“When I showed them to her she fainted.”
“You said, just now, that the little padlock was ‘concealed.’ Are you sure it had not accidentally fallen behind the paper?”
“No; I should think not.”
“Did you suspect the prisoner previous to his arrest?”
“I did. After the inquest on Mrs Inglewood, observation was kept upon him for some time, but he eluded us by going abroad.”
“And now you endeavour to fix the crime upon him without any direct evidence. I have nothing more to ask you.”
My hopes sank as Mr Roland resumed his seat, with a poor affectation of indifference.
The next witness was a neatly-attired, gentlemanly-looking man, the jeweller’s manager, who proved the purchase of the bracelet by Mrs Inglewood, and identified the tiny padlock as a portion of it.
When he had retired, Mr Roland having asked him no questions, he was succeeded by Bob Nugent, who stepped into the witness-box averting my gaze. Was even Bob in the conspiracy!
“You were, I think, Mr Nugent,” said the prosecuting counsel, “a friend—a particular friend I may say—of the prisoner’s?”