The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1897-07-24
CHAPTER <.
OIIl1I Z I1IV 1x-
VIRGINIA LEWIS TESTIFIES.

When Alice made the statement that
she had shot Mr.. Lewis, all present for
moment sat dumb with amazement.
When they saw that she had tainted,
all were Immediately possessed by the
desire to minister to her wants, the re-
suit being, as is usual in such cases,
that the PROSTATE form of the young
woman was surrounded. and she was
deprived of all chance Of fresh air. For
tunateiy DR.. Snow was present, and,
calling upou Lucas to assist him, to-
gethcr they bore her from the room,
permitting only couple of women to
follow them.
The e,;uito, utterly COMPOUNDED at the
unexpected turn Ct events, scarcely
knew what to Go next, and in order to
gain time declared a recess Of ten min
utes. The jpryl4ic- started to leave their
seats, bat the square requested that
they would not DC so ana that they
would not converse about tho case with
the other persons present. The crowd
fell to discussing the situation and a
hum of voices filled the room. Mr..
Barnes and Mr. Topper arose and went
OH the stand with the squire
"Wcll, gentlemen" said the squire,
"this is surprising affair. What shall
we do now"
"NIr. Barnes" said the lawyer, "you
are more conversant with the case.
What is your opinion of Miss Taryel's
statement"
Gentlemen, said Mr.. Barnes, lit
is evident that Miss Marvel really be-
lieves that she killed Mr.. Lewis 1t is
plain to my mind, however, that we
should be most careful i'll accepting such
theory. In the first place would call
attention to the evidence Offered by DR..
Snow. He tells US that he found two
wounds, one having passed through the
nightdress, and the othernot This sim
pie fact proves beyond doubt that the de-
ceased changed his clothing after re-
ceiving the first wound. Therefore it is
manifestly clear that the shot which
Miss Marvel admits she fired at him
could Lot have proved fatal, for if so
we would be obliged to believe that the
other wound was made by the bullet
from the pistol of Lucas in order to &c
count for their being two wounds, but
these shots followed in such close sue
cession that there was not time for him
to have effected the change Of clothing.
There is, however, bare possibil.
ity that he had already received the first
wound and was in bed, when, attracted
by the dog, ho arose and went to the
window. In that case he might have
been killed by the ball from Miss Mar
vct's weapon. Thus far, however, we
have 10 evidence that would substan-
tiate suspicion of this kind Miss Car
penter and Mr.. Everly would have
heard the report if a shot had been fired
earlier. Miss Carpenter heard shots at
0 o'clock, the time when Miss Marvel
discharged her weapon. There is, how
everssa1ore convincing evidence WHICH
I can adduce to corroborate me in the
stand which | take. am in doubt
whether tine wound which did not prove
fatal was made by Miss Marvel or not,
or whether Ey Lucas, either accidental
ly, as he claims to have fred, Or with
design. But | am positive that neither
of the shots fired at that hour was the
one which destroyed the life of the de-
ceased"
"You allude to the scrap of paper OF
which you told me, do you not?" asked
Mr. Upper.
II do replied Mr. Barnes. "But
let me explain to the coroner, so that he
may be convinced Of the necessity Of
continuing. found upon the table in
the parlor sheet Of paper upon which
was writer, If am dead i'll tho morn
ing, my.nt tderer :s'-the sentence be-
ing untinNhed. This seems to provo
that Mr.. Lewis recognized his first as
sailant at least, and that, fearing death,
he meant to warn us as to the identity
Of the person. True, the name does not
appear, but the words are sufficiently
significant. presume there isno doubt
as to the writing?" Mr.. Barnes handed
the paper to the squire, who examined
it closely and with great interest. After
moment he replied:
II recognize this as the handwriting
Of Mr.. Lewis. am perfectly familiar
with it, and there can be no doubt
"The deduction then is self evident"
continued Mr.. Barnes. DIR. Snow has
testified that death was instantaneous.
Consequently this writing refers to the
first assailant. Therefore, unless it can
be shown that he received wound
prior to o'clock Miss Marvel did not
infiict the fatal wound, if her shot
reached him ut all. There is break i'll
the plastered ceiling Of the parlor,
showing the furrow of bullet. That
was probably made by Miss Marvel or
by Lucas. Wecannot determine which.
Mr. Barnes, said the squire, ''your
reasoning couyinces me that whatever
may have been the girls intent when
she fired her bullet did not kill Mr..
Lewis. The worst that can be claimed
is that she is responsible for tho lesser
wound, and, as you say, even that
would be difficult to prove. If you
take the same view, Mr.. Topper, we
will continue.
II certainly agree with Mr.. Barnes
in all his Deductions" said Mr.. Tup-
per. II am confident that we do not
yet know who fred the last shot. II
would help us if we could discover what
name was meant to complete that sen.
tenoe, and if you will now call Miss
Lewis, acting upon suggestion from
Mr.. Barnes, I hope to learn it."
The squire then announced that the
inquest would be continued, and imme-
diately all resumed their seats and
ceased talking.
Gentlemen" said the squire, ad.
dressing tbs jury, "Mr. Barnes, the dc.