Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1906-03-02

ME outer room WIS crowded
from end to end and the at
mosphcre rocked with unpleas-
ant dampncss. Only behind the
little railing before the coroners desk
was there breathing space. and we sank
into our seats ut the table there with
q sigh of relief.
One never realizes how many news
papers there are in New York until
one attends an important criminal case
that brings their people out In droves
and swarms The reporters took up
most of the space in this small room.
Paper and pencils were everywhere In
evidence, and in one corner there was
q man with camera stationed, de-
termined. l suppose, to get photo
graph Of our client should she be called
to the stand. since none could be OBJ
tained In any other way
l saw Singleton, the district attor-
ney, come in and sit down near the
coroner, and then the jury filed In from
their room and took their seats. I
examined them, man by man. with
some little anxiety. but they oil seemed
intelligent and fairly well to do. Mr..
Royce was looking over their names,
and he checked them off carefully as
the clerk called the roll. Then he hand
ed the list up to the coroner with
little nod.
go ahead" he said. They're all
right l guess-they look oil right"
Its a good jury" replied the cor
oner rs he took the paper. Better
than usual. Are you ready. Mr.. Sin
gleton?"
"Yes," said the district attorney.
"Oh, wait a minute" he added, and he
got up and came down to our table.
you're going to put Miss Holiday
on the stand, suppose
"And expose her to all this" And
our junior looked around the room.
mot II 1 can help it!''
II don't see how you can help it. An
alibis the only thing that can save her
from being bound over"
Wen cross that bridge when we
come to It," retorted Mr.. Royce. 81
think the case against her, will soon die
Of hamilton"
"Oh. very WELL" And Singleton
abruptly went back to his desk, biting
his mnstache thoughtfully. He had
made something of reputation. since
his election year before. as a solver
OF abstruse criminal problems and
had secured q conviction In two or
three capital cases which had threat
ened for time to battle the police. He
evidently scented something Of the
same kind here or he would have In
trusted the case to one Of his as.
s'stants. 1t might be added that, while
his successes had made him immensely
popular with the multitude, there had
been about one or two Of them q hint
Of unprOfessional conduct. which had
made his brethren Of the bar look
rather askance at him.
| He nodded to the coroner after q
moment. the room was called to order
and the first witness summoned.
1t was Rogers. the confidential clerk
knew Rogers. Of course; had talked
with him often In business way and
had the highest respect for him. He
had been with Mr.. Holiday much Ion
ger than I had been with Graham &
Royce and had, as Mr.. Graham had
pointed out, an unimpeachable reputa-
ton.
There were the usual preliminaries--
name. age, residence, and 50 on. Coro-
ner Goldberg asking the questions. He
was q really good cross examiner and
soon came to the core Of the matter.
What is the position Of your desk
in Mr.. Holidays officer he asked.
There is an outer office for the
clerks; opening from that a smaller
room, where my desk is placed. Open
ing from my room was Mr.. Holladay's
private office"
HAD Mr. Holidays office any other
doorY'
mo, SIR"
Gould entrance be had by the win
dowsT
''The windows open on the street
side Of the building We occupy
part Of the eighth floor"
1.-The fire escapes
Are at the back of the building
there are none on the street side
nothing but sheer wall"
$50 that any one entering or leaving
the private Office must necessarily pass
by your deskT"
necessarily; yes. sir"
Gould any one pass without your
seeing himT
mo. sir; that would be quite impos-
sible"
The coroner leaned back In his chair.
There was one point settled.
Nov. Mr.. Rogers" he said, twill
you kindly tell us, In your own way
and with as much detail as possible,
exactly what happened at your office
shortly before 8 o'clock yesterday aft
ernoon?"
could see that Rogers was deeply
moved. His face was very white, he
moistened his lips nervously from time
to time, and his hands grasped con-
vulsively the arms Of his chair. Plain
~ the task before him was far from
an agreeable one.
"Well. SIR" he began. I'VE had
very busy day yesterday and were at
the office considerably later than usual,
but by B o'clock we had closed I'D
work for the day. and all the other
clerks, with the exception Of the Office
boy. bad gone home. had made some
notes from Mr.. Holidays dictaton
and had returned to my desk to ar
range them when the outer door open
ed. and Mr.. Holidays daughter came
In. She asked me whether her father
was engaged. and upon my saying no
opened the inner door and entered his
office. She remained, should think,
about ten minutes, then she came out
again. walked rapidly past without
looking at me and. suppose. left the
building. l finished arranging my
notes and then entered Mr.. Holidays
office to ask II he had any further in
structions for me. and I found him
lying forward on his desk with a knife
sticking in his neck and the blood
squirting out. l summoned aid, but he
died without regaining consciousness.