. It was my fault that we went to Orchards that night. It was all my fault,” explained Miss Dunne carefully in her small, clear voice.