Mr. Dunbar was brought before Sir Arden Westhorpe, at ten o’clock, on the morning after his arrest. The witnesses who had given evidence at the inquest were again summoned, and — with the exception of the verger, and Mr. Dunbar, who was now a prisoner — gave the same evidence, or evidence to the same effect.
Arthur Lovell again watched the proceedings1 in the interest of Laura’s father, and cross-examined some of the witnesses.
But very little new evidence was elicited2. The empty pocket-book, which had been found a few paces from the body, was produced. The rope by which the murdered man had been strangled was also produced and examined.
It was a common rope, rather slender, and about a yard and a half in length. It was made into a running noose3 that had been drawn4 tightly round the neck of the victim.
Had the victim been a strong man he might perhaps have resisted the attack, and might have prevented his assailant tightening5 the fatal knot; but the surgeon bore witness that the dead man, though tall and stalwart-looking, had not been strong.
It was a strange murder, a bloodless murder; a deed that must have been done by a man of unfaltering resolution and iron nerve: for it must have been the work of a moment, in which the victim’s first cry of surprise was stifled6 ere it was half uttered.
The chief witness upon this day was the verger; and it was in consequence of certain remarks dropped by him that Henry Dunbar had been arrested.
Upon the afternoon of the inquest this official had found himself a person of considerable importance. He was surrounded by eager gossips, greedy to hear anything he might have to tell upon the subject of the murder; and amongst those who listened to his talk was one of the constables7 — a sharp, clear-headed fellow — who was on the watch for any hint that might point to the secret of Joseph Wilmot’s death. The verger, in describing the events of the previous afternoon, spoke8 of that one fact which he had omitted to refer to before the coroner. He spoke of the sudden faintness which had come over Mr. Dunbar.
“Poor gentleman!” he said, “I don’t think I ever see the like of anything as come over him so sudden. He walked along the aisle9 with his head up, dashing and millingtary-like; but, all in a minute, he reeled as if he’d been dead drunk, and he would have fell if there hadn’t been a bench handy. Down he dropped upon that bench like a stone; and when I turned round to look at him the drops of perspiration10 was rollin’ down his forehead like beads11. I never see such a face in my life, as ghastly-like as if he’d seen a ghost. But he was laughin’ and smilin’ the next minute; and it was only the heat of the weather, he says.”
“It’s odd as a gentleman that’s just come home from India should complain of the heat on such a day as yesterday,” said one of the bystanders.
This was the substance of the evidence that the verger gave before Sir Arden Westhorpe. This, with the evidence of a boy who had met the deceased and Henry Dunbar close to the spot where the body was found, was the only evidence against the rich man.
To the mind of Sir Arden Westhorpe the agitation12 displayed by Henry Dunbar in the cathedral was a very strong point; yet, what more possible than that the Anglo–Indian should have been seized with a momentary13 giddiness? He was not a young man; and though his broad chest, square shoulders, and long, muscular arms betokened14 strength, that natural vigour15 might have been impaired16 by the effects of a warm climate.
There were new witnesses upon this day, people who testified to having been in the neighbourhood of the grove17, and in the grove itself, upon that fatal afternoon and evening.
Other labourers, besides the two Irishmen, had passed beneath the shadow of the trees in the moonlight. Idle pedestrians18 had strolled through the grove in the still twilight19; not one of these had seen Joseph Wilmot, nor had there been heard any cry of anguish20, or wild shrieks21 of terror.
One man deposed22 to having met a rough-looking fellow, half-gipsy, half-hawker, in the grove between seven and eight o’clock.
Arthur Lovell questioned this person as to the appearance and manner of the man he had met.
But the witness declared that there was nothing peculiar23 in the man’s manner. He had not seemed confused, or excited, or hurried, or frightened. He was a coarse-featured, sunburnt ruffianly-looking fellow; and that was all.
Mr. Balderby was examined, and swore to the splendid position which Henry Dunbar occupied as chief of the house in St. Gundolph Lane; and then the examination was adjourned24, and the prisoner remanded, although Arthur Lovell contended that there was no evidence to justify25 his detention26.
Mr. Dunbar still protested against any offer of bail27; he again declared that he would rather remain in prison than accept his liberty on sufferance, and go out into the world a suspected man.
“I will never leave Winchester Gaol,” he said, “until I leave it with my character cleared in the eyes of every living creature.”
He had been treated with the greatest respect by the prison officials, and had been provided with comfortable apartments. Arthur Lovell and Mr. Balderby were admitted to him whenever he chose to receive them.
Meanwhile every voice in Winchester was loud in indignation against those who had caused the detention of the millionaire.
Here was an English gentleman, a man whose wealth was something fabulous28, newly returned from India, eager to embrace his only child; and before he had done more than set his foot upon his native soil, he was seized upon by obstinate29 and pig-headed officials, and thrown into a prison.
Arthur Lovell worked nobly in the service of Laura’s father. He did not particularly like the man, though he wished to like him; but he believed him to be innocent of the dreadful crime imputed30 to him, and he was determined31 to make that innocence32 clear to the eyes of other people.
For this purpose he urged on the police upon the track of the strange man, the rough-looking hawker, who had been seen in the grove on the day of the murder.
He himself left Winchester upon another errand. He went away with the determination of discovering the sick man, Sampson Wilmot. The old clerk’s evidence might be most important in such a case as this; as he would perhaps be able to throw much light upon the antecedents and associations of the dead man.
The young lawyer travelled along the line, stopping at every station. At Basingstoke he was informed that an old man, travelling with his brother, had been taken ill; and that he had since died. An inquest had been held upon his remains33 some days before, and he had been buried by the parish.
It was upon the 21st of August that Arthur Lovell visited Basingstoke. The people at the village inn told him that the old man had died at two o’clock upon the morning of the 17th, only a few hours after his brother’s desertion of him. He had never spoken after the final stroke of paralysis34.
There was nothing to be learned here, therefore. Death had closed the lips of this witness.
But even if Sampson Wilmot had lived to speak, what could he have told? The dead man’s antecedents could have thrown little light upon the way in which he had met his death. It was a common murder, after all; a murder that had been done for the sake of the victim’s little property; a silver watch, perhaps; a few sovereigns; a coat, waistcoat, and shirt.
The only evidence that tended in the least to implicate35 Henry Dunbar was the fact that he had been the last person seen in company with the dead man, and the discrepancy36 between his assertion and that of the verger respecting the time during which he had been absent from the cathedral yard.
No magistrate37 in his senses would commit the Anglo–Indian for trial upon such evidence as this.
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proceedings
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| n.进程，过程，议程；诉讼(程序)；公报 | |
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elicited
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| 引出，探出( elicit的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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noose
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| n.绳套，绞索（刑）；v.用套索捉；使落入圈套；处以绞刑 | |
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drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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tightening
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| 上紧，固定，紧密 | |
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stifled
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| （使）窒息， （使）窒闷( stifle的过去式和过去分词 )； 镇压，遏制； 堵 | |
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constables
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| n.警察( constable的名词复数 ) | |
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spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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aisle
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| n.（教堂、教室、戏院等里的）过道，通道 | |
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perspiration
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| n.汗水；出汗 | |
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beads
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| n.（空心）小珠子( bead的名词复数 )；水珠；珠子项链 | |
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agitation
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| n.搅动；搅拌；鼓动，煽动 | |
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momentary
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| adj.片刻的，瞬息的；短暂的 | |
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betokened
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| v.预示，表示( betoken的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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vigour
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| （=vigor）n.智力，体力，精力 | |
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impaired
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| adj.受损的；出毛病的；有（身体或智力）缺陷的v.损害，削弱( impair的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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grove
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| n.林子，小树林，园林 | |
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pedestrians
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| n.步行者( pedestrian的名词复数 ) | |
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twilight
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| n.暮光，黄昏；暮年，晚期，衰落时期 | |
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anguish
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| n.(尤指心灵上的)极度痛苦，烦恼 | |
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shrieks
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| n.尖叫声( shriek的名词复数 )v.尖叫( shriek的第三人称单数 ) | |
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deposed
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| v.罢免( depose的过去式和过去分词 )；（在法庭上）宣誓作证 | |
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peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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adjourned
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| （使）休会， （使）休庭( adjourn的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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justify
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| vt.证明…正当(或有理)，为…辩护 | |
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detention
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| n.滞留，停留；拘留，扣留；(教育)留下 | |
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bail
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| v.舀（水），保释；n.保证金，保释，保释人 | |
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fabulous
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| adj.极好的；极为巨大的；寓言中的，传说中的 | |
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obstinate
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| adj.顽固的，倔强的，不易屈服的，较难治愈的 | |
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imputed
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| v.把（错误等）归咎于( impute的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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innocence
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| n.无罪；天真；无害 | |
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33
remains
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| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
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paralysis
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| n.麻痹(症)；瘫痪(症) | |
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35
implicate
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| vt.使牵连其中，涉嫌 | |
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36
discrepancy
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| n.不同；不符；差异；矛盾 | |
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magistrate
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| n.地方行政官，地方法官，治安官 | |
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