Delphi Complete Works of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (Illustrated) (1252 page)

MR. SERJEANT PARRY.
Q.
Is there any pretence for suggesting that you were ever near the house after the Saturday?
A.
Not any — I know the old lady before — I had done several things for her.

ELIZABETH FUKE. I am married, and live at 17 1/2, James-street, Commercial-road, East — that house belonged to the late Mrs. Emsley — I was tenant of a house of hers at No.
14, in
that street — I know the prisoner — I remember hearing of this murder — he came to my house a few days before 13th August, to set a copper — that was, I believe, about twelve days before 13th August — when he came, he said Mrs. Elmsley was a miserable old wretch; that she sent men about to do work, but she did not always find them in materials to do it with — I asked him what he required and he said some cement — I asked him what quantity, he said, “About a peck” — I gave him the money and he went for it, and when he returned he further said that he had been at her house that morning; that she was sitting down to breakfast which he would not have sat down to himself, she would not even allow herself as much as a farthing’s worth of milk to put in her tea; she was drinking it without, but I need not take any notice of it to her; it was a great pity such a miserable old wretch should be allowed to live.

Cross-examined
.
Q.
Was that alluding to her penurious habits, and mode of life? you did not think he was going to murder her, from that?
A.
No; I believed it was in allusion to her penurious habits.

The following Witnesses were called for the Defence.

MARY MULLINS On 13th August last, I resided with my mother, at 12, Orford- street, Chelsea — my father lived at Barnsley-street at that time — two of my brothers, James and Thomas, lived at home with my mother — there was another, John, he used to be down with my father; he sometimes used to come up to mother’s — I have seen this pencil-case with my brother James, in June and July, in his possession — I do not know, where my brother James is now — he is a sailor — I saw it in June last — I have seen it several times since at my mother’s house, in August, and about a fortnight before my father was taken — I have had frequent opportunities of observing it — I have had it in my hand several times — I believe this to be the pencilcase I have seen with my brother.

Cross-examined by
MR. SERJEANT PARRY.
Q.
When did you first hear of the murder?
A.
I can’t exactly say the day of the month — it was on Saturday — I read of it in the papers — I was in a situation at 9, Sloane-terraee, Chelsea, with Mr. Gibson — I have seen Mrs. Emsley once or twice — I know that my father worked for her — I had not seen my father before I heard of the murder — I saw him on the Saturday night, that was after the murder; I was dismissed the same day by Mr. Gibson from his service; on the Monday after my father was taken — he was taken on the Sunday — it was in September that I was dismissed — I was dismissed from my situation because my master read of it in the paper — that was all — I swear that — that is all the reason I can give — he told me I had better go, as my father had been taken, as he did not like to have me in the house.

Q.
Was nothing said about removing a stone in the kitchen?
A.
Yes; I dropped a shilling there — the reason I was dismissed was not because I had been found removing a stone in the kitchen, and been supposed to be hiding something — it was after that, when I was paid my wages, when master told me to go — mistress paid me in the kitchen, and I dropped a shilling down by the side of the fire-place — there was a little girl came in, she saw me removing the stone — I told her to hold the candle while I removed it; she told my master after I had left — the removal of the stone was not the cause of my being dismissed — I found the shilling — no one was present when I found it — the little girl who held the light did not see me pick it up; she was called away — the bell rang for her to go up stairs — I did not find the shilling in anybody’s presence — I was not dismissed for removing the stone because it was supposed I was hiding something — the master, when I took the papers up in the morning, read of it in the newspapers — he did not tell me for an hour after, for one of the young ladies was ill, and he was afraid it might disturb them, so he called me out, and told me to meet him in Sloane-street; and he asked me if I had heard about my father; he said he had seen it in the newspapers, and it was very bad, and he wished me to leave — I had got the stone up before the little girl came into the kitchen — I called her to hold the candle for me — she was accidentally called away, and did not see me find the shilling; I did not tell her not to say anything about it — I did not tell her I would give her sixpence if she did not say anything about it — I can’t say exactly what time in the day it was that this stone was being removed, a little after 2 o’clock, I think — I was dismissed on the Monday after my father was taken; about 4 o’clock I think it was; between 3 and 4 o’clock — I was lifting the stone about 2 o’clock, and I was dismissed between 3 and 4 o’clock — it was after the master had told me to leave, that I was lifting the stone; I had to get my clothes and things — I last saw my brother James in July, or the beginning of August; in July I think it was — I had not seen him for some time before the murder; he did not leave home since the murder; he left some time before — I have seen this pencil-case with my brother James — I have two other brothers, John and Thomas — John used to sleep sometimes at my mother’s, sometimes down at my father’s; both of them, John and Thomas, slept sometimes in my mother’s room, and sometimes with my father — my father used to come home very seldom; only on the Saturday — he was not in the habit of sleeping with us; only on Saturday night or Sunday — my brother went down in the country, and he heard of my brother coming home from sea, and came to see him, and he remained at home till some time after my brother came home from sea — my brother came home from sea in May — in August John and Thomas were living generally with my mother — Thomas was in a situation at a green-grocer’s, in Marlborough-road, Chelsea — he was an errand-boy — he used to go there regularly every day, and slept at home — when I was out of a situation I used to sleep at home — I went to see my father on the Saturday after the murder, because I was anxious to hear about it; I was anxious to hear about Mrs. Emsley, seeing it in the papers — he did not send or come to me, I went to him, to my mother’s — I was paid 12
l.
a year by Mr. Gibson — I can’t say exactly how much it was that I received on the Monday when I was dismissed — it was not so much as a pound — it was 17s. or 18s. I am not sure which — I was only there for a short time — the slab that I was removing, was in the back kitchen, by the side of the fire-place; there was a hole by the side of the fender — Mr. Gibson’s is a large house.

THOMAS MULLINS. I live at No. 1, Rose-court, East Smithfield — I am about sixteen years old — I work at light labouring — I have once assisted my father in his trade — I have been to see him in Barnsley- street — I stayed with him there — I remember Monday, 13th August last — I was staying with him in Barnsley-street that day, at No. 33 — my brother John was staying with him besides me — I was doing nothing that day — I was at home all day — my father was out at work — I remember what time he came home that evening from his work, it was about a quarter-past 7 — he stayed in the house after that, and did not go out any more after that — he slept there — he slept in a little bed by himself, and I and my brother slept together in the same room — I got up in the morning about half-past 7 — my father, after he got up, went and water-washed the passage ceiling, and stopped the nail holes — he was at work doing that till about 12 o’clock; he then came in and had his dinner about 12, and went out about half-past 12 — I did not go with him — I do not know this boot at all — I have never seen it — I never saw my father with a boot like that — I clean my father’s boots sometimes — I know what a billy-cock hat is — I never saw my father wear one of those — one generally hears it called by that name — it is a round hat — it is the same thing as a wide-awake — he had not a brown wide-awake on the Monday evening at all, he had his hat.

Cross-examined by
MR. SERJEANT PARKY.
Q.
When did you last see your brother James?
A.
About three mouths ago from this time as near as I can judge — I perfectly remember the time of the murder; he was then at home.

Q.
When did he leave home?
A.
Oh, he was not at home; I made a mistake — I said just now that he was at home — he left home about three or four weeks before the supposed murder.

Q.
If you knew that, what made you tell me that he was at home?
A.
I bethought myself; it ran in my mind — I have been spoken to about whether my brother was at home or not at the time of the murder — it has not been very much spoken of in our family whether he was at home or not — I have heard it spoken of, because some persons asked me — I made a mistake when I said that he was at home — he never wore a wide-awake hat — there was not such a thing as a wide-awake hat in the family — he went to sea — I do not know where he is — he went in the “Mechanic” — I don’t know where for; New York — I was not in work at the time of the murder — I have worked in the Marlborough-road — I was not working there in August — I can swear I was with my father on the 13th — I was not at work at a green-grocer’s in Marlborough-road in August — Yes, I dare say I was; the very day I left I came down to my father’s.

COURT.
Q.
Were you at work in Marlborough-road at a green-grocer’s in the month of August?
A.
I do not know; I don’t recollect.

MR. SERJEANT PARRY.
Q.
Just now you said the very day you left you came down to your father’s?
A.
I came down to my father’s — it was on a Sunday morning that I left, and I came down on Monday to my father’s — I can’t answer whether I was at work at this green-grocer’s on Sunday, 12th August — I have done work since 13th August, at Mr. Pinnock’s — I have only been there one day, that is all the work I can recollect that I have done since 13th August — that is all that I have done since 13th August — I do recollect — before the 12th August I was at work at a green-grocer’s in Marlborough-road, all that part of August up to the 12th — Pinnock is the name of the green-grocer — I was also at work for him two Saturdays ago — that is all the work I have done — I had been at work for him about six months before, and I have done one job for him since — I was dismissed — I was not sent away — I left myself, of my own accord — I did not have any other situation — I was not sent away, I am quite sure — I am quite sure I left on 12th August — I did not go with my father on the 13th — I was at Barasley-street all day on 13th August — I was there about 12 o’clock in the day time — no one went with me, only myself; that was all — my brother John was down in the room in Barnsley-street — I slept at home on the Sunday night with my father, in Orford-street — that was on the Sunday night — my father was at home on the Sunday — he left home on the Monday morning about six o’clock — no one went with him — I went to Barnsley-street at 12 o’clock in the day — I did nothing there all day — I went there to see my father, and to see how he got on with his work — that was not the reason I gave up my situation — I did not shut myself in the room all day — my brother John was there when I got there — he and I were in the room all day together; at 12 o’clock we were — I went out, but I was not long out — my brother did not go with me; he stayed in — he had slept in Barnsley-street the night before, by himself — he is older than I — I did not know that from him; I knew it by myself — I was there with him — no, not the night before; I was there all the day with him, and he slept there — I know he slept there on the Sunday night, because I went home, and my brother did not sleep with me, and when I went down there on the Monday morning he was there — I slept with my mother in Orford-street on the Sunday night — my brother John was not there — he slept at Barnsley- street — he was not doing any work at that time — he was not in work at all, neither of us — he was looking after work, he went there being near the docks — I went out for about a quarter of an hour — I have no remembrance what time of the day that was — it was about the middle of the day — I dined that day in Barnsley-street, with my father and brother — I am sure my father dined there; we had some bread and meat for dinner — we dined about one o’clock — my father came home to have his dinner — I don’t recollect at what time he came home to his dinner — there was no table in the room when I was there — there was one chair — there was no bed forme to lie on — I and my brother did not sleep on the bare floor — there were some canes there on the floor, that they make chairs of — they were on the bed and we took them off the bed and put them on the floor — the bed is a mere tressel with a sacking; my father slept there — that is the little bed I spoke of just now — my father remained in after coming home about a quarter to 7 — we had our supper afterwards — I had some bread and tea for supper — my brother and I went to bed at 9 o’clock — I did not go to sleep — I was not awake all night — we did not go to sleep till my father got into bed — I went to sleep about 12 o’clock — I went to bed about 9 and went to sleep about 12 — I could not go to sleep — I do not know what time my father went to sleep — he went to bed at the same time we did — I could not go to sleep till my father came to bed — he came to bed at 9 o’clock.

Q.
Why could you not go to sleep before 12 o’clock?
A.
Because I could I not — I am really in earnest in saying that — I did not go away the next day — I remained in Barnsley-street the whole of the next day, Tuesday — I slept with I my father again on Tuesday night — I continued to sleep there till about Thursday, and then I went home again — my brother John was in the same room — I went out once on the Tuesday for a quarter of an hour again, not much more — the room is a very small room on the ground-floor — I and my brother remained in that room the whole of Monday and Tuesday — I got there on Monday, about 12 o’clock; alone — I first heard of the murder on Saturday evening — I then remembered that I had slept there on the Monday night — when I first heard of the murder on the Saturday evening I remembered that I had slept there on the Monday night — I first heard of the murder when my father came home — there was a row in the house with Mrs. Emsley and another woman, I was in the room — that was, I believe, on the Monday — a row in No. 33, Barnsley-street — that was one of Mrs. Emsley’s houses — there were some children used to sleep in the room; Mrs. Musick’s — they slept in the room my father occupied — I can’t recollect where they slept on the Monday night — they did not sleep with me — I do not know about their sleeping in the same room; I don’t recollect it — those children are about seven or eight years old; the eldest — there are three children — I can’t recollect whether they slept in the room that same night — I don’t recollect whether they did on the Tuesday night — I have slept in the same room with those children, in Barnsley-street — I can’t tell whether they slept with me on the Monday night — I don’t know whether my brother can — I can’t tell you — I don’t recollect whether they slept there on the Tuesday, or on the Wednesday or Thursday.