“But you didn’t see a knife?”
“No, sir. But the fellow pointed to a bloodyspike on the fence and said somethin’ to me in a gibberish I didn’tunderstand but I took to mean the lady’d fallen on the fence.”
“Did you arrest the man on the spot?”
“I didn’t right away. I blew my whistle ferhelp, and when Mr. Cardiff and his servants came out of the house,I sent one of them to fetch the Chief and the coroner. I told thefellow to sit on the porch and wait.”
“Did he say anything else?”
“I said, ‘I think you killed this woman.’ Shewas certainly dead, with her eyes open and seein’ nothin’. And hekept on talkin’ gibberish, like a crazy man. ‘Speak English,’ Itold him. And he seemed to calm down then and by golly hecould speak English. He started to tell me some cock andbull story about – ”
“We don’t need to hear his cock and bullstory, sir. But there is no doubt in your mind that this fellow wasguilty of throwing acid in Mrs. Cardiff-Jones’s face andconsequently causing her death?”
Wilkie blinked at the excessive length of thequestion and said, “None whatsoever. He had the vial in his hand.She’d scratched his face tryin’ to protect herself, and he wasstill hunched over the body.”
“Making sure she was dead?”
“Milord!” Marc cried, jumping to hisfeet.
“That was uncalled for, Mr. McBride,” saidthe judge.
McBride apologized, smirked over at Marc, andsat down. “I have no more questions, Milord.”
“Mr. Edwards?”
Marc looked across at Constable Wilkie, a manhe had known for five years as a plodding but honest patrolman. Herealized that he had a formidable challenge ahead of him. Hisclient had been found by a policeman bending over a recently killedwoman with one of the instruments of her demise in his righthand.
“Constable Wilkie, I am interested in myclient’s demeanour when you accosted him that evening. You said helooked scared.”
“Yes. I figured he was quite startled to seea policeman come up to him just a few moments after he’d killed thelady.”
“We don’t know that the defendant killed thelady, Constable. That is for the jury to decide,” Marc said evenly.“After his startled look, did the defendant try to flee? Did heeven get up?”
Wilkie looked puzzled. “Well, no. He justpointed at the lady and the bloody spike and spouted somegibberish.”
“Could this gibberish have been French? Mr.Gagnon, the defendant, is French-Canadian.”
“Could’ve been. Beats me.”
“Didn’t you find it strange that thedefendant did not try to run away, but rather appeared to be tryingto explain something to you in his mother tongue?”
“But I had him by rights, didn’t I?” Wilkiesaid proudly.
“You asked him to sit on the porch andwait?”
“I did, and he did as he was told.”
“Could he not have run away while you weredealing with Mr. Cardiff and his servants, who had come out to seewhat the fuss was about?”
“Well, I suppose he could’ve.”
“I suggest to you that the defendant’sbehaviour was not that of a guilty man.”
“But he had the vial in his hand.”
“Could he not have picked it up out ofcuriosity to see what had caused the wound to the victim’sface?”
“I suppose so.”
“Did you find a glove near the body by anychance?”
Marc’s abrupt shift caught Wilkie bysurprise. He blinked and glanced over at McBride.
“I did find a glove, yes,” Wilkie said.
“You didn’t mention this in answer to Mr.McBride’s questions.”
“He didn’t ask me about it?”
McBride was on his feet, his jowls wobbling.“Milord, Mr. Edwards is getting at facts not in evidence.”
“Mr. Edwards?” said the judge.
“Milord, Mr. McBride asked the constable todescribe what he saw exactly as he came upon the scene. The gloveshould have been mentioned in response to that question.”
“I agree,” said the judge. “Proceed, Mr.Edwards.”
“Did you assume the glove had been dropped bythe assailant?” Marc asked.
“Milord,” McBride said, “the question callsfor speculation.”
“The constable may answer truthfully what hethought at the time,” said the judge.
“Mr. Wilkie?” said Marc.
“I thought that, yes. The glove had blood onit.”
“Blood from the victim?”
“It was fresh blood.”
“Did you subsequently try the glove on thedefendant to see if it fit?”
Wilkie gulped, looked helplessly at McBride,and said, “I did. At the police quarters.”
“Did it fit?”
“No, sir. It was too small.”
“So it didn’t belong to the defendant?”
“No, sir.”
“So there may have been a third party at thescene, perhaps there before the defendant, perhaps the realkiller?”
“Milord!”
“Go easy, Mr. Edwards. You can sum up later,”said the judge.
“Now, Constable Wilkie, I want to get to thisstory you said the defendant told you – ”
McBride was on his feet so quickly his jowlswaddled. “That story was not explored on direct, Milord.”
“But it was introduced,” the judgesaid. “Continue, Mr. Edwards.”
“You said it was a cock and bull story. Howso?”
“Well, Mr. Gagnon begun speakin’ English, andhe said he’d seen the murder happen. He’d been walkin’ towardsRosewood, expectin’ to talk with Mr. Cardiff about the election,when he saw a man throw somethin’ liquid in a woman’s face justoutside the fence at Rosewood.”
“And what did he do then?”
“He said he shouted and run towards them. Theman dropped the vial in his hand and run off around the east sideof Rosewood. He said he heard the lady moan and bent over her tosee what was the matter with her. She scratched him and collapsed.He said he just picked up the vial to see what had caused theterrible wound on her face when I come along. He said he didn’tcause the lady’s death.”
“But you didn’t believe this story?”
“No sir. It sounded far-fetched to me. It washim with the vial and scratch on his face.”
And, thought Marc, if he couldn’t come upwith a viable third party those two facts alone could convict hisclient. But at least he had got Gagnon’s own defense out in opencourt. McBride’s witness had accidentally allowed the defendant, asit were, to testify on his own behalf, a practice strictlyforbidden in English law.
“You didn’t try to pursue this other man?”said Marc.
“No, sir. I didn’t believe there wasone.”
“Did the accused describe this other man?This third party?”
“He said he was short and slight. He wore anovercoat and a hat. That’s all.”
“And most likely left one of his bloodygloves at the scene?”
Wilkie blinked, but said nothing.
“I have no more questions,” Marc said.
“Mr. McBride, redirect?”
“Yes, Milord,” said McBride. “Constable,about this glove. At first you assumed it had been dropped there bythe accused?”
“That’s right.”
“But when it didn’t fit, what did youconclude?”
“We decided it was just a stray glove layin’there on the walk, and some of the lady’s blood got spilled onit.”
“And the accused had no gloves on at the timeof his arrest?”
“No, sir. That’s why we thought it must’vebeen layin’ there all along.”
“Now, about this cock and bull story. Whydidn’t you believe it?”
“Well, sir, I know from my experience thatcriminals always have some story they dream up to try and escapeour clutches. And I thought since I was patollin’ from the east, Iwould’ve seen this so-called slight man runnin’ away.”
“As you know, it is because a defendant isassumed to be tempted to lie on his behalf that he is not allowedto testify in his defense. So you conclude that this was just suchtestimony?”
“I did. And I gotta believe my own eyes andears, don’t I?”
“You do indeed. No more questions,Milord.”