The Judas Window

'And at breakfast next mornin', how many letters did he get?'

'Just that one, with Mary's writing.'

'Uh-huh. Consequently, if he heard anything against the accused, he might have heard it from his own daughter?'

There was a slight stir. Sir Walter Storm made as if to rise; but instead fell to conferring with Huntley Lawton.

'Well, I - I don't know. How can I?'

'Still, it definitely was after readin' that letter that he seemed to show his first tearin' antagonism towards the accused, wasn't it?'

‘Yes.'

'The whole thing seemed to start then and there?'

'From what I saw of it, I thought so.'

'Yes. Now, ma'am, suppose I told you that in that letter there wasn't one word about the accused except the fact that he was comin' to town?'

The witness touched her glasses. ‘I don't know what I am supposed to answer.'

'Because I do tell you that, ma'am. We've got that letter right here, and at the proper time we're goin' to produce it. So if I tell you there's nothin' in it about the accused except the bare fact that he meant to come to town, does it alter your view of Mr Hume's conduct?'

Without waiting for a reply H.M. sat down.

He left a much-puzzled court. He had not upset, or tried to upset, one thing in the witness's story; but he left a feeling that there was something in the wind. I expected Mr Lawton to re-examine; but it was Sir Walter Storm who rose.

'Call Herbert William Dyer.'

Miss Jordan left the box, and Dyer stepped gravely into it. It was evident from the first that he would make a good and convincing witness, as he did. Dyer was a quiet man in the late fifties, his head covered with close-cut greyish hair, his manner attentive. As though making concessions both to private life and to his employment, he wore a short black coat and striped trousers: instead of a wing collar, he had an ordinary stiff one with a dark tie. The man oozed respectability, without doing so offensively. As he passed between the jury-box and the solicitors' table, I noticed that he made a grave sign of recognition which was neither a bow nor a nod to a light-haired young man who was sitting at the table. Dyer took the oath in a quite audible voice. He stood with his chin a little tilted up, his hands hanging down easily at his sides.

Sir Walter Storm's heavy voice contrasted with the sharp and pushing tones of Huntley Lawton.

'Your name is Herbert William Dyer, and you were for five and a half years in the service of Mr Hume?'

'Yes, sir.'

'Before that I understand that you were for eleven years in the employ of the late Lord Senlac, and at his death you were left a legacy for faithful service?'

'That is so, sir.'

'During the war you served with the 14th Middlesex Rifles, and were awarded the D.C.M. in 1917?' 'Yes, sir.'

First of all he corroborated Miss Jordan's story about the telephone-call to the accused. There was, he explained, a telephone extension under the stairs at the rear of the hallway. He had been instructed to ring up the Pyrenees Garage to enquire about some repairs that were being done to Mr Hume's car, and to make sure the car would be ready for use that evening. At about one-thirty he went to the telephone, and heard the deceased speaking on the other wire. The deceased had asked for Regent 0055, had asked to speak to the prisoner, and a voice which Dyer could identify as the prisoner's replied: "This is he speaking." Making sure that the connection was established, Dyer had then replaced the receiver and gone down in the direction of the drawing-room. Passing the door, he had heard the rest of the conversation described by the first witness. He had also overheard the unfortunate soliloquy.

'When did Mr Hume next refer to this subject?'

'Almost as soon as he had finished telephoning. I went into the drawing-room, and he said: "I am expecting a visitor at six o'clock this evening. He may give some trouble, for he is not to be trusted."'

'What did you say to this?'

‘I said: "Yes, sir."'

'And when was the next occasion on which you heard of it?'

'At about five-fifteen, or it may have been a few minutes later. Mr Hume called me into the study.' 'Describe what happened.'

'He was sitting at his desk, with a chess-board and pieces in front of him, working out a chess-problem. Without looking up from the board he told me to close and lock the shutters. I must have expressed surprise, without meaning to do so. He moved a piece on the board and replied: "Do as I tell you; do you think I want Fleming to see that young fool making trouble?"'

'Was it his custom to explain to you the reasons for his orders?'

'Never, sir,' answered the witness emphatically.

'I understand that the windows of Mr Randolph Fleming's dining-room face those of the study across a paved passage between the two houses?'

'That is. so.'

The Attorney-General made a sign. From under the witness-box there was produced the first of the two curious exhibits: the steel shutters themselves, fastened to the inside of a dummy window-frame with a sash window. Some excited whispering greeted them. They were constructed after the French style, like two small folding doors, except that there were no slits or openings in them; and across the centre ran a Bat steel bar with a handle. They were hoisted up for the inspection of the witness and the jury.

'We have here,' continued Sir Walter Storm imperturbably, 'the pair of shutters from the window marked A in the plan. They were set up by Inspector Mottram under the direction of Mr Dent of Messrs Dent & Sons, Cheapside, who fitted them to the windows originally. Will you tell me if that is one of the pairs of shutters you locked on Saturday evening?'

Dyer inspected the exhibit carefully, and took his time.

'Yes, sir, it is.'

'Will you now lock the shutters as you did on Saturday evening?

The bar, which was a little stiff, snapped into its socket with a bump and clang which had a grisly effect in that legal schoolroom. Dyer dusted his hands. More than a window was locked away with the movement of that bar. Behind us the girl in the leopard-skin coat whispered conversationally:

'I say; they draw a bolt, don't they, when the trap goes down on the gallows?'

Dyer pulled back the bar, satisfied. He dusted his hands again.

'Outside these shutters, I believe,' the Attorney-General went on, 'there were two sash-windows?' 'There were.'

'Were these also locked on the inside?' 'Yes, sir.'

'Very well. Now tell my lord and the jury what occurred after you had locked the shutters.'

'I went round to see that the room was in order.'

'At this time did you observe on the wall over the mantelpiece the three arrows which were accustomed to hang there?'

'I did.'

'Did the deceased say anything to you at this time?'

'Yes, sir. He asked me, still without looking up from the chess-board, whether we had enough drink on hand. I saw that there was a full decanter of whisky on the sideboard, a syphon of soda-water, and four glasses.'

'Look at this decanter here, and tell me whether it is the same one you saw on the sideboard at about five-fifteen on Saturday evening?'

'It is the same one,' answered the witness. 'I bought it myself, at Mr Hume's order, from Hartley's in Regent Street. I believe it is a very expensive cut-glass decanter.'

'Did he say anything else to you at this time?'

'He remarked that he was expecting Mr Fleming there that night to play chess, and that we must always have a suitable amount to drink ready when Mr Fleming came. I understood him to be speaking in the way of a joke.'

'At ten minutes past six, then, you let the prisoner in at the front door?'

Dyer's account of this substantiated the first witness's. Then it grew dangerous.

'I took the prisoner to Mr Hume's study. They did not shake hands. Mr Hume said to me: "That is all; you may go; go and see whether the car is ready." I went out and closed the door. At that time Mr Hume was sitting behind his desk, and the prisoner in a chair in front of it I do not remember hearing anyone bolt the door after I had gone out I was not exactly alarmed, but I was uneasy. Finally I went back and listened.'