Golding: You have heard the police evidence. A container half-full of cyanide-of-potassium has been found in your shrubbery. You have heard the local chemist depose that he sold cyanide-of-potassium to the previous tenant of your house, who used it to exterminate wasps. The container, Exhibit One, is very clearly, even dramatically labelled. There it is. You see it there, don’t you? On the clerk’s desk?
Miss Freebody: For the first time.
Golding: What! You have never seen it before! Be careful, Miss Freebody. The chemist has identified the container and has told the court that he advised the purchaser to keep it in a conspicuous place. Had you never seen it in your garden shed?
Miss Freebody: My gardener saw that one.
Golding: Oh. The gardener saw it, did he? And reported it to you?
Miss Freebody: Yes. And I told him to get rid of it. So he did.
Golding: When was this?
Miss Freebody: Soon after I came. Five years ago.
Golding: Indeed. How did the gardener in fact “get rid of it,” as you claim?
Miss Freebody: I have no idea.
Golding: You have no idea! Is the gardener going to give evidence on your behalf?
Miss Freebody: Can’t. He’s dead.
(Somebody laughs. Defense Counsel grins.)
Usher: Silence in court.
Golding: And how do you account for its being discovered in your shrubbery in a perfectly clean condition three days after the dog was poisoned?
Miss Freebody: I repeat, the one in the shed had been destroyed. This was another one. Thrown there, of course, over the hedge.
Golding: We are to suppose, are we, that an unknown poisoner brought a second jar of cyanide with him or her, although he or she had already prepared the liver and wrapped it. Why on earth should anyone do that?
Miss Freebody: To incriminate me. Obviously.
Golding (irritated): Once more into the realms of fantasy! I put it to you that no shadow of a motive and no jot of evidence can be found to support such a theory.
Miss Freebody: Oh yes, it can. It can.
Golding: It can! Perhaps you will be good enough to explain—
Judge: Mr. Golding, you have very properly attempted to confine the witness to statements of fact. Are you now inviting her to expound a theory?
Golding: My lord, the accused, so far as one can follow her, appears to be advancing in her own defense a counter-accusation.
Judge: Mr. O’Connor, have you anything to say on this point?
O’Connor (rising): Yes, my lord, I have. I must say again at once, my lord, that I have received no instructions as to the positive identity of the person my client apparently believes — most ardently believes—to have — may I say “planted”? — the half-empty container of cyanide on her property. My instructions were simply that she herself is innocent and therefore the container must in fact have been planted. As a result of the way the evidence has developed, I’d be obliged for a short adjournment to see whether there are further enquiries that should be made.
(O’Connor sits. Golding rises.)
Golding: My lord, I submit that the antics, if I may so call them, of the accused in the witness box are completely irrelevant. If there were one jot of substance in this rigmarole, why on earth did she not advance it in the first instance?
Miss Freebody: And I can tell you why. It’s because I’ve only now realized it—in this court. It’s been borne in upon me. (She points at Mrs. Ecclestone and Dr. Swale) Seeing those two together. Watching them. Hearing them! Knowing! Remembering! They’re would-be murderers. That’s what they are.
Judge: Be quiet, madam. I warn you that you do your own cause a great deal of harm by your extravagant and most improper behavior. For the last time, I order you to confine yourself to answering directly questions put by learned counsel. You may not, as you constantly have done, interrupt the proceedings and you may not, without permission, address the court. If you persist in doing so you will be held in contempt. Do you understand me?
(She makes no response.)
Judge: Mr. O’Connor, am I to understand that in view of the manner in which this case has developed and the introduction of elements—unanticipated, as you assure us, in your instructions—you would wish me to adjourn?
O’Connor: If your Lordship will.
Judge: Mr. Golding?
Golding: I have no objection, my lord.
Judge: Does an adjournment until ten o’clock tomorrow morning seem appropriate?
O’Connor: Certainly, my lord.
Judge: Very well. (Generally) The court is adjourned until ten o’clock tomorrow morning. (He rises.)
(The Judge goes out. Counsel gather up their papers and confer with their solicitor representatives. The accused is removed. The witnesses stand, and the Clerk issues instructions as to re-assembly. Major Ecclestone confronts his wife and Dr. Swale. There is a momentary pause before she lifts her chin and goes out. The men remain face-to face for a second or two, and then Dr. Swale follows and overtakes her in the doorway.)
(The court reassembles at 10:00 the next morning.)
(The Judge enters and takes his seat)
Judge: Members of the jury, I am sure you apprehend the reasons for an adjournment in this, in many ways, somewhat eccentric case. I’m sorry if the delay has caused you inconvenience. Before we go on I would like to remind you that you are where you are for one purpose only: to decide whether accused, Mary Emmaline Freebody, is guilty of the attempted murder of Major Ecclestone. You are not concerned with anything that may have emerged outside the provenance of this charge unless it bears on the single question—the guilt or innocence of the accused.
(The accused is in the witness box. The Ecclestones and Dr. Swale now sit apart from each other, separated by Tidwell and the local chemist. They are shaken and anxious. They look straight in front of them. The Major keeps darting glances at them. He withdraws a small plastic case from his pocket. He extracts a capsule and swallows it)
Judge: Mr. Golding, you may now wish to continue your cross-examination.
Golding: I have no further questions, my lord.
Judge: Very well. Mr. O’Connor, do you wish to re-examine the defendant, and may I say, Mr. O’Connor, that I trust there will be no repetition of yesterday’s irregularities.
O’Connor (rising): My lord, I sincerely hope not. I have no further questions to put to the defendant.
Judge: You may go back to the dock, Miss Freebody.
(The Wardress puts an arm on Miss Freebody who glares at her. Miss Freebody returns to the dock. Prosecution Counsel rises.)
Golding: My lord, I must inform your Lordship that Major Ecclestone has waited upon me and has expressed a desire to amend some of his former evidence, and has asked me to put his request before your Lordship.
Judge: Did you anticipate anything of this sort, Mr. Golding?
Golding: Not I, my lord.
Judge (after a long pause): Very well.
Golding: I recall Major Basil Ecclestone.
(There is a general stir as the Major goes back to the box. His manner is greatly changed. His animosity is now directed against Dr. Swale.)