how she became possessed of the voodoo stone dido refused to say. jen had learned from inspector arkel that etwald wore the talisman on his watch chain, and he wondered in what fashion dido had contrived to penetrate into the prison and to obtain it from the doctor. the whole result of the trial depended upon the transfer of the stone. if etwald kept it, dido would not dare to give evidence against him, and so, in the absence of the incriminating details, he would go free. as it was, the stone was now in the possession of dido, and for some reason, which jen was unable to fathom, she was quite content to betray her share in the plot. by changing hands, the voodoo stone had transformed dido into a traitress.
however, as the advantage derived from the transfer was all on the side of the prosecution, jen did not think it wise to inquire too closely into the means which dido had employed to regain the talisman. he saw nothing of david, who pointedly kept out of his way. he made no inquiries of dido, and simply informed the inspector that the negress was ready to explain etwald's secrets, without telling him why she was willing to do so.
her majesty's judges on circuit came to deanminster, the court was formally opened, and after some trivial cases had been disposed of, the trial of regina v. etwald was announced. the hall in which the court sat was crowded with people from far and near. there were even reporters from london, sent down by the great dailies, for the case had obtained more than a local celebrity. inspector arkel, with his seven witnesses on behalf of the crown, was at the table before the judges, and with major jen had held several conversations with the public prosecutor. david, calm and composed, but paler than a corpse, was in his place glancing over his brief and exchanging curt sentences with etwald's solicitor. lastly, etwald himself, the terrible criminal who, in the eyes of the public, was a hardened and bloodthirsty monster, stepped into the dock. suave and smiling, he pleaded not guilty to the indictment, and the trial commenced.
the public prosecutor stated the case in all its fullness. the prisoner, said he, was a medical man practicing in deanminster. he had seen miss isabella dallas, and had fallen in love with the lady, and also--which was more important--with the fortune of the lady. evidently he had made up his mind that no obstacle should stand in the way of his marriage with miss dallas. but it so happened that there was one obstacle--the young lady was in love with mr. maurice alymer, a young gentleman of position, who held a commission in her majesty's army. her love was returned, and the young people were engaged.
interruption by the prisoner's counsel: "but without the consent of the mother."
the public prosecutor thought that the interruption of his learned friend was out of place; as the refusal of mrs. dallas--"mother, gentlemen of the jury, to the young lady engaged to the deceased gentleman, mr. maurice alymer"--had nothing to do with the actual facts of the case. the prisoner, seeing that while mr. alymer lived, he could never marry miss dallas, determined to rid himself of a rival. the prisoner had been in barbadoes, and while there he had learned many things concerning african witchcraft, and had become possessor of the voodoo stone, a talisman which the black race held in peculiar reverence. on his return to england the prisoner had become acquainted with mrs. dallas, with the daughter, whom he designed to marry, and with a negress called dido, the servant of the aforesaid mrs. dallas. by means of the voodoo stone, the prisoner made an absolute slave of the negress, and could command her services at any time, even to the extent of crime.
the counsel for the defense objected to the use of the word crime. nothing, he submitted, had yet been proved.
counsel for the prosecution accepted the correction of his learned friend, and withdrew the obnoxious word crime--if not altogether, at all events for the time being. he would resume his explanation of the case. major jen, the adopted father of the deceased, possessed a barbaric curiosity called by civilized people the devil-stick; by barbarians the wand of sleep. this he had obtained from ashantee, where it was used to kill people inimical to the king by the injection of poison. there was no need to describe the devil-stick, as it was on the table, and would be shown to the jury. this devil-stick--
with some impatience prisoner's counsel admitted that the devil-stick had been used to kill the deceased, and requested the prosecutor to pass on to more important details.
the counsel for the crown thanked his learned friend for the admission, and would continue. the devil-stick was stolen by mrs. dallas, who committed the theft under the hypnotic influence of the negress dido. by the direction of dr. etwald, dido refilled the stick with fresh poison, being enabled to manufacture the same from a recipe of her grandmother's--said grandmother having come from ashantee, where the stick--the devil-stick, be it understood--had been constructed and used. she had given this terrible weapon to the prisoner, who with it had killed mr. alymer, his rival.
counsel for the defense submitted that the crime had yet to be proved. his learned friend was assuming too much.
the public prosecutor said that he asserted no more than he could prove to their lordships and the gentlemen of the jury. the prisoner had killed mr. alymer, and it was for this offense that he stood in yonder dock. as regards the theft of the body---
the lesser offense, said prisoner's counsel, was swallowed up and merged in the greater; therefore, he protested against the introduction of the theft of the body.
the judge thought that the two crimes were, judicially speaking, one and the same. it was right that the crown prosecutor should place before him the whole facts of the case. one part might neutralize or enhance or explain the other. the crown prosecutor was quite in order.
counsel for the prosecution accepted his lordship's ruling and would proceed. the body of mr. alymer was taken to the residence of his adopted father. major jen. there it was placed in the bedroom which had formerly belonged to the living man. thence it was stolen by the prisoner.
counsel for the prisoner: "all this has yet to be proved."
counsel for the crown: "i shall prove it and at once. the jury are now in possession of all the facts of this very interesting case, and every detail will be confirmed by the most responsible witnesses. call major jen."
evidence--in brief--of major jen: "i was the guardian of the deceased maurice alymer. i adopted him as my son. he was in love with, and engaged to, miss dallas, but the mother did not approve of the engagement. dr. etwald, the prisoner, also loved miss dallas, but she refused to marry him. i showed the prisoner the devil-stick and explained its use, whereupon he wished to purchase it. i declined to part with it, and afterward it was stolen. after its disappearance, mr. alymer was killed by means of the devil-stick poison. his hand was but slightly scratched, and he could not have died from so trivial a cause had not the weapon used been poisoned. moreover, i recognized the perfume which emanated from the body as that of the devil-stick poison. dr. etwald had threatened the deceased once or twice. afterward the body of deceased disappeared, and the drug used to stupefy the watcher of the dead was the poison of the devil-stick."
miss dallas deposed that she had been engaged to deceased. prisoner wished to marry her, and was jealous of the late mr. alymer. once or twice he had threatened him. the negress, dido, was accustomed to hypnotize mrs. dallas for nervous headaches. while under the influence of hypnotism mrs. dallas would act according to the dictates of dido. on the night that the devil-stick was stolen from the house of major jen, mrs. dallas had been hypnotized by dido. witness had followed her, and had seen the theft of the stick. afterward mrs. dallas had delivered it into the hands of dido. witness never saw the devil-stick again. she had seen mr. alymer on the night he was murdered, as he had called to see her. witness had parted with him at the gates, and had seen him go down the road toward "ashantee." it was the last time witness saw him. it was well known to witness that dido was under the influence of dr. etwald, on account of the latter possessing the voodoo stone charm. dido had manufactured the fresh poison of the devil-stick as a panacea for nervous headache, from which witness suffered. so far as witness knew, deceased was in the best of spirits at the time of his death, and had no intention of putting an end to his life. witness could swear that prisoner was a bitter and jealous enemy of deceased.
mrs. dallas declared that she suffered--like her daughter--from nervous headaches. to cure these she submitted frequently to hypnotic treatment at the hands of dido, who was gifted with a strong will. on the night the devil-stick was stolen she had been hypnotized, but she did not know what she did while under the influence. while in the trance--as it may be called--she never knew what she did, and she had hitherto had every confidence in dido, as an old and faithful servant, that she--dido--would not induce her to do wrong things while hypnotized. she had never seen the devil-stick, either at the house of major jen or in her own. the negress had prepared a drug for the cure of headaches, which witness believed was similar--as was judged from the perfume--to the poison contained in the devil-stick. she knew that her daughter wished to marry the deceased, but for certain reasons--not pertinent to the case--she had declined to sanction the engagement. she would not have permitted her daughter to marry dr. etwald, as she did not like him or approve of the influence which he exercised over dido. she knew that prisoner possessed the voodoo stone, and by means of it could make any member of the black race do his will. prisoner was a declared enemy of the deceased, as a jealousy existed between them on account of her daughter. in presence of witnesses prisoner had threatened deceased. she knew nothing of the theft of the body.
lady meg brance was called by the prosecution to prove that a certain mendicant, by name battersea, had offered her the devil-stick for sale as a curiosity. knowing that it was the weapon with which mr. alymer had been killed--according to the reports which were current at the time--she had brought it to major jen, along with the tramp.
battersea entered the witness-box and deposed that he was of mixed negro blood, and by reason of his superstition, under the influence of dido. at times she hypnotized him, but he did not know when she did it; he thought it was obi--african witchcraft. sometimes he carried messages between her and the prisoner. dr. etwald had told him to say one single word to dido--that was "devil-stick." he did not know what it meant. afterward the devil-stick--as he was told--had disappeared, and mr. alymer was murdered. he found the devil-stick on the grass, near the bushes, within the gates of "the wigwam." not knowing what it was, he took it to lady meg brance, who sometimes gave him money. she took witness and the devil-stick to major jen, who now possessed it. with regard to the stealing of the body, witness said that he saw it placed in a carriage, and by clinging on behind he had traced the carriage to the house of dr. etwald, in deanminster. prisoner drove the carriage himself. witness tried to get money out of prisoner by telling what he had seen; but dr. etwald had forced him to hold his tongue by threatening him with the vengeance of the voodoo stone. being half an african, witness was very much afraid of the charm.
in his turn jaggard, but lately recovered from his illness, related how he had been drugged by dido, and how she had been concealed under the bed. after his evidence, which did not take long, had been given, the principal witness for the prosecution was called, and the negress dido, whose name had been so often mentioned, entered the witness-box.
in brief, her evidence was as follows: "i am a full-blooded negress, born in barbadoes. my grandmother came from 'ashantee,' and knew all about the wand of sleep. she taught me how to manufacture the poison. i came to england with my mistress and met with prisoner, who called at the house. he knew a great deal about obi and showed me the voodoo stone. a spirit dances in the stone, and i was bound to do what the spirit told me. it said i was to obey prisoner. dr. etwald wanted to marry my young mistress, but she was engaged to mr. alymer. prisoner told me that mr. alymer must be got out of the way, and suggested the use of the devil-stick, which he had seen in the smoking-room of major jen. i agreed to help him, and by hypnotizing my mistress i made her steal the devil-stick. she brought it to me, all unconscious of having done so, and i filled it with fresh poison. on the night of the murder mr. alymer called to see my mistress, also dr. etwald. when mr. alymer left i gave the stick to prisoner, and he followed deceased to kill him. next day i heard that mr. alymer was dead. after a time prisoner told me that we must steal the body, so that traces of poison should not be found when a post-mortem examination was made. i agreed to help him, and gaining admission into the chamber of death i hid under the bed. when jaggard fell asleep i drugged him with the poison of the devil-stick and opened the window, outside of which prisoner was waiting. i assisted him to carry the body to his carriage, and then left him. that is all i know."
this evidence closed the case for the prosecution, and--as may be guessed--it caused a profound sensation in court. everyone without exception looked upon the prisoner as guilty, and they considered it futile when david sarby rose to deliver his speech for the defense. the young man was even paler than usual, and when he rose laid down the devil-stick, at which he had been looking. when on his feet he glanced round the court and caught the gaze of isabella, who was staring eagerly at him. then he turned to his client. dr. etwald, still composed--even after the frightful evidence which had been given--smiled coldly on his counsel. david shuddered, and picking up the devil-stick spoke sharply and to the point.
"my lord and gentlemen of the jury, you have heard the evidence of the crown, which makes out that my client is guilty. that evidence is wrong, as can be proved by one witness. i am the witness. in my rooms there is lying a confession, signed and witnessed, which sets forth that i am the guilty person. it was i, not dr. etwald, who murdered maurice alymer." (sensation in the court.) "yes. i was in love with miss dallas, and therefore was jealous of maurice. i knew that dido possessed the devil-stick--how, it does not matter--and i bribed her to give it to me. i pretended to go to london on the night of the murder, but instead of doing so i remained in the grounds of mrs. dallas, where i obtained the devil-stick from dido. i saw maurice meet with miss dallas. i saw them kiss and part. inflamed by jealousy, i rushed after him and met him on the road. he turned in surprise, and flung out his arms to keep me off. the devil-stick, with its poison fang protruding, was in my grasp, and in throwing out his arm i wounded him in the palm of the hand, thus--"
david took the devil-stick firmly in his grasp and compressed the handle. at once the iron tongue with its drop of venom appeared. with the sharp point he made an irregular wound on the palm of his hand, and cast the devil-stick on the table before him. a moment afterward, amid the silent horror of the crowded court, he fell down--dead.
