Philip MacDonald – The Maze (страница 4)

I should say roughly three-quarters of an hour.

Thank you. Now, if you would go on to answer my main question?

I saw the witnesses in the following order: Mrs Brunton, Mr Adrian Brunton, Mrs Bayford, Mr Harrison, Mr Hargreaves, Miss Lamort, Arthur Jennings, the butler, Mrs Jennings, his wife, Jeannette Bocquet, Mrs Brunton’s maid, and Violet Burrage, the kitchenmaid. Mrs Brunton, though much distressed, was quite lucid in her answers. Mr Adrian Brunton was lucid enough but in a nervous state which had reacted unfavourably upon his temper. Mr Harrison was nervous and slightly confused and only made himself clear with some difficulty. Mrs Bayford was suffering from severe shock and could only answer questions. She did not seem able to make any voluntary statement. Mr Hargreaves’s behaviour seemed normal. Miss Lamort was in an extreme state of collapse. I could not ask her as many questions as I should have wished, as, shortly after my arrival, I found that her medical adviser, Dr Fothergill, had been summoned. When he came he advised me that it would not be well to continue with any attempt to question Miss Lamort that night. Accordingly I got her full statement, which you have before you, the next day. In regard to the servants, Arthur Jennings and Mrs Jennings were normal. Burrage seemed half stupefied by shock and Jeanette Bocquet highly excited.

Thank you, Inspector. Now, another point, and a very important one. It is, I know, dealt with in the Police papers which we have, but I think should also be discussed in Court. Was there any indication that No. 44 Rajah Gardens had been entered by any person other than the inmates during the night?

No indication whatsoever.

In your opinion, Inspector, would it have been possible for any other person to have entered the house, make their way to the study and then leave the house?

I am satisfied that such an entry would have been impossible; impossible, that is, without the assistance of some person or persons within the house.

Upon what grounds, Inspector, do you base your certainty upon this point?

The front door was bolted by Jennings as early as 10.15 p.m.—a fact to which various witnesses testify. The windows on the ground floor were also locked and shuttered immediately afterwards—a fact also testified to. The basement windows and door were locked and bolted as usual by Mrs Jennings and Violet Burrage at 9.30 p.m. The construction and position of the house make it entirely improbable—in fact, sir, impossible—for anyone to obtain access to them without the use of ladders. Certainly no entrance could be made through any window without traces being left, and there were no traces. In regard to the study windows, as Sergeant Crawley stated in his evidence, the idea of entrance and exit through them need not be entertained.

Thank you, Inspector … I don’t think we need trouble Inspector Syme any further—at this stage, anyhow …

Call Dr Richard Crosby.

III

JAMES RICHARD CROSBY, M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P., PRIVATE PRACTICE AND DIVISIONAL SURGEON L.I. DIVISION, METROPOLITAN POLICE.

WHAT is your full name?

James Richard Crosby.

Now will you take the oath?

I swear by Almighty God that what I shall say in evidence in this Court shall be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

You act, I believe, in the capacity of Divisional Surgeon to L.I. Division of the Metropolitan Police?

Yes.

Will you please describe to the Court, Dr Crosby, your visit to 44 Rajah Gardens in the early morning of Thursday last?

I was called out at 3.5 a.m. I went with Detective Inspector Syme of the Division to Number 44 Rajah Gardens. I was taken to the study and there found and examined the body of the deceased. I found death to have been caused by a blow which had pierced through the cavity of the right eye into the brain. Internal hæmorrhage had immediately set in; death must have taken place within a very short time after the blow was received. I was then shown a large lump of mineral quartz which had projecting from it at one end a long jagged spur. The end of this spur was caked with blood and tissue. I formed the opinion that it was beyond doubt this lump of quartz which had been the weapon causing death.

It was, I understand, approximately 3.30 a.m. when you examined the body?

That is correct.

In your opinion, how long had life been extinct?

Not more than six hours had elapsed since death had transpired.

Doctor, in your examination of the body, did you form any opinion as to the deceased’s general health?

I should say it was very good. Magnificent development. Obviously kept himself in very good condition. More like, in fact, the body of a man of forty than fifty-five, which I believe is what he was.

Did you form any opinion, Doctor, as to how the wound might have been caused?

Yes. With, as I have said, the quartz. A strong, stabbing blow was probably struck.

Is it at all possible, Doctor, that the wound was self-inflicted?

In my opinion, absolutely impossible.

I do not think there are any other questions, gentlemen? … No? … Thank you, Doctor. That is all.

Call Sidney Harrison.

IV

SIDNEY FOLJAMBE HARRISON, PRIVATE SECRETARY TO THE DECEASED

WHAT is your full name?

Sidney Foljambe Harrison.

Will you please take the oath?

I swear by Almighty God that what I shall say in evidence in this Court shall be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

You were, I believe, private secretary to the deceased?

Private and confidential secretary. I was secretary to Mr Brunton for a considerable period, over which he and I got to know each other, if I may say so, extremely well. I was fully conversant with Mr Brunton’s—

One moment, Mr Harrison. I should be glad if, at this stage of your evidence, you would confine yourself to answering my questions.

Certainly, certainly. I have no wish to be of anything but assistance.

Quite! … Perhaps you would tell me, Mr Harrison, how long you held the position of secretary to the deceased?

I was private and confidential secretary to Mr Maxwell Brunton for eleven months. That is, to be precise, Mr Coroner, I should have completed my year upon the fifth of next month. If I may say so, the eleven months were—

Thank you. Will you please inform the Court of the time at which you last saw your employer alive?

Certainly I will. Let me see … I was with the rest of the household—excepting, of course, the servants—in the drawing-room after dinner. We had all been in the room for the whole of the time since dinner … There had been bridge—

One moment.—Do I understand you to say, Mr Harrison, that everyone in the house was in the drawing-room after dinner, excepting the servants?

No, no, no! Everyone with the exception of Mr Maxwell Brunton himself.

Thank you. Please continue.

At 11 p.m. exactly—I happened to just have looked at my watch—Mr Maxwell Brunton, who had retired to his study (to work, he said) immediately after dinner, came down and joined the party. He chatted a few moments and then bade everyone good-night, saying that he would be working late and telling me, incidentally, that he would not require my services. When he left the drawing-room—the last time I saw him alive—the time would be, I should say, about five minutes past eleven; perhaps a little more.

Now, Mr Harrison, will you please describe to the Court your discovery of Mr Brunton’s body?

Yes. At 2.30 a.m. on Friday morning it suddenly occurred to me that there was an important engagement which I had omitted to note on Mr Brunton’s desk pad. I was at that time, of course, in my bedroom, but I was not in bed. I was studying, as I commonly do, until the very early hours. I do not believe in putting things off, and so I decided to go along to the study and remedy my error without delay.

My bedroom is on the same floor: that is, the second. I accordingly walked softly along the passage, being very careful to make no noise at so late an hour. I did not switch on the passage light, as I know my way so well. I was therefore in the dark, and I saw, as I approached, a light beneath the study door. I assumed that Mr Brunton might be engaged and so knocked upon the door before entering. No reply came to my first knock or to my second. Not wishing to disturb the house, I did not knock again but softly turned the handle. I then made the shocking discovery.

The body, as the sergeant described, was lying on the hearth-rug. The head was pointing toward the window, and the feet toward the door. I was, as you may imagine, horrified and aghast, but I flatter myself that I wasted no time. It needed no expert eye to see that Mr Brunton was dead. I went quietly out of the study, shutting the door behind me; ran as fast as my legs would carry me back to the stairs and up to the top floor and waked Jennings the butler. In a few words I told him what had happened and sent him out for a policeman. The disturbance had apparently wakened Mrs Brunton, for as I came downstairs after Jennings she was on the landing. I had to break the news to her, and she insisted that I should rouse—er—bring to her her son and daughter, Mr Adrian Brunton and Mrs Bayford. I called Mr Adrian Brunton. Mrs Bayford, taking matters into her own hands, called Mr Hargreaves, who was staying in the house. Sarah Jennings, wakened when I called her husband, came downstairs. Mr Adrian Brunton and Mrs Brunton wished to go at once to the study, but I managed to dissuade them from taking this step until after the police had arrived. I was seconded in this by Mr Hargreaves.