When the constable had concluded. Sir John banged down his gavel at last and called the court to order.
“Mr. Fuller,” said he, “remain where you are, if you will, for I expect I shall have some questions as I consider the matter of each of the prisoners you have brought me.” A pause, then: “Prisoners, stand before me.”
The five rose raggedly, and no doubt with some discomfort, for they were still attached at the neck, each to the other, with Mr. Fuller’s double-length of stout rope; the first and fifth of them wore hand-irons.
“First of all, you must identify yourselves for Mr. Mars-den’s record of these proceedings.”
That they did — as Albert Palgrave, Ezekiel Satterthwait, Thomas Cobum, Lemuel Tinker, and Edward Tribble. Mr. Marsden had a bit of difficulty with the second name; he asked Mr. Satterthwait to spell it, which the prisoner could not. The court clerk made do.
“Now, each of you,” said Sir John, “has behaved shamefully. There can be no doubt of that. Or would any one of you care to take serious issue with the account you have just heard from Constable Fuller? This is your opportunity to speak in your own behalf, if indeed anything can be said. I advise you to speak now.”
There was the briefest silence. Then did all five men begin talking at once.
Sir John gaveled them to silence.
“And so you all have something to say? Well enough, I shall hear you one at a time — Mr. Palgrave first. Sir?”
“Well, I fail to see why I am here at all,” said he. “I was not even informed of the charge against me when I was brought here so rude. It’s true I discovered the body of that trollop, but — ”
“And did you then send word of your discovery to Bow Street?”
“Nooo, but — ”
“No, you did not. Mr. Fuller has informed me that word was brought him by a boy of the court who knew the deceased and had come on his own. So there, sir, if you want a charge, by failing to report the murder of your tenant, you impeded the inquiry into her death. But that, I would say, was only the beginning of your sins. Did you, or did you not, charge a shilling each to all those who wished to view her corpus?”
Mr. Palgrave’s response was drowned in the shouts of the four who stood beside him. They made vigorous assurances to Sir John that indeed Palgrave had admitted them for payment of a shilling. “There was some in before us,” shouted one of the prisoners, perhaps Satterthwait. “He made a pretty penny off her.”
“Is that so?” said Sir John. “How many paid to look upon the corpus? How many shillings did you earn from this bizarre enterprise?”
“Not a great many — well, ten altogether. But as I told you earlier, this whore, Tribble, was behind on her rent to the amount of seven shillings. I felt it was my right, as landlord, to recompense myself as I saw fit. And since I was owner of the dwelling — of the entire court — I had the right to admit whomever I pleased.”
“Mr. Palgrave, something interests me. You have referred to Mistress — or perhaps Mrs. — Tribble by epithets indicating you thought her to be engaged in prostitution. Or perhaps you meant them loosely, only to indicate that she was a woman of loose morals, a woman of low degree?”
“No, by God, she was a proper whore!”
“You’re certain of that?”
“Course I am! I saw her bring her men in her room all hours of the day and night. I spied on them a few times, too. Once I even saw money changing hands. If that doesn’t say she’s a whore, I don’t know what does! Everyone knew what she was.”
“And yet you allowed her to continue paying rent and occupy a room in the court?”
“What of it?” said Mr. Palgrave defensively. “A man’s got to get income from his property. It wasn’t till later she fell behind in her rent. She was quite regular the first year.”
“Why then,” declared Sir John, “we have another charge against you, sir. You were running a bawdy house, knowingly giving over your premises for the purpose of prostitution and sharing in the proceeds. But let us go on. Tell me, when you first looked upon the body of that woman this morning, how did you find her? In what condition?”
“Why, dead, of course.”
“You miss my point. Was she sitting or lying? Clothed or unclothed?”
“Well, then, her body was on the bed, and she was unclothed, though at first look, what I thought to be a covering of some sort turned out to be a great hole dug in her middle.”
“And you took a shilling each from these men and others so that they might view this sight?”
“Yes.”
“Since you admit to that, I now charge you with offering to the public a lewd and obscene show and taking money for admission to said show.”
Albert Palgrave sputtered for a moment, trying to find words suitable for a denial. “It was no show,” said he, having recovered himself. “It was more of an exhibition — like — scientifical and not for entertainment.”
“She was naked, was she not? And obscenely hacked open? No, Mr. Palgrave, I reject your argument. The charge stands, and I find you guilty on it and sentence you to ninety days in the Fleet Prison.”
“The Fleet? I am no debtor, no bankrupt!”
“You may be by the time you emerge, for I am not done with you yet. I further find you guilty of knowingly running a bawdy house and receiving the proceeds of prostitution, and for that I sentence you to sixty days in the Fleet, and finally, in the matter of impeding an inquiry into the death of Mistress Tribble, I also find you guilty and sentence you to thirty days in the Fleet. Sentences to run consecutively — six months in all. And if you wish to add to your sentence, you will continue to argue against me, so I may find you guilty of contempt.”
Mr. Palgrave, shocked into silence, bit his tongue. And Sir John, satisfied that he had dealt his last with him, slammed down his gavel, indicating that the matter was done.
“And now, let us deal with Edward Tribble. We have heard Constable Fuller declare that this man, who claims to be the victim’s husband, was offering parts of her body for sale, as ‘souvenirs.’ Mr. Fuller, how came you by this information? What was seen and what was heard by you?”
The constable stroked his chin in thought. “Well, sir,” said he after a bit, “when I come into the murder room, there was three men between me and that fellow Tribble, so I was not recognized as a constable right off. I said nothing for a spell, so shocked was I by the condition of the victim I could scarce believe my eyes. Yet I become aware there was dealing going on between Tribble and that one, I believe he gave his name as Lemuel Tinker. They seemed to me to be haggling over the price of something. I, bein’ taller than the rest, got myself into a spot where I might have a better view of what was goin’ on. And I saw Tribble holding out to him something smallish and all covered with blood. Tinker asks him, ‘What part of her is it?’ and Tribble replies, ‘I know naught of inwards, but for three shillings, what does it matter?’ ‘If I’m to buy it,’ says the other, ‘then I should know what to call it.’ At that moment, realizing what they were about, I drew sword and pistol and arrested the lot of them.”
“So you did not actually see the purchase made, the money change hands, or the body part given over, even for inspection?”
“No, sir, I did not. I’d never seen the like, or even heard of such a thing, and I wished to put an end to it at that moment.”
Sir John nodded approvingly. “I’m sure,” said he, “that I, in your place, would have done the same. But now, Mr. Tribble, it is time for you to speak. Do you accept the constable’s account?”