Delphi Complete Works of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (Illustrated) (1239 page)
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Authors: SIR ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE
COURT.
Q.
You heard somebody go out? A. Yes; and believe it was he.
Cross-examined by
MR. BEST.
Q.
Had the Youngmans lived long in your house?
A.
On 24th March they came to lodge with me — I am not much at home in the day-time — I go out in the morning and come back in the evening, calling in sometimes in the course of the day — I do not know but what Youngman and his wife lived on pretty tolerable good terms — perhaps occasionally I heard them have a word or two, but not enough for me to interfere.
COURT.
Q.
They had a word or two occasionally, but nothing particular?
A.
Nothing particular.
MR. BEST.
Q.
Did they seem to be pretty well off in the money way?
A.
Well, the man always paid me his rent, and so far I had nothing more to do with him; he paid me regularly 4s. a week — I was awoke by a lumbering noise — the noise was like a heavy fall on the floor, as if something heavy had fallen — I do not know how far the distance is from the room where I was sleeping to the landing where I saw the body of the boy; I never measured it — I cannot tell you — the floor of the second floor was not so high as this Court — I lived on the ground floor — I never measured the distance between the ground floor and this third floor where these people were living — it is about three parts of the height of this Court, I should say — when I went up to the landing the first time I saw no live person there; I did not go up on to the top of the landing, as soon as I saw the boy’s body I turned down stairs — I saw the prisoner afterwards, not at that time, some portion of the way down stairs — I cannot say much as to his being collected and composed at the time — I should not think he was very collected at that time; I did not stop long enough to make any particular observation of the man.
FREDERICK HENRY CAIGER. I am a surveyor — I made this plan of the premises.
COURT.
Q.
Is it made to a scale?
A.
It is; I have not measured any heights, but I should say that from the floor of the ground floor to the floor of the second floor was about from twenty to twenty-one feet.
MR. CLERK.
Q.
I see by the plan there is a door to each room opening on to the landing?
A.
Opening inwards to the rooms from the landing — I am speaking of the second floor — the doors are exactly opposite each other — the two doors, when closed, are 5ft. 10 1/2 in. from one another, across the landing — from that landing of 5ft. 10 1/2 in. there is a narrow landing 2ft. 6in. wide — that goes toward the head of the stairs — that goes from the landing that is between the two doors towards the head of the stairs — 2ft. 6in. is the width of each stair.
SUSANNAH BEARD. I am the wife of Philip Beard — I live with my husband at 16 Manor-place — we occupy the first floor — I have one little boy about 11 years old — I occupy the back room as a sleeping-room — the little boy slept in the same room — on the morning of Tuesday, 31st July, I should think it was nearly 6 o’clock when I awoke — a noise above my head awoke me — it was a sort of scuffling on the boards — I thought it was the children playing when I first awoke — I awoke my husband, thinking it was late — I heard a sort of lumbering as if something fell on to the boards after that; that was not till after I awoke my husband — I could not say what it sounded like, falling — it appeared to be as if something heavy had fallen on the boards — I thought it was in the bed-room; it seemed over my head — I could not say whether what I heard fall fell on the landing or in the room — my husband went to the bed-room door and went up the stairs — he then called out the “Murder!” and came down — he afterwards went up again with Mr. Bevan, the landlord — after he came down the second time I went to the door of our room and saw the prisoner on the stairs between the first and second floors — he either said, “Mr. Beard” or, “Mrs. Beard, my mother has done all this, she has murdered my sweetheart and my two little brothers, and, in seltdefence, I believe I have murdered her” — while my husband was dressing the prisoner called out from the stairs, “Mr. Beard, for God’s sake fetch a surgeon, I believe there are some alive now” — when my husband was dressed he left the house — he and I went down stairs into the lower parlour — I locked my bed-room door, and locked my child in, and we went down below to the landlord’s room, and my husband directly went for a doctor — I did not see the body of the young woman at all — I had seen a young woman come to the house on the previous day, Monday, 30th July; I think it was pretty well 11 o’clock in the morning when she came — she came with the prisoner — I saw them again about
Cross-examined
.
Q.
Had you seen this young man before that day?
A.
Oh, yes; he had been staying at the house for a short time previously — he and the young woman seemed very friendly when they were at the door together at 10 o’clock — they seemed on affectionate terms with each other — when the prisoner addressed me on the stairs, and said, “This is my mother’s doing,” he seemed very much excited — on other occasions he was generally calm and quiet in his manner.
PHILIP WILLIAM BEARD. I am a carpenter and joiner — I and my wife occupy the first floor at 16 Manor-place — I remember the prisoner coming to the house, but I cannot say exactly what time he came — I had seen him there some days before 31st July — I had seen him in the house — I remember Sunday the 29th — I had some conversation with the prisoner that day in the yard — a little conversation passed on trivial affairs, and he told me that he had been a valet and footman, but that he had left that, and was going into the farming business — he did not say why he had left it — I did not see the young woman on the Monday night — on the Tuesday morning I was awoke by my wife early; it was about 5 minutes before 6, or something like that — after she had awoke me I heard a sort of rumbling noise on the stairs, it appeared to be on the landing over me, it was like children running about, or something like that, I had heard the noise frequently before — I was on my landing — it seemed to come from the top floor above me — when I came out of my room I heard a slight scream, when I got to the foot of the stain — I went up stairs — the first thing I saw was a spot of blood on the stairs, on the fourth stair from the top, I did not notice any on any other — I went a little higher, and the first thing I saw was the little boy lying on the landing — I thought he was dead, he had his throat cut, and was lying on his back with his head towards the stairs — I then went a little higher and there saw the female lying on the landing — I did not then know who she was — I found afterwards it was Mary Streeter — she was also lying dead, a little beyond the dead body of the boy — I did not observe any other body at that time — I was alarmed, and went down, and called up Mr. Bevan, the landlord — I then went up again with him, behind him; there was no one else with us; the inspector had not come at that time — when I had called the landlord I went up stairs and began to drees — I did not go up with him then, I went up to my own bed-room, I did not go up to the second floor then, not till the inspector came — he did not come till Mr. Bevan went for him — I did not go up any more till after the police had been — I went for a surgeon — I saw a policeman at the top of Manor-place, and I sent him down — I did not see anything more of the prisoner — he called me out of my bed-room after I had began to dress, he was then on the stain — he called me and said, “Mr. Beard, my mother has done it all, she has murdered my two little brothers and my sweetheart, and, in self-defence, I believe I have murdered her” — that was all he said then — I then went into my bed-room again, and finished dressing and he begged of me to go for a surgeon.
Cross-examined
.
Q.
Did he say to you, “For God’s sake go to a surgeon’s, I think there is some of them alive now?”
A.
Yes — I was about five minutes in my room dressing myself — I dressed as speedily as I possibly could — I do not know whether my wife was present at this conversation on the stain — she was present in one instance, I believe, I did not see her — I have not known the prisoner for any time — I only just saw him backwards and forwards in the house — I never had any particular conversation with him — I was not at home most of the day — I was always out at work from
MR. CLERK.
Q.
Your wife used to be at home?
A.
Yes.
JOHN YOUNGMAN. I am the father of the prisoner — I resided on the second-floor of the house, 16, Manor-place, Wai worth — I can’t say exactly how long I had been there — my wife, Elizabeth Youngman, also lived there, and my two sons, Thomas Neale Youngman, and Charles Youngman — Thomas was eleven years of age, and Charles seven — in the month of July the prisoner came to live with me — he had before that been at service at Dr. Duncan’s; that was the last place he had lived at — he was footman there — I do not recollect on what, day it was that he came to my lodgings, but I should suppose it was about a fortnight before the 31st July — he used to sleep in the back room, the same room that I slept in — Thomas, the eldest of the two boys, slept with him in the same bed — I slept on a bed made up on the shop-board — I am a tailor, but I work away from home along with a son who lives in the neighbourhood — my wife slept in the front room and the boy Charles with her — I am frequently away from home at my work, during the day; mostly all day — I go home to dinner very frequently; not at all times — I was away from morning till night, except sometimes when I went home to dinner — on Monday, 30th July, I came home about a quarter or twenty minutes after 10 at night, as near as I can bring it to mind — I did not see the young woman, Mary Streeter, at all that night — I saw my wife before I went to bed — the prisoner went, to bed that night as usual, in the room — I should think it wanted about twenty minutes to 11, at that time — I told him when he was ready I would put the light out, and he said he was all ready, and I put the light out and went to bed directly, and he at the same time — my boy, Thomas, was in bed when I got into bed; he was in the bed with the prisoner — I awoke in the morning, I consider, somewhere about 4 o’clock; I did not know the time because I had not a clock in my room; I imagine that was the time by the appearance of the morning — at that time I saw the prisoner at the foot of his bed — it was daylight; just the break of day — he was in the act of getting into bed — I supposed he had been to look at the clock — I believe the door of the room was not closed; it generally stood open, but I did not take that notice — I usually slept with the door about an inch open — I took no notice of it then — the door of the front room was always closed at night, to the best of my knowledge — I fell asleep again — I got up at 5 o’clock that morning — it was about twenty minutes after 5 when I left my room — I expected that the clock went 6, but in lien of that it was 5 I found when I got out — the prisoner and Thomas were in bed at that time — I went to my son John’s to work — I did not go into the front room before I left; the door of that room was closed — I was afterwards fetched from my son’s — I should think it was about twenty minutes after 6 — I came back to the house — I saw the body of the young woman, Mary Streeter — she was then dead — I had seen her before, three or four times, I believe — the first time I saw her I dare say might have been two years previous — she had not been in the habit of coming to our house then — I saw her two or three times since — I saw her once or twice in July; that was at Manor-place — I do not think I saw her more than once in Manor-place — I saw her once at my son John’s, along with William, and once at Manorplace with him — the prisoner had never said anything to me about his intended marriage — I understood it was to be the case, but he never acquainted me with it — a knife was shown to me on the morning of 31st July, by Lack the constable — this (
produced
) is it — I had seen that knife before that day — I saw it in my son John’s shop — it was in the prisoner’s possession — it was then quite whole, to the best of my knowledge; not broken as it is now — the prisoner was showing it to a man who was working at my son John’s, and the man said it was not a fit knife to carry — the prisoner said anybody had a right to carry such a knife, if they thought proper, for their own protection — I should think this was about nine days or a fortnight before 31st July — I never saw him use the knife for any purpose — I never saw him show it at home to my wife; not to my recollection — as soon as I got back to the house on the morning in question, I called out, “Where is William?” he was then brought down in to the passage by the police; he was in custody — he said, “This is all mother’s doings, father” — that was all he said — to the best of my knowledge the prisoner was not possessed of any property at this time; he had no money, except what he had from service — I believe he had been in Dr. Duncan’s service for half a year — he was out of employment for some time before he went there — I cannot say for how long — it was as long as a year — I learnt so from him.
Q.
Had he ever said anything to you about insuring the life of the young woman?
A.
I had heard it talked of; I don’t think he ever said anything about it to me — I am not certain he did not; I have heard it repeated and talked of at different times — I heard it talked about at my son John’s.