A. “Yes, sir.”
Q. “Then you did see him more than once in the country.”
A. “Once.”
He read the extract again as above.
Q. “Was that true?”
A. “Yes.”
Q. “Then you invited this man to tea at Miss Gilchrist’s summer house?”
A. “Yes.”
Q. “On Saturday night?”
A. “Yes.”
Q. “And on Sunday night?”
A. “He wasn’t there.”
Q. “On Sunday you invited him there to dinner with Miss Gilchrist and yourself, didn’t you?”
A. “No, sir. I didn’t invite him.”
Q. “Who invited him?”
A. “Miss Gilchrist.”
Q. “Had you introduced him?”
A. “Yes, sir.”
Q. “He was your friend, wasn’t he?”
A. “Yes, sir.”
Q. “She knew nothing about him?”
A. “No.”
Q. “She took him to the house on your recommendation?”
A. “Yes.”
Q. “Did she wear her diamonds at this dinner party?”
A. “I don’t remember.”
Q. “You told him that she was a rich woman?”
A. “Yes.”
Q. “Did you tell him that she had a great many jewels?”
A. “Yes.”
Q. “Have your suspicions ever turned towards this man?”
A. “Never.”
Q. “Do you know of any other man who would be as familiar with those premises, the wealth of the old lady, her jewelry, and the way to get into the premises as that man?”
A. “No, sir.”
Q. “Was the man you met in the hallway this man?”
A. “No, sir.”
This is a condensation of a very interesting and searching piece of the cross-examination which reveals several things. One is Lambie’s qualities as a witness. Another is the very curious picture of the old lady, the book-maker and the servant-maid all sitting at dinner together. The last and most important is the fact, that a knowledge of the jewels had got out. Against the man himself there is no possible allegation. The matter was looked into by the police, and their conclusions were absolute, and were shared by those responsible for the defence. But is it to be believed that during the months which elapsed between this man acquiring this curious knowledge, and the actual crime, never once chanced to repeat to any friend, who in turn repeated it to another, the strange story of the lonely old woman and her hoard? This he would do in full innocence. It was a most natural thing to do. But, for almost the firsttime in the case we seem to catch some glimpse of the relation between possible cause and effect, some connection between the dead woman on one side, and outsiders on the other who had the means of knowing something of her remarkable situation.
There is just one other piece of Lambie’s cross-examination, this time from the Edinburgh trial, which I would desire to quote. It did not appear in America, just as the American extract already given did not appear in Edinburgh. For the first time they come out together:
Q. “Did Miss Gilchrist use to have a dog?”
A. “Yes, an Irish terrier.”
Q. “What happened to it?”
A. “It got poisoned.”
Q. “When was it poisoned?”
A. “I think on the 7th or 8th of September.”
Q. “Was that thought to be done by someone?”
A. “I did not think it, for I thought it might have eaten something, but Miss Gilchristthought it was poisoned by someone.”
Q. “To kill the watch-dog—was that the idea?”
A. “She did not say.”
The reader should be reminded that Slater did not arrive in Glasgow until the end of October of that year. His previous residences in the town were as far back as 1901 and 1905. If the dog were indeed poisoned in anticipation of the crime, he, at least, could have had nothing to do with it.
There is one other piece of evidence which may, or may not have been of importance. It is that of Miss Brown, the schoolmistress. This lady was in court, but seems to have been called by neither side for the reason that her evidence was helpful to neither the prosecution nor the defence. She deposed that on the night of the murder, about ten minutes past seven, she saw two men running away from the scene. One of these men closely corresponded to the original description of the murderer before it was modified by Barrowman. This one was of medium build, dark hair and clean-shaven, with three-quarter length greyovercoat, dark tweed cap, and both hands in his pockets. Here we have the actual assassin described to the life, and had Miss Brown declared that this man was the prisoner, she would have been a formidable addition to the witnesses for prosecution. Miss Brown, however identified Oscar Slater (after the usual absurd fashion of such identifications) as the second man, whom she describes, as of “Dark glossy hair, navy blue overcoat with velvet collar, dark trousers, black boots, something in his hand which seemed clumsier than a walking stick.” One would imagine that this object in his hand would naturally be his hat, since she describes the man as bare-headed. All that can be said of this incident is that if the second man was Slater, then he certainly was not the actual murderer whose dress corresponds closely to the first, and in no particular to the second. To the Northern eye, all swarthy foreigners bear a resemblance, and that there was a swarthy man, whether foreign or not, concerned in this affair would seem to be beyond question. That thereshould have been two confederates, one of whom had planned the crime while the other carried it out, is a perfectly feasible supposition. Miss Brown’s story does not necessarily contradict that of Barrowman, as one would imagine that the second man would join the murderer at some little distance from the scene of the crime. However, as there was no cross-examination upon the story, it is difficult to know what weight to attach to it.
Let me say in conclusion that I have had no desire in anything said in this argument, to hurt the feelings or usurp the functions of anyone, whether of the police or the criminal court, who had to do with the case. It is difficult to discuss matters from a detached point of view without giving offence. I am well aware that it is easier to theorise at a distance than to work a case out in practice whether as detective or as counsel. I leave the matter now with the hope that, even after many days, some sudden flash may be sent which will throw a light upon as brutal and callous a crime as has ever been recorded in those black annals in which the criminologist findsthe materials for his study. Meanwhile it is on the conscience of the authorities, and in the last resort on that of the community that this verdict obtained under the circumstances which I have indicated, shall now be reconsidered.
Arthur Conan Doyle.
Windlesham,Crowborough.