Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1889-03-23

kitchen and hurried me off, She seemed
| in very bad temper. i had not heard
any quarrel between her and master, but
| master went up to his study before went
to bed. | slept in the attic in front of the
house, at the opposite end where the fire
was. After had been asleep little while
l heard moving about and voices. Not
| knowing what the time was, l opened the
door and listened. l heard missus's voice
down stairs in the direction of the study
staircase. / thought | heard master an
swering her. My door creaks when opened,
and | suppose missus heard it, for pre-
sently she came upstairs, listening. got
back into bed and pretended to be asleep,
and heard missus come upstairs and listen
at my door for a bit, and then shut my
door and go down again. Presently /
heard her go to her own room and shut the
door, and then everything was quiet, and
to sleep | heard the clock in the
slept, but | was awoke before daylight by
hearing door open, and some one move
down stairs. felt frightened and nervous
| like, and got out of bed again. / saw a
| light in the hall at the bottom, and went
a little way down stairs. saw then that
the light was right at the end of the pas
sage, by the billiard-room door, 1t might
have been in the store-room. l heard
some one strike match two or three
times. Then | heard door shut-it
! sounded like the store-room door. / saw
Missus come out into the passage and shut
and lock the door at the end of which
leads to the billiard-room and the study
stairs. / hurried back as fast as / could
when | saw her, and after waiting a min
ute, shut my door again and got into bed
| was very cold and uncomfortable and
could not sleep, and | lay shivering until
| heard ring at the bell, and some one
calling out FIRE. That was Hewitt /
jumped up and opened the door, and the
smoke came rolling in, and can't remem-
Der anything else until Hewitt came and
helped me out. After | got out of the
house had fit, as you have heard
should think it was about twenty minutes
| or halt an hour after [ saw missus down
stairs that heard Hewitt ring"
"Phew~ calculated Mr.. Capper. "That's
worse than anything suspected. What
do you make of it ?"
"What do you make of p" asked the
solicitor.
The two men looked at one another in
silence for moment, and Mr.. Capper's
lips seemed to frame the word Murder"
"If she fred the premises" he presently
continued aloud, Tin the way this evidence
suggests, she was going, not merely for the
insurance on the furniture, but also for the
insurance on his life"
Gust so. That's the serious part of it,
hot I
this is a very different thing from arson,
with an unprecedented murder growing
out of it."
"Very different. Dare we raise such
charge on the evidence we have%'
at is not only Gosling's evidence, re-
member. In the first place, let me call
your attention to the way the girls state
ment fits in with Hewitt's evidence. You
may remember that he said at the inquest
that, after ringing the bell, he broke in
through one of the ground-foor windows,
and then found Mrs. Shand on the stair
case partly dressed. Yet she had made
no attempt to arouse Gosling, and, what is
more remarkable, she never said word
about her husband until Hewitt had got
Costing out of the house, and was on the
point of going off for further help. You
will remember, too, how anxious Mrs
Shand was at the inquest to negative Hew-
tits evidence that the fire originated
down stairs"
Every true" assented the manager.
"But, in addition 10 all this, we have
now come across more striking piece of
evidence. A large barrel of paraffine was
always kept in the stable. Hewitt had
charge of it. He is positive that a new
barrel had been opened only day or two
before the fire, and that not more than
gallon of oil had been drawn from it. Yet
on the day after the fire the barrel was
found all but empty. Wait; that is not
all. Among the debris, which we had
sifted after the fire, the salvage men
found a small galvanized iron can. This
can Hewitt identifies as having been used
solely for drawing off the paraffine from
the barrel, and he is positive that he left
it in the stable the day before the fire."
"That is very strong, certainly" said
Mr.. Capper. Now let me add something
to it. told you that we knew Shand was
hard up, and that we suspected him of
misappropriating premiums. We have
now found out three cases in which he
! had received money and not accounted for
it. His wife must have known something
of the state of his affairs-possibly that
ruin was hanging over both of Them
"That is material" said the solicitor,
'but, of course, it only goes to motive.
The question will turn with jury, as far
as | can see mainly upon this statement
of Goslipgs supplemented by Hewitts evil
dence. What / want you to consider is
whether on that evidence you are prepared
to lay charge which must in the end
amount to one of murder"
There is a fire claim here" said Mr..
Capper, "a claim for e300 odd, as well as
the claim upon the life policy. There be-
| ing unmistakable evidence of arson, do
not see that we have any alternative but
to fight"
"Very good" replied the solicitor
Now | know how to proceed"
Mr.. George was not man to let the
grass grow under his feet. Two DAYS later,
Mrs. Shand was in custody on a charge of
arson.
The evidence against her when she
came before the magistrate was substan-
tally that indicated in the foregoing con-
versation. Only one fact was added to it,
but it was fact not without significance
fire the prisoner mad packed up quantity
of jewelry and portable valuables and dis
patched the box containing them to Lon
don. The general effect of the evidence
was irresistible, and the experienced bar
rister retained for the prisoner showed his
appreciation of it by reserving the defense.
Mrs. Shand was accordingly committed for
trial-and on the double charge of murder
and arson.
Mr.. George, the insurance company's
solicitor, had expressed his opinion that
the verdict would depend mainly on Jane
Gosling and so the result proved. The
famous case of "The Queen vs. Shand +"
made the name and fortune of Mr.. Crossley
Sharpe, and it made it chiefly by reason of
the mastery way in which, without ex-
actly breaking it down, the advocate con
triyed to discredit Jane Gosling's evidence.
The girl was the first witness called for the
prosecution Before she left the box, Mr..
| Crossley Sharpe had shown out of her own
mouth that she had left her last situation
with bad character for truthfulness; that
Mrs. Shand had twice reprimanded ..and
threatened to dismiss her fer small offenses
a day or two before the fire; and that the
girl had on two or three different occa-