CHAPTER X
MISS TEMPLE'S TESTIMONY
The police court at Exeter was situated in an old building, and theMagistrate's room was small and cold. When I was led forth and placed inthe dock, I felt at first confused and gazed at the crowded benchesbefore me with a dull sense of annoyance. Presently I made out thetroubled, white face of Major Temple, sitting near the rear of the room,and behind him Gibson and two of the other servants. The remainder ofthe persons in the room were strangers to me, drawn thither, no doubt,by the merest curiosity. I looked up at the Magistrate and found him tobe a little, red-faced man, with a stern, but not unkind, face--a man,evidently, who had seen so much of human guilt and suffering that theedge of his sympathies had been worn off and replaced with a patientcynicism. The usual questions as to my name, age, residence andoccupation were asked, and then the real business of the hearing began.The finding of the coroner's inquest was first read, and then MajorTemple was placed upon the witness stand. The old gentleman looked moreshrunken and old than ever. His face was yellow, his eyes hollow andheavy from want of sleep, his hands trembling with excitement. I couldwell understand his agitation. His daughter, even now under arrest, washurrying to Exeter to undergo that most terrible of all ordeals, ahearing on a charge of murder. Whether or not her story would end in aconfession, no one knew; that she had something of the greatest importto tell, her letter indicated. All these thoughts must have crowdedthrough her poor father's mind as he took his seat and made oath to tellthe truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. The Magistratebegan his examination with characteristic incisiveness.
"Major Temple," he said, "you are here as a witness in the case of Mr.Owen Morgan, charged with complicity in the murder of Robert Ashton."
The Major bowed, but remained silent.
"When did you first meet Mr. Morgan?"
"The night he first came to my house, five days ago."
"Never saw him before?"
"Never. Mr. Ashton offered him a place in his motor, on his way to myhouse. On account of the storm, he stopped there and remained overnight."
"It is supposed that this murder had as a motive the securing of avaluable emerald in Mr. Ashton's possession. When Mr. Ashton firstexhibited it to you, was Mr. Morgan present?"
"He was."
"Did he know the value of the jewel?"
"I do not know. I think the matter was mentioned at the table."
"You had agreed to give your daughter's hand in marriage to Mr. Ashton,in return for obtaining for you this jewel. Is that true?"
"Yes," the Major faltered.
"Was your daughter opposed to this arrangement?"
"She was."
"And you insisted upon it?"
"I had given my word as a gentleman."
"The securing of the jewel, then, from Mr. Ashton would have releasedher from the arrangement?"
"If Mr. Ashton had not had it, he could not have carried out hisagreement, of course."
"At what time did you retire on the night of the murder?"
"Shortly before midnight."
"After Mr. Ashton?"
"Yes--I saw him to his room."
"After that you retired at once?"
"Yes."
"Did you wake during the night?"
"Not until I was aroused by Mr. Morgan's cries--about daybreak, or alittle before."
"Was it light?"
"Hardly--it was just before sunrise."
"You did not leave your room, from the time you retired, until you heardMr. Morgan's cries?"
"No."
"What did you do then?"
"I threw on some clothing and ran along the hall into the west wing. Isleep at the other end of the house in the east wing. When I arrived atMr. Ashton's door, Mr. Morgan was trying to open it. My man, Gibson, whoalso heard the cries, came along, followed by one of the maids."
"Did your daughter join you?"
"Yes, almost immediately."
"How was she dressed?"
"She wore a dressing gown and slippers."
"You heard no other cries but Mr. Morgan's?"
"No."
"What happened then?"
"Mr. Morgan and Gibson broke open the door, which was bolted. The maidbrought a candle. I ordered my daughter to retire. Mr. Morgan and Ientered the room with the candle and closed the door. We found Mr.Ashton on the floor dead."
"What did you do?"
"I began to search for the emerald Buddha."
"What did Mr. Morgan do?"
"He first examined the body of the dead man, and then went to thewindows and examined the fastenings."
"Did he close or open the windows or fastenings?"
"I do not know. I paid little attention to him. I was greatly excitedabout the loss of the jewel."
"Could he have fastened the window without your knowing it?"
"I suppose he could--I paid little attention to him."
"What happened then?"
"After our examination of the room we closed and locked the door. Wethen had some coffee, after which Mr. Morgan went into Exeter andnotified the police."
"Major Temple, there is a window at the end of the hallway in the westwing, which opens on to the roof over the porch. Is this window usuallybolted?"
"Always. I generally see to it myself. I have a valuable collection andam afraid of thieves."
"Did you do so that night?"
"I did. I saw that it was bolted after seeing Mr. Ashton to his room andbefore retiring to my own."
This comprised the bulk of Major Temple's testimony. There were someother questions, but they were of little or no importance so far asthrowing any light upon the case was concerned.
Major Temple was followed by Gibson, who corroborated all that hismaster had said, and similar testimony was given by the maid. Therewas a feature of the latter's testimony, however, which bore moredirectly upon the case and my supposed connection with it. She hadbeen, it seems, on the landing of the main stairway, sitting upon awindow seat, after dinner, waiting for Miss Temple to come upstairs.It was her habit to sit there, she said, while waiting for MissTemple. In this position she was almost directly above the latter andmyself during the conversation we had had immediately after dinner onthe night of the tragedy. She testified that she could not hear allour conversation--that she made no attempt to do so, as she was not aneavesdropper--but that she had heard Miss Temple say in a loud andagitated voice that she would "never marry Robert Ashton, never," andask me to help her, and that I had replied that she could depend uponme absolutely. Immediately after this her mistress had come upstairsand gone to her room.
"Did you accompany her to her room?" asked the Magistrate.
"No, sir. She told me as how she intended to read until quite late, Sir,and that I could go to bed at once, as she would not require myassistance."
"Was this unusual?"
"It was, a bit, Sir. I 'most always helped her to undress, Sir."
"And you went to your room at once?"
"Yes, Sir. I did, Sir, and to sleep, Sir."
"How were you awakened?"
"I heard someone crying 'Help! Help!' I threw on some clothes as quickas I could, Sir, and ran out into the hall. Then I seen the Master runinto the hallway of the west wing, and Gibson after him, and I followsthem. After that, Sir, I went for a candle."
The testimony of the other servants was similar to that of Gibson andthe maid. They had heard someone crying for help, and had rushed intothe hall.
Sergeant McQuade's testimony was in some ways the most interesting ofall. I began to see that this astute gentleman had by no means been asfrank with me as I had been with him, and had made a number of littlediscoveries of which I had no knowledge up to now. He testified tofinding Miss Temple's handkerchief in Mr. Ashton's room on the morningof the murder. He testified to finding the window at the end of thehallway unbolted. He produced photographs and measurements of the bloodyhandprint found upon Mr. Ashton's window sill and compared them withmeasurem
ents made of my own hands earlier in the day. It appeared that,while the handprint was small, it could readily have been made by myhand, which, like that of most artists, is rather below medium size. Hetestified that he found similar marks of blood upon the window sill ofthe hall window, pointing inward, also scratches in the paint evidentlymade by someone climbing through the window from without. He testifiedto finding footprints upon the porch roof, made by someone eitherwearing soft slippers or in their stocking feet. These prints were madein the thin wet mold which covered the surface of the roof. He foundtraces of this mold on the white window sill of the hall window, andtraced prints of it upon the polished floor of the hallway, from thewindow as far as the doorway of my room. He could not find any prints ofthis nature within my room, nor could he say that the person making themdid not go beyond my room, but only that the footprints could not betraced beyond my door. The walking of many feet in the hallway betweenMr. Ashton's door and mine had obliterated the marks and prevented histracing them beyond that point, if they had indeed gone beyond it. Theywere small footprints, and somewhat indistinct, yet showing clearly asfaint, dull patches upon the polished floor. They were clearly a man'sfootprints, although smaller than the average man's foot. Measurementswhich he had made of footprints which I had made in the gravel pathsupon the morning of the tragedy proved conclusively that these footmarks in the hall could readily have been made by me. He exhibiteddrawings, photographs and measurements as he gave his testimony. I satin the dock, amazed, wondering if by any chance I had suddenly developedsomnambulistic tendencies and had performed these various acts whilewalking in my sleep. I felt that both the Magistrate and the crowd inthe court-room were already coming to regard me as an extremelydangerous character.
The Sergeant's testimony was extremely thorough and exact. He showedconclusively that no one had descended from the porch roof to the groundeither by the vines, or by the lightning rod which I had foolishlysupposed he had not observed, the day we made our first investigation.He spoke of the woman's footprints in the gravel path, from the cornerof the porch to the main entrance. He then took up our trip to London,put in evidence the letter he had received, supposedly from me,summoning him to meet me at the house in Kingsgate street, explainingthat the Chinamen had no doubt been uncertain whether I had the stone orhad turned it over to him, and to avoid taking chances had decoyed usboth. He referred to my offers of assistance in unraveling the case, andmy failure to mention to him my suspicions regarding the Orientalperfume, or my taking of the cake of soap from the green room. Hedescribed Li Min's attempt to steal my satchel, and my facetious remarkthat possibly the Chinaman thought I had the emerald in my bag, whichwas indeed the case. Finally he spoke of the finding of the emerald inthe cake of soap in my satchel and the weapon in the drawer of thedresser in my room, by his assistants, and the latter was produced andplaced along with the other exhibits in the case. When McQuade had gotthrough it was perfectly clear to the court that someone within thehouse had left the telltale marks on the roof and window sills and itseemed pretty conclusively shown that that someone was myself. I aroseto be examined with a sinking heart. I knew that before now, in thehistory of criminal trials, many an innocent man had gone protesting tothe gallows, and already I felt sure that, unless Miss Temple'stestimony was decidedly convincing, I was certain of being held fortrial as either an accomplice or the principal in Robert Ashton'smurder.
My own examination was short. I told my story as the reader alreadyknows it, and I told it without any hitch or hesitation. If my reasonsfor taking the cake of soap from Ashton's room seemed weak, I could onlyinform the magistrate that they were nevertheless the ones which hadactuated me. If my failure to speak of the matter to McQuade seemedsuspicious, I could only say in reply that I had not thought it ofsufficient importance to mention to him. I testified that I had lastseen Miss Temple, on that fatal night, when she bade me good-night inthe lower hall, and that I did not see her again until the next morningwhen she came into the hall in answer to my cries. I described minutelythe manner in which I was awakened by the short, sharp cry of themurdered man, and the sound of his heavy fall, and fixed the time as notlater than half-past five, as I had looked at my watch, mechanically,while hurriedly throwing on my clothes. I felt that I had made afavorable impression, but I realized that the stern facts brought outby McQuade would need more than a favorable impression to overcome them.At the conclusion of my testimony I requested that the Chinaman, Li Min,be called to corroborate me as to the removal of the cake of soap fromthe green room. The Chinaman was already in the witness room, but, whenbrought into court, maintained a stolid silence, and even the moststrenuous efforts of an interpreter failed to elicit from him a singlesyllable. It was at this point that the court adjourned for luncheon,after which the examination was to be resumed, with the hearing of MissTemple's testimony.
As may well be imagined, I had no desire for food. Nor were my concernand inward fear of the afternoon's proceedings a result of any fear thatI may have had upon my own account. I realized fully that the testimonyof the morning had been heavily against me, but I would have gladlyendured that and much more, could I have spared Muriel the comingordeal. The thought that she might be coming to Exeter to confess, andthus free me from all suspicion, distressed rather than cheered me. Thatshe had evidence of importance to put before the court I well knew. Yetwhom could it possibly involve but herself? The Chinaman, Li Min, shecould have no possible motive, I felt, for screening, and the only otherperson for whom she could possibly have such a feeling, her father, hadbeen in no way connected with the crime, and clearly could not havecommitted it. The more I thought, the more I realized that logic pointedits cold and inexorable fingers at her; yet the more strongly did thelove I felt for her tell me the impossibility of such a conclusion. Icannot express the tenderness, the love, with which this girl, in ourfew brief meetings, had inspired me. I longed to take her into my armsand comfort her, and tell her that the whole thing was but a wretched,miserable dream. Yet it needed but a glance at the stone walls about me,the steel grating of my door, and the untasted food which stood upon thecot at my side, to assure me that this was indeed no dream, but a verycold and stern reality. It was close on to two o'clock when I was oncemore taken back to the court-room, and, as I entered, I glanced aboutwith an eager and expectant look, hoping to see Miss Temple. She wasnowhere to be seen. I took my seat and waited patiently, watching thecourt attendants as they performed their routine duties, or theMagistrate, deep in the business of reading and signing a number ofpapers--warrants, I presumed, for other unfortunates--which were handedto him by a clerk. Major Temple sat in his former seat, so pale andstill that I felt he had not left it since the morning, yet I knew hemust have done so, if only to catch a glimpse of his daughter as shearrived in the custody of the officers. Presently there was a stir inthe room, the Magistrate left off signing his papers, and, as I turnedtoward the door leading from the witness room, I saw Muriel entering,with Sergeant McQuade at her side, and Inspector Burns following them.My heart sank, as I saw how terribly pale and distressed she looked andwith what shrinking she met the gaze of the many eyes now focused uponher. Her own sought the face of her father. He half-rose, as though tospeak, then sank back into his seat and covered his eyes with his hand.She did not see me at all--probably because I was so close to her.
The Magistrate rapped upon the desk to still the rising buzz ofconversation among the spectators, then, turning to the witness, forwhom McQuade had placed a chair, began his interrogations. After she hadtaken the oath, and answered the usual formal questions as to her name,age, etc., he began.
"Miss Temple, you have been arrested in connection with the murder ofone Robert Ashton, which occurred at your father's house on the morningof Tuesday last. The object of this hearing is to fix the responsibilityfor that crime, so far as we can, pending a trial by jury. Tell theCourt, if you please, where you first met the deceased."
"In Hong Kong," replied Miss Temple, in a scarcely audible voice
.
"Speak a little louder, please. When was this?"
"Last year--in October."
"He addressed you at that time, did he not, upon the subject ofmarriage?"
"He did, several times."
"What was your reply?"
"I refused his advances."
"Why?"
"I did not care for him, in fact, I disliked him."
"You had a strong aversion to him?"
"I had. He seemed to me cruel and unscrupulous."
"Did your father know of this feeling on your part?"
"No. I did not say anything to him about it. He evidently liked Mr.Ashton, probably because of their common interest in Oriental art. I hadno wish to prejudice him."
"When did you first learn that your father had consented to yourmarriage with Mr. Ashton?"
"Shortly after our return to England. He told me that Mr. Ashton hadasked for my hand in marriage, and offered to secure the emerald Buddhafor him as an evidence of his love and sincerity. My father, supposingthat I would have no objections, foolishly consented to thearrangement."
"But you objected?"
"Violently at first. Later on, when I saw how deeply my father feltabout the matter, and when he told me he had given Mr. Ashton his wordof honor, and that the latter had set out upon a life-and-death quest asa result of it, I gave an unwilling consent and agreed to write to Mr.Ashton at Pekin, withdrawing my objections to his suit."
"You wrote this letter?"
"I did."
"When did you first learn that Mr. Ashton had succeeded in his quest?"
"At dinner, the night of his arrival. I had not been alone with him,since he came but a short time before the dinner hour. He suddenlyrolled the emerald out upon the tablecloth, and looked at me with aglance of triumph."
"After dinner you had some conversation with Mr. Morgan. What was it?"
"I told Mr. Morgan my story. He was a stranger to me, but I knew hisname and his work, and I had no one upon whom I could rely. I told him Iwould never marry Mr. Ashton, that rather than do so I would leave thehouse, and earn my own living. I asked him to help me in any way that hecould."
"And he agreed?"
"Yes."
"What did you do then?"
"I retired to my room, dismissed my maid, and threw myself fully dressedupon the bed."
"What time was it?"
"Close to ten o'clock. I heard the hall clock strike the hour shortlyafter I reached my room."
"Did you go to sleep?"
"No. I thought and thought about the terrible situation I was in. I didnot want to leave home. I am very fond of my father--he is all I have inthe world. Yet I could not make him listen to reason, in regard to thismarriage. He was mad to possess this miserable jewel. At last I heard myfather and Mr. Ashton come up stairs, and, shortly after, heard myfather retire to his own room. I made up my mind to make a last appealto Mr. Ashton, to tell him under no circumstances to deliver the jewelto my father under the impression that I would marry him, that I wouldrefuse to do so. I wanted also to ask him to give me back my letter andto release me from my unwilling promise. I sprang from the bed, ran outinto the hall, and, without thinking of the consequences, went at onceto the door of Mr. Ashton's room and knocked. He opened it at once, and,fearing lest I might be seen or heard, by someone if I remained standingin the hall, I entered. Mr. Ashton had evidently been examining theemerald, as I saw it standing upon a table. He had a pen in his hand,and was making a copy of the curious symbol engraved on the base of theimage, upon a small piece of paper. He received me with protestations ofjoy and evidently thought that I had come to him as his accepted wife,but I soon undeceived him, and, after stating my case in a few words,demanded the return of my letter. He was very angry, and at firstrefused to believe that I was in earnest. He soon saw that I was,however, and became very brutal and refused to release me. He even wentso far as to attempt to embrace me, and only by threatening to rouse thehouse with my screams did I succeed in making him desist. I warned himthat I was in absolute earnest, that under no circumstances would Imarry him, and then, seeing that nothing further was to be gained, Ihurriedly left the room."
"Did you drop your handkerchief?"
"I must have done so. The one found in the room belonged to me."
"Did you by any chance observe whether or not any of the windows in theroom were open?"
"I did. They were all closed. I noticed it instinctively, because, whenI first entered the room, I was conscious of the heavy, oppressiveatmosphere of the place and, knowing that the room had been long closed,wondered that Mr. Ashton had not opened the windows. I suppose it wasbecause his long stay in the East had rendered him sensitive to our coldEnglish weather."
"After you left Mr. Ashton's room, what did you do?"
"I retired to my own room, partially undressed, and again threw myselfupon the bed."
"Did you sleep?"
"No. I could not."
"When did you again leave your room?"
"About five o'clock. I had been thinking all night about leaving thehouse. I felt that, after the scene the night before with Mr. Ashton, Icould not endure another meeting with him. I got up, put on a walkingsuit and boots, and, throwing a few things into a satchel, stole quietlydown stairs, opened the front door and went out."
"Where did you go?"
"I--I left the porch, and set out across the lawns, taking a short cutto the main road to the town."
I observed that Miss Temple was showing a greater and greater appearanceof distress as the magistrate pursued inexorably the line of questioningthat would led her to the disclosures which I knew she feared to make.Her face, white and drawn, twitched pathetically under the stress of heremotions. She spoke in a low, penetrating voice, little more than awhisper, yet so silent was the court-room that what she said was audibleto its furthermost corner. As I gazed at her in silent pity, I heard theMagistrate ask the next question.
"How far did you go?"
"I went--I--I think it must have been about thirty yards--as far as thecorner of the house."
"The corner of the west wing?"
"Yes." Her voice was growing more and more faint.
"Why did you not go further? What caused you to stop?"
"I--I saw somebody upon the roof of the porch."
"Was it light?"
"There was a faint light in the sky, of early dawn. I walked over towardthe path, and looked up at the porch roof."
"What did you see?"
"I saw someone get out of the window from the hall, on to the roof.I--I--They walked over to Mr. Ashton's window and seemed to be trying toopen it."
"Who was it?" The crucial question of all that had been asked her camelike the snapping of a lash, and, as she comprehended it, her facebecame flushed, then ghastly pale.
"I--I--must I answer that question?"
"You must."
"But--I--I cannot!" she burst into sobs, and buried her face in herhands. I feared that she was going to faint.
The Magistrate looked at her sternly.
"Miss Temple," he said, "evidence has been given here this morning whichpoints strongly toward a prisoner in this court as the person guilty ofMr. Ashton's death. Your answer to my question may confirm or disprovehis guilt. I direct you to answer my question at once. Whom did you seeupon the porch roof?"
Miss Temple looked despairingly about her, rose with a ghastly look fromher chair, and, facing the magistrate said: "It--it--oh, my God!--it wasmy father!" Then she collapsed limply against the rail.
Major Temple rose from his seat and stood white and trembling. "Muriel!"he cried, in a voice filled with incredulous amazement and horror,which rang throughout the whole room.
I sprang forward with outstretched arms, but Inspector Burns was beforeme. He placed Miss Temple tenderly in her chair: she was unconscious.
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