A Whim, and Its Consequences / Collection of British Authors Vol. CXIV

by G. P. R. James

Witness.--"No; he is a good deal taller than the gentleman I saw."

Counsel.--"Was it a gentleman, then; or any of the servants?"

Witness.--"It looked like a gentleman's figure; but it was growing dark, and he walked on very quick indeed. I could not clearly see who it was."

Counsel.--"I have done with you;" and he sat down with a look of satisfaction.

There was a murmur amongst the bar. The case for the prosecution seemed breaking down. It was a result not at all expected, and the cross-examination by the junior, who was a very young member of the profession, but blessed with several eminent solicitors for relations, was looked upon as highly creditable. None of the barristers were for a moment deceived. They all clearly saw and understood that several of the witnesses had been perplexed and confounded; and nothing had shaken their conviction of the guilt of Chandos Winslow till the admission made by the last witness, that some one had been seen entering the house of Mr. Tracy, in a hurried manner, and by a private and somewhat obscure entrance, some ten minutes or quarter-of-an-hour after the murdered man had passed across the lawn. It was, in truth, the first fact for the defence; and legal acumen instantly detected that this was a verity of great importance. None of the lawyers present, however, were ignorant of the great impression which the admissions extracted from other witnesses might make upon a jury, if followed up by any available line of defence; and they, therefore, as I have said, looked upon the case as breaking down, under a pressure of doubts, all of which must be favourable to the prisoner.

There has seldom been a trial, however, in which the opinions of the most acute and sensible men varied so often, under the different aspects which the evidence gave to it at different times. Through the examination of the next witness the same feeling prevailed, namely, that satisfactory proof would fail. The person who succeeded Burwash in the witness-box was Henry Haldemand, the constable of Northferry, who, after stating his rank, condition, and degree, went on as follows:--

"There were delivered to me, when I went down, on receiving Mr. Tracy's message, several articles which had been found on the person of the deceased. I here produce them. The first is a letter, marked No. 1."

This was the letter which Chandos had written to Mr. Roberts on the night preceding the murder, and it was ordered to be read aloud. As the reader has, however, already perused it, it will not be necessary to reproduce it here. The impression did not seem so great upon the court as the counsel for the prosecution expected.

The snuffling tone in which the letter was read detracted from the effect; and it was generally regarded as merely showing that some sort of dispute might have existed between the prisoner and the deceased, without by any means establishing a sufficient motive for so great a crime. It gave an additional shade of probability to the charge, but that was all. Other papers, marked Nos. 2 and 3, were produced; but the counsel for the prosecution thought they did not bear upon the case, and they were consequently not read. The watch, the purse, and the pocket-book, of course, threw no new light upon the matter, and only occupied a few minutes more of the time of the court. The constable then went on with his evidence in the following strain:--"Early on the morning of the sixth of February I went to the spot where the dead body had been found; I took with me Alfred Tims, shoemaker, of Northferry. We found a great many footmarks round the spot where the deceased had been lying, so many, that we could make nothing of them. One line of steps we traced from the spot to the haw-haw; they were very distinct upon the turf; the heel was towards the haw-haw, the toe towards the spot where the murder was committed. We found another line like it from the fish-pond to the haw-haw; the heel was towards the fish-pond, the toe towards the haw-haw. In the dry ditch beyond the hedge were several of the same footmarks, and the hedge seemed to have been broken through. We measured the footmarks exactly; there was but one line, either coming or going, made by a right and left foot. After we had measured the marks, I went up to the cottage of the head-gardener, from information I had received, and desired to measure his shoes. He offered no opposition, and produced the pair he had worn on the night before. They had not been cleaned; and it seemed to me that there was some blood on the toe of the right shoe: I can't swear it was blood; but there was certainly something red upon it. We took away the shoes with us, and went back to the spot in the grounds. The shoes corresponded exactly with the marks to and from the haw-haw, and with those in the dry ditch. In the latter we found one very distinct print; there were some small nails in the outside edge of the shoe, and marks corresponding on the ground. I afterwards went back to the cottage of the prisoner, to examine his clothes; but found that he had gone down to Northferry, and taken the clothes he had worn on the preceding night with him."

The cross-examination then commenced, and the counsel for the defence said, "Two or three questions will be enough, witness. Are you aware why the prisoner went down to Northferry and took his clothes with him?"