The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-05-06

| of hours, just go and interview him by
/ yourself. and we'll waive ceremony. III
! get the necessary prison order and send 1t
, round to you tomorrow.
! Next afternoon / went down to see
| Guide in the waiting room at the Old Bal
| ley. He was a middle Gagged man. heavy
! faced. and evidently knocked half stupid
| by the situation in which he found him
self. He was perhaps as great fool to
| his own interests as one might often meet
| with. There was no getting the simplest
| tale out of him except by regular ques-
7 ton and answer cross examination. What
| little he lid tell seemed rather to confirm
! his guilt than otherwise; though, strange
! to say. 1 was beginning to believe him
| when he kept on assuring me between ev-
cry other sentence that he did not commit
| tie murder. Perhaps it was the stolid
( earnestness of the fellow in denying the
! crime. One gets to read good deal from
{ facial expression when a man has watched
! what goes On in the criminal dock as long
I as have done; and one can usually spot
| guilt under any mask.
! But tell me- / said, what did you
/ quarrel about in the first instance
Money, said Guide, modify.
That's vague. Tell me more. Did he
/ owe you money!
| No, sir; it was tother way
Wages in arrears?'
! No, it was money he had advanced me
for the working of my business. You see,
Walker had always been hard man, and
| he'd saved He said he wanted his money
back, he knowing that | was pinched a bit
| just then and couldn't pay. Then he tried
| to thrust himself into partnership with
me in the business, which was thing
didn't want. I'd good contracts on hand
which i expected would bring me in a
matter of $4,000, and / G;dn't want to
| share it with any man. least of all him.
| told him so, and that's how the trouble be-
| gan. But it was him that hit me first
Still. you returned the blow?'
Guide passed a hand YEARLY over his
forehead. L may have struck him back. sir
i was dazed. and don't rightly remem-
Der. But before God III swear that I new
J er lifted that pick to Andrew Walker-it
was his pick
But l persisted, Walker couldn't
! very conveniently have murdered himself.
No, sir, mono, he couldn't. thought
OF that myself since l been in here. and
said to Mr.. Barnes that perhaps somebody
come into the carriage when l was knocked
silly and killed him: but Mr. Barnes he
+ said that was absurd. Besides, who could
have done it?'
Z" Don't you know anybody, then. who
would have wished for Walkers death?'
There was them that didn't like him, ;
said Guide, drearily.
That was all | could get out of him
and l went away from the prison feeling
very dissatisfied. l was stronger than
ever in the belief that Guide was in no de-
gree guilty, and yet for the life of me |
did not see how TO prove his innocence He
| had not been a man of any strong charac-
ter to begin with, and the shock of what
he had gone through had utterly dazed him.
1t was hopeless to expect any reasonable
nropa
himself TO puZzlement. II he had gone
melancholy mad before he came up to
trial, | should not have been one whit sur
priscd.
81 brooded over the matter for couple
OF days, putting all the rest of my practice
out OF thought. but 1 didn't get any for
warder with it. hate to give anything I'D
as bad job. and in this case felt mat
there was on my shoulders a huge load of
responsibility. Guide, had fully per-
suaded myself, had not murdered Andrew
walker; sure as the case went into
court, on its present grounding the man
would be hanged out of hand: and / per-
suadcd myself that then l. and 1 alone,
should be responsible for an innocent
mans death.
AT the end of those two days only one
course seemed open to me. 1t was foreign
to the brief | held, but the only method
left TO bring in my clients innocence.
Il must find out who did really murder
the man. | must try to implicate some
third actor in the tragedy.
ITO begin with there was the railway
carriage; but a little thought showed me
that nothing was TO be done there. The
compartment would have been inspected
by the police. and then swept and cleaned
and garnished, and coupled on to it's train
once more. and used by unconscious PAS
sengers for weeks since the uproar occur
red in Il.
"All that | had got TO go upon were the
notes and relies held at Scotland Yard
THE police authorities were very good.
OF course they were keen enough to bring
of the prosecution with professional eclat;
but they were not exactly anxious to hand
over poor wretch o the hangrnan if he
was not thoroughly deserving of dance
on nothing. They placed at my disposal
every scrap of their evidence, and said that
they thought the reading of it all was
plain beyond dispute. I thought SO, too, at
first. They sent an inspector to my cham
bers as their envoy.
"On one point, though, after a lot of
thought. / did not quite agree with them
/ held a grisly relic in my hand, gazing at
It fXedly. 1t was e portion of Walkers
skull a disc of dry bone with a splintered
aperture in the middle.
And so you think the pickax made that
hole / said to the inspector.
L don't think there can be any doubt
about it, and the point of the pick was
smeared with blood.
But would there be room to swing
such weapon in third-class metropol-
tan railway carriage?"
We thought OF that and at first IL
seemed a poser. The roof is low, and both
Guide and Walker are tall men; but if
Guide had gripped the shaft by the end
SO. with his right hand pretty near against
the head. SO. he'd have had heaps OF room
TO drive it with a sideways swing. I tried
the thing for myself ii acted perfectly.
Here's the pickax; you can see for your
self
81 did see. and l wasn't satisfied but
didn't tell the inspector what | thought.
1t was clearer TO me than ever that Guide
had not committed murder What l asked
the inspector was this: Had either of the
men got any luggage in the carriage?
The inspector answered, with a laugh.
Not quite Mr. Grayson, or you would see
It here
Then | took on paper rough outline of
that fragment of bone. and an accurate
sketch of the exact size of the cash in it.
and the inspector went away. One thing
bis visit had shown me. Andrew Walker
was not slain by a flow from behind by the
pickaX.
Il met Barnes while I was nibbling
lunch. and told him this. He heard me
doubtfully You may be right said he.
but I'm bothered to see what you have to
go upon.
You know what a pickax is like
said
Certainly