"Confusion now hath made his master-piece;
Most sacrilegious murder hath broke ope
The Lord's anointed temple, and stolen thence
The life of the building."
—Macbeth.
Turning my attention back into the room where I was, I found the coroner consulting a memorandum through a very impressive pair of gold eye-glasses.
"Is the butler here?" he asked.
Immediately there was a stir among the group of servants in the corner, and an intelligent-looking, though somewhat pompous, Irishman stepped out from their midst and confronted the jury. "Ah," thought I to myself, as my glance encountered his precise whiskers, steady eye, and respectfully attentive, though by no means humble, expression, "here is a model servant, who is likely to prove a model witness." And I was not mistaken; Thomas, the butler, was in all respects one in a thousand—and he knew it.
The coroner, upon whom, as upon all others in the room, he seemed to have made the like favorable impression, proceeded without hesitation to interrogate him.
"Your name, I am told, is Thomas Dougherty?"
"Yes, sir."
"Well, Thomas, how long have you been employed in your present situation?"
"It must be a matter of two years now, sir."
"You are the person who first discovered the body of Mr. Leavenworth?"
"Yes, sir; I and Mr. Harwell."
"And who is Mr. Harwell?"
"Mr. Harwell is Mr. Leavenworth's private secretary, sir; the one who did his writing."
"Very good. Now at what time of the day or night did you make this discovery?"
"It was early, sir; early this morning, about eight."
"And where?"
"In the library, sir, off Mr. Leavenworth's bedroom. We had forced our way in, feeling anxious about his not coming to breakfast."
"You forced your way in; the door was locked, then?"
"Yes, sir."
"On the inside?"
"That I cannot tell; there was no key in the door."
"Where was Mr. Leavenworth lying when you first found him?"
"He was not lying, sir. He was seated at the large table in the centre of his room, his back to the bedroom door, leaning forward, his head on his hands."
"How was he dressed?"
"In his dinner suit, sir, just as he came from the table last night."
"Were there any evidences in the room that a struggle had taken place?"
"No, sir."
"Any pistol on the floor or table?"
"No, sir?"
"Any reason to suppose that robbery had been attempted?"
"No, sir. Mr. Leavenworth's watch and purse were both in his pockets."
Being asked to mention who were in the house at the time of the discovery, he replied, "The young ladies, Miss Mary Leavenworth and Miss Eleanore, Mr. Harwell, Kate the cook, Molly the upstairs girl, and myself."
"The usual members of the household?"
"Yes, sir."
"Now tell me whose duty it is to close up the house at night."
"Mine, sir."
"Did you secure it as usual, last night?"
"I did, sir."
"Who unfastened it this morning?"
"I, sir."
"How did you find it?"
"Just as I left it."
"What, not a window open nor a door unlocked?"
"No, sir."
END OF SAMPLE
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Published by Les Éditions de Londres
© 2014 — Les Éditions de Londres
ISBN : 978-1-909782-97-6