Answer.—“I may have got the £5 at the bank; but upon my honour I do not know what for. (Laughter.) Cook, with reference to the £200 bill, gave Palmer £10 for the accommodation, and he took the money to Shrewsbury races. I cannot say who saw me on the Monday night when I went up to Cook’s room at the ‘Talbot Arms.’ I did not notice. I believe that either the chambermaid, the waitress, or the cook saw me go into the hotel. I don’t know who drove the fly to Stafford.”
This witness was also severely cross-examined as to his relations with Mrs. Palmer, replying with the same caution as to their impropriety, and could not get further than “that there ought not to be any truth” in the imputation.
Mr. Justice Stephen, who was present at the trial, gives the following graphic sketch of the demeanour of this witness:—“No abbreviation can give the effect of this cross-examination. The witness’s efforts to gain time, and his distress as the various answers were extorted from him by degrees, may be faintly traced in the report. His face was covered with sweat, and the papers put into his hands shook and rattled.”—Hist. Criminal Law of England. Vol. III., p. 399, note. “And yet, after all,” as the learned judge adds, “he was right as to the time according to the inspector at Euston. If Smith spoke the truth, Newton could not have seen Palmer at all that night, and Mills, if at all, must have seen him in Smith’s company. Mills never mentioned Smith” (and was never asked by the defence if he came with Palmer), “and Smith would not swear that she or anyone else had seen him at the ‘Talbot’ that night.”
[62] Smith (not Jeremiah, subsequently examined, pp. 185-6), when called for the defence, said that he sent the soup to Cook by Rowley, but not to Palmer’s on the way.
[63] Palmer’s brother, in the letter to Lord Campbell, states that Sanders, the trainer, if called (who had been examined before the coroner), could have proved that Cook excused his not giving him more than £10 when he came to see him, on the plea “that he had given all his money to Palmer to take with him to London to settle his affairs,” and that he was in court at the trial, and when not called by the prosecution, was sent out of the way to prevent his being called for the defence.—Letter to Lord Campbell, pp. 18, 19.
He was called on his subpœna at the close of the evidence for the defence (tenth day), and when he did not answer, the Attorney-General said, “I should be deeply grieved if it could be possibly thought that the absence of any witness could in any way prejudice the prisoner’s case, and if my learned friend makes any application on that ground it shall not be resisted by me.” No application was made.
[64] It was an acknowledgment that certain bills, of which the dates and amounts were set out, were all for Cook’s benefit, and signed either J.P. or I.P. Cook. Cheshire was under Palmer’s influence, and a few days after opened Dr. Taylor’s letter to Mr. Gardner with the account of the results of the analytical examination, and disclosed them to Palmer, for which he was prosecuted and punished.
[65] Whilst Palmer was in Stafford jail, inquests were held on the bodies of his wife and his brother Walter. In the first case there was no manner of doubt that she had been gradually dosed to death by antimony. In that of the brother, the analysis failed to detect any poison, a fact probably accounted for by the length of time that had elapsed since the death and the action of the lead coffin, if prussic acid was the poison used. In both cases, however, verdicts of wilful murder against Palmer were returned. On the 21st of January Palmer was brought up from jail as a witness in an action on one of the £2000 bills purported to be signed by his mother, the signature of which was denied by her; clerks in banks and others who knew her handwriting well also agreeing that it was a forgery. At last Palmer was produced in custody. He entered in a perfectly cool and collected manner, nodded familiarly to his friends in the crowded court, and gave the following evidence in a low, yet firm and distinct voice, without a sign of trepidation:—
Mr. Edwin James (putting the disputed bill into his hand).—“Is the signature of William Palmer, as drawer of this bill, in your handwriting?”
Palmer.—“Yes.”