Free The Cretingham Murder by Sheila Hardy

did, sir.
    Juby : Always?
    Bilney : Yes, sir.
    Juby : Anybody else?
    Bilney : No, sir.
    Juby : Nobody else went into the room?
    Bilney : No, sir. I used to take his hot water every morning.
    Juby : Every morning?
    Bilney : Ever since I have been there.
    Juby : If anyone said you didn’t, that would be wrong?
    Bilney : Yes: if so it had been when I was holidaymaking.
    Juby : Mrs Farley didn’t take it?
    Bilney : I don’t know who took it.
    Juby : Did you never know Mrs Farley go into his room?
    Bilney : What do you mean?
    Juby : Have you ever known Mrs Farley go into his room?
    Bilney : Oh, yes.
    Juby : Before he got up?
    Bilney : Yes.
    Juby : Repeatedly?
    Bilney : (after some hesitation)Yes.
    Juby : And she used to spend some little time in the room, didn’t she?
    Bilney : No, only a few minutes.
    Juby : If anyone else says she used to spend a lot of time in his room that would be wrong?
    Bilney : What do you mean by a long time?
    Juby :A quarter of an hour or so?
    Bilney : No.
    Coroner : Have you seen her go into his room?
    Bilney : I have not.
    Juby : You know Annie Eadie who lived there?
    Bilney : Yes.
    Juby : Mary Friend was gone when you went?
    Bilney : Yes.
    Juby : Annie Eadie used to talk to you about Mrs Farley being in Mr Cooper’s room, didn’t she?
    Bilney : Yes, she has told me Mrs Farley had been in the room; that is all I know.
    Juby, having finally brought into the open the rumours that Harriet Louisa had, at one time, been in the habit of visiting Arthur in his bedroom, was now prepared to leave the matter. The jury then requested that William Emmerson be called. This caused the coroner some concern, as the man had not been previously examined about the case. The interchange which followed, with Juby again making a stand, raised interesting legal points.
    Emmerson, having related the events of Saturday in which he had been involved, went on to describe what had occurred when he went to the vicarage early on Sunday morning: ‘I saw a policeman and asked him if I could see Mr Cooper. He said “Yes”. I went upstairs and saw him in his room. I said “Good morning,” and he nodded. I said, “Sir, it is a sad affair that has happened.” He said “Yes, it is, very.” I asked him whether he had any cause for what he had done?’
    The coroner questioned if this could be entered as evidence as it was not certain if Arthur had at that stage been cautioned. However, Juby, referring to the newspaper account he had read, said that Emmerson had asked Arthur how long he had thought about committing the deed and been given the answer, ‘I thought of it yesterday’. Juby again crossed swords with the coroner who wished to disallow Emmerson’s hearsay evidence.
    Before summing up, the coroner asked Arthur if he had anything he wished to say and was given the answer, ‘No, I don’t think I have any observations to make.’ The coroner then addressed the jury thus:
    I don’t think I shall detain you very long in this case. The most material evidence is that of Mrs Farley. It seems that the prisoner was seen by Mrs Farley to go into the room of the deceased with a candle in one hand, and she knows not what in the other. He had been there but a short time when the deceased appears to have called out that his throat was cut. Whether that statement was made in the hearing of the prisoner or not Mrs Farley cannot possibly say, but at any rate the deceased’s throat was cut, and a razor was found in the prisoner’s bedroom under the looking glass, hid up, apparently with blood upon it.A small quantity of blood was also seen on his clothes. I don’t see that there is anything to connect any other person with the act, and I must leave it with you to say whether or not the prisoner is guilty of the crime of wilful murder.
    Contrary to what happens in a normal courtroom, the jury did not leave to consider their verdict. Presumably this was because there was no other place suitable to which to adjourn. So they stayed