there were many people in barnstead on the day when the inquest was held on the body of milly lester. the youth and beauty of the poor girl, the tragic circumstances of her death, and the knowledge, which was now spread widely abroad, that dr. lester was the assassin, all invested the affair with wondrous interest. from far and near people poured into barnstead to hear the evidence of the father's guilt even at second hand; and crowds repaired to the winding lane in order to examine the fatal spot. never had such excitement been known in the somnolent village.
the coroner and jury were assembled in the largest room of the herne arms, and after surveying the body of the victim, they called all necessary witnesses to testify to the manner of her death, and the guilt of him who had brought it about. drek had prepared his case against dr. lester with great care, being now convinced by the strongest of circumstantial evidence that he was the murderer. as yet lester had not been arrested, but drek had kept him constantly under his own eye, and had in his pocket a warrant for his arrest. this he intended to execute as soon as the jury delivered their verdict. he had no doubt as to what the verdict would be.
darcy herne was present at the inquest, and several times he asserted his belief in the innocence of dr. lester. when lester himself, pale and haggard, arrived at the inn, under the escort of drek, the squire shook him by the hand in the warmest manner. lester was much touched by this proof of friendship from one who had never regarded him with much approval.
"it is good of you to give me your hand, herne," he said in a faltering voice, "particularly as you know the cloud that lies over my reputation."
"it is for that reason i do it, lester. i believe you to be innocent."
"ah," sighed lester, passing his hand across his eyes, "i wish i could believe that myself."
herne was rather amazed by this strange speech, and replied rather stiffly: "you must certainly know if you shot milly or not?"
"that is just what i don't know," retorted lester with a haggard look. "i left home under the influence of drink and with a pistol in my possession, angry with milly for the way in which she was deceiving you. i recollect nothing after that until i found myself at dawn in my own garden; the events of the night have vanished from my mind; my memory is a complete blank. who knows but what i may not have shot my poor milly unknowingly?"
"h'm!" said herne, thoughtfully; "in a condition like that you would certainly act in accordance with the uppermost thought in your mind. was it to kill milly?"
"god forbid! even in my drunken frenzy i had no thought of harming my own flesh and blood. i wanted to kill the man who was to meet her--lucas lovel."
"how do you know that he was going to meet her on that night?" asked herne, eagerly.
"i did not know for certain," replied lester, "but as milly had not come home, i thought she might be with lovel. she met him before, you know."
"yes, i know," said darcy, gloomily. "well, if you went out to kill lovel, you would not shoot at your own daughter."
"she might have thrown herself in the way to protect lovel."
"i doubt it. but only lovel can prove that, and he denies that he met her on that night."
"do you believe him?"
"no!" said herne savagely. "i received a note in london which advised me that they were going to meet."
"who wrote the note?"
"i can't tell you yet. the person who wrote it wishes to remain unknown for the present. but i believe that lovel met milly and killed her because she would not marry him. mind you," continued herne, energetically, "i have no proof of this; but i mean to obtain proof in order to hang lovel and save you."
"i'm afraid i'm past saving," sighed lester. "even drek believes me to be guilty, and, as i cannot recall the events of the night, i dare not swear that i am innocent. oh, god! that i should be in such a position! ignorant of my own acts; and all on account of that accursed drink! i am rightly punished for my vice."
herne said nothing, for the present was no time for reproaches, but, taking lester by the arm, he led him into the room where the jury were seated. already the proceedings had begun, and the witnesses summoned by inspector drek were giving evidence. mr. chaskin was called first, and deposed that after evening service on sunday he had been summoned to a house on the other side of the common to pray with a dying man. he returned to barnstead by the short way of the winding lane, and on entering the wood he had stumbled over a body which was lying in the roadway near the stile. thinking that she had fainted--for by the touch of the garments and the faint glimmer of the moonlight he perceived that the deceased was a woman--he lighted a match to see who she was, and what was the matter with her. then he recognised the face of millicent lester, and that she was dead. there was a wound in the back of the head. the body was lying face downward, and he had to turn it over in order to perceive the features. at once he went on to the herne arms and roused up four or five men. these returned with him to the stile and carried the body to the house of dr. lester, whence it was removed subsequently to the inn for the inquest. mr. chaskin said he heard no shot, and that he had seen no one about either on the common or in the wood. it was about eleven, or a little after, when he discovered the body. he had no idea as to who could have killed the deceased.
the next witness was dr. rollin, the rival to lester in barnstead, and the medical man who had examined the body. he deposed that he had made the examination on monday morning. the deceased had been shot from behind, and the bullet had passed right through the brain. it had entered a little above the nape of the neck, and had come out on one side of the nose. death must have been instantaneous. he examined the body at nine o'clock on monday morning; and from its condition he could state that death must have taken place between eight and nine of the previous night; twelve hours, more or less, elapsed, as he believed, between the death and the examination.
inspector drek stated that he had been called to barnstead from marborough by the information that millicent lester had been murdered. he came at once to the house of the deceased. she had died from the effects of a pistol shot, as dr. rollin had stated. he had examined the spot where the body had been found, but could discover no evidence there likely to lead to the identification of the criminal. the pistol could not be found; and as the bullet had passed right through the head of the deceased it could not be found either. the spot where the body was discovered was of a deep-red clay, somewhat softened by recent rain. there were many footmarks about, but these were probably those of the bearers who had brought home the body.
iris link, on being sworn, declared that the deceased had said nothing to her about going to the winding lane on that night. she (deceased) had left st. dunstan's church during the service and had not been seen alive since leaving. witness did not know why deceased had left. she knew that the dead girl was in the habit of meeting mr. lucas lovel, but did not know for certain if she had met him on that night. still, she suspected, as deceased had not come home that such a meeting might have taken place. the body of deceased was brought home shortly after midnight on sunday night. she had no idea who had killed deceased, nor had any knowledge of the motive for the crime.
mr. mexton watched the face and listened to the voice of iris as she made this last statement, for he recalled how she had asked him not to seek for the assassin. for this reason he believed that she knew who had killed milly, and for some reason--of which he was naturally ignorant--she desired to screen the guilty person. it struck him that she might betray herself while under examination, but in this he was wrong. without a change of expression, in a firm voice she denied all knowledge of the possible murderer. after this final assertion she stepped down and gave place to lucas lovel.
this young man, who was pale but composed, stated that he had not met milly lester on the fatal night. he had intended to do so, but meeting with gran jimboy he had gone with her to her tent on the other side of the common, and had not returned to the herne arms, where he resided, till ten o'clock. he had walked over by the road, and had not taken the short cut through the woods. he swore that he had not been in the winding lane on sunday night.
gran jimboy was summoned by lovel to corroborate this evidence. the old gipsy stated that she had met lucas at eight o'clock, immediately after service in st. dunstan's church, and had induced him to come to her tent to hear some information which nearly concerned him. the information was private, and had nothing to do with the murder. lovel, said the woman, had stayed with her till nearly ten o'clock, and then had walked back to the village by the high road. she knew this, as she had gone part of the way with him.
thus, by the evidence of gran jimboy, an alibi in favour of lovel was clearly proved; and he was exonerated from any complicity in the crime. still, herne did not believe the evidence, as mexton could see by the mocking smile on his lips. however, he made no attempt to speak, and the proceedings continued.
eliza, the servant of dr. lester, was the next witness, and she told her story with shrill volubility. for the moment she was the most important person in the room, as on her evidence was based the charge which was known to be made against dr. lester. eliza knew that her master would be arrested on the statements she could make against him, and relished the situation exceedingly. she had no idea of the cruelty of her feelings towards the man whose bread she had eaten.
eliza stated, with many airs and graces, that she was the domestic servant of dr. lester, and had been in this situation for some years. her master was in the habit of getting drunk two or three times in the week; when in this condition, he always went about with a loaded revolver, so that the inmates of the house were in peril of their lives. dr. lester had been delighted by the engagement of the deceased to mr. herne; and he was angry at the meeting of miss lester with mr. lovel. eliza knew that they met, as it was common gossip. on the night of the murder miss lester and miss link went to church, while the doctor remained at home drinking.
miss milly did not return; but miss iris did, in the company of mrs. drass. when mrs. drass departed, eliza heard high words between the doctor and miss link relative to the meetings of the deceased with mr. lovel. afterwards miss iris went out to seek miss milly, whom she thought was with mr. lovel; but eliza did not know if this were so. dr. lester continued drinking, and, fearing lest he should cause trouble, witness watched the door of the consulting-room. shortly after half-past eight dr. lester came out, holding a pistol in his hand; he was mad with drink, and cried out about his daughter and lovel. then he rushed out, and witness thought he intended murder. he did not come home till seven in the morning, and then he had no pistol, but his clothes were daubed with red mud, such as is found in the winding lane. he began to drink again; but before doing so he changed his clothes. witness swore that he went out with the intention of killing his daughter, but she did not think he did it deliberately, as he was mad with drink.
dr. lester was then called to refute this evidence if he was able. he stated that he had gone out as eliza described, and with a pistol. he wished to kill lovel, but he did not know what he said. he did not remember what he did or where he went after leaving the house; but he had an indistinct recollection of meeting someone--man or woman he could not say. his pistol was gone when he returned home at seven in the morning, but he did not know where he lost it. also his clothes were covered with red mud, so it was possible he might have wandered into the winding lane, and have fallen in the moist clay. but he recollected nothing. he had no intention of harming his daughter, as he loved her too much.
iris link, recalled, said that dr. lester was in the habit of carrying about a loaded revolver when drunk. she did not know if he took it out on the sunday night, but it was not in its case the next day. she stated also that she heard a shot fired at nine o'clock, when she was standing in the shadow of st. dunstan's church. she had never heard dr. lester threaten his daughter; but he was certainly very irate at the behaviour of mr. lovel.
this was all the evidence which had been collected by drek; and it certainly was against lester. his own testimony rather inculpated than exonerated him; and from the faces of the jury paul saw that they inclined to believe lester guilty. mexton himself could not make up his mind; appearances pointed to the perpetration of the crime by dr. lester when in a state of intoxication; but it was possible that he might be innocent after all. still, how his innocence was to be proved it was difficult to say.
"herne might do it," thought paul, as he took down the evidence, "for he seems to believe lovel guilty, although gran jimboy's statement goes to clear him. also herne knows something in connection with that feather which he picked up. i wonder what that odd-coloured feather has to do with the matter, and whether it could prove the guilt of some person of whom at present we know nothing?"
there was no answer to this question, and herne made no sign of making any statement about the feather in favour of lester. he stood quite still, and listened to the summing-up of the coroner--a summing-up which was dead against lester. the coroner declared that lester must have been in the winding lane on that night, else he could not have got the red clay on his clothes. the question was whether he was there after or before nine o'clock, the hour when, according to miss link's evidence, the fatal shot was fired. the coroner was inclined to think that lester went straight from his own house to the winding lane, knowing that was the spot in which his daughter usually met lovel; and there, finding his daughter waiting for lovel--who was then in the tent of gran jimboy--had fired and killed her. perhaps he would have killed lovel had he been present, but in his absence he vented his rage on the deceased. the crime, however, was committed while lester was drunk, and therefore he was not responsible for his actions.
the result of this speech was that the jury--already prejudiced--found lester guilty; and immediately the wretched father was arrested by inspector drek.
