The Richmond palladium. (Richmond, Ind.) 1906-1907, 1906-12-04
.Is this the book -

A
II believe 30: 1t looks like it."
The book had flaming cover. quite
unmistakabie In its character.
THE title shows 1t to be the same"
remarked the coroner. rs this the
! the houSe?'
The only one, / should say
The coroner laid down the book
Enough of this. then. for the pres
ent; only let the jury remember that
! the cover of this book 10 peculiar and
that it was kept on a shelf at the right
Of the opening leading into the adjoin-
/ ing bedroom. And now, Mr.. Jeffrey.
we must ask you to look at these rings,
or. rather. at this one. You have seen
1t before. 1t is the one you placed on
/ Mrs. Jefrey's hand when you were
married to her little over a fortnight
ago. You recognize it,
81 do
do you also recognize this small
mark Of blood on it as having been
here when it was shown to you by the
detective on your return from seeing
her dead body at the Moore houseT'
IL do; yes
How do you account for that spot
and the slight injury made TO her m
ger? Should you not say that the ring
had been dragged from her handT'
81 should
by whom was it dragged? by
you?"
..No, SIR
"By herself, then%
sit would seem so.'
Much passion must have been in
that act. Do you think that any ordi-
nary quarrel between husband and
wife would account for the display Of
such fury? Are we not right in sup
posing deeper cause for the disturb
ance between you than the slight one
you offer in way Of explanationY'
An inaudible answer; then a sudden
Strengthening of Francis Jeffrey's fine
figure. And that was all.
Mr.. jeffrey. in the talk you had
with your wife on Tuesday morning
was Miss Tuttle's name introducedT'
"It was mentioned: yes. SIR"
with recrinination or any display
Of passion on the part of your wife,
You would not believe me IL I said
no." was the unexpected rejoinder.
The coroner. taken aback by this d.
rect attack from one who had hitherto
borne all his innuendoes with apparent
patience, lost countenance for a mo-
ment, but, remembering that in his Of
fetal capacity he was more than a
match for the elegant gentleman, who
under other circumstances would have
found 1t only too easy to put him to the
blush, he observed with dignity:
''Mr. Jeffrey. you are on oath. We
certainly have no reason for not be-
lieving you"
Mr. Jeffrey bowed. He was prob
ably sorry for his momentary loss Of
self control. and gravely. but with eyes
bent downward answered with the alb
rupt phrase:
.'Well, then, 1 will say no.
The coroner shifted his ground.
"Will you make the same reply when
I ask il the like forbearance was
shown toward your wife's name in the
conversation you had with Miss futile
Immediately afterward"
Miss futile was Mrs. Jeffrey's half
sister. The bond between them was
strong. Would she-would I-be apt
to speak Of my young wife with bit
ternessw
"That is not an answer to my Ques-
Zion, Mr.. jeffrey. must request a
more positive reply"
There were no recriminations ut
tered. Mrs. Jeffrey had dlspleased me.
and said so, but did not forget that
1 was speaking OF my wife and to her
sister,
As this was in the highest degree |
noncommittal, the coroner could be ex-
cused for persisting.
1.-The conversation, then, was about
your wife?''
"It was"
I'm criticism of her conduct?''
yes
AT the ambassadors ball?"
Eyes"
Mr.. Jeffrey was poor hand at lying. |
That last yes came with great effort. I
The coroner waited, possibly for the
echo of this last yes" to cease; then
he remarked with a coldness which
lifted at once the veil from his hitherto
well disguised antagonism to this wit
ness:
III you will recount to us anything
which your wife said or did on that
evening which. in your mind, was
worthy of all this COIL it might help us
to understand the situation
But the witness made no attempt TO
do SO. and while many of us were
ready to pardon him this show of del
icacy others felt that under the circum-
stances it would have been better had
he been more open.
Among the latter was the coroner
himself. who from this moment threw
aside all hesitation and urged forward
his inquiries in q way to press the wit
ness closer and closer toward the net
be was secretly holding out for him.
First, he obliged him to say that his
ton with Miss futile had not
tended to smooth matters, that no rec
onciliation with his wife had followed
It and that in the thirty-six hours
which elapsed before he returned home
gain he had made no attempt TO
'oothe the feelings of one who. accord
ng to his own story. he considered
hardly responsible for any extrava-
yances in which she might have in
iuiged