Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-09-21

| the main cable had been deliberately cut.
But you see / suspected nothing wrong Al
| the time. and there nothing els Tor
me TO do but IL abandon my task directly
tile Ilght went out. am AFRAID that can
tell you nothing more"
Tho deceas \ was n great friend Of
yours the cofN3er asked. Il presume
you know Il great deal abou- his Ike and
habits. Was he at all the sort ~ man To
make enemies?'
The last man in the world" the witness
said emphatiCary MY friend was both
upright and straightforward indie, !. l re
garded him as man Incapable OF a mean
action"
One, or two desultory questions followed
and then Lord Ravcuspur sat down. To a
certain extent his evidence had been dra-
matte enough, but. At the same tine he
mad not said a single word likely To throw
any light on the mystery. The audience
| thrilled and bent forward eagerly As. Mrs
| Delahay stood up To give her evidence
| she was just rs deadly pale. Just as calm
| and set. she had been when she r1ll.d
| upon Ravenspur in Park lane with tina
| dread VI news. She gave her evidence
| slowly and distinctly. speaking more like
an automaton than a creature OF Il sh and
| blood She told how she had become
! alarmed at her husbands prolonged alb
sence. how she had gone down 10 Fiizjohn
| square to see If anything had happened,
| how she found the dead boCy there and
| how the police had come 10 her assistance
But more than that she could not say moro
| than that she did not know. so far a. she
knew. her husband had always been
| cheerful man. She had never heard him
| say an evil word of any one Sha had not
| been married long. in fact she was still a
bride Altogether She had known her nus
band for a little over three wears She was
older than her husband. she proc ,cded TO
say. The coroner asked her age
Il am forty-three," she said CALMLY
Really. the coroner murmured politely,
II should not have taken you to be 50
| much. I don't wish to ask YOU anything
hkely to cause you pan but docs 1t not
occur TO you that your husband might have
been concealing something? Is IT not
rather strange that he should leave you at
midnight and take an hour and a half in
reaching a house TO which he IN ght have
walked In ten minutes?
Il don't think So" Mrs Delahay said
MY husband was one of the most open OF
men. In fact he was too fond Of leaving
his letters and private papers about And
| as to the rest, he might have met a friend.
he might have gone TO one of his clubs
III may be allowed to interrupt "A mo-
ment.' Inspector Dallas said, Il may say
that we have utterly failed to trace Mr..
Delahays movements from the time he left
| the Grand Hotel till he reached F'itzjohn
| Square. Not one of his friends appears to
have seen him on the night in quest ION"
That is rather unfortunate" the coroner
murmured. Il am sorry TO have troubled
| you so far. You may sit down now"
with something which might have been a
sign or relief Mrs. Delahay resumed her
Dallas put forward witness who gave the
name of John Stevens. He looked like a
broken-down professional man in his
greasy, shabby frockcoat and dngy linen
His watery eye glanced nervously over the
court The red tinge on his cheeks spoke
quite plainly of the cause of his downfall.
He proceeded to give his evidence 80 inco-
herently that the coroner had to repr!mand
him sharply once or twice.
i can't hear half you say" that official
sad irritably. Il think you said your
name was John Stevens What can YOU
tell us about this case? Did you know Mr..
Delahay?'
Il knew him quite well. sir" the witness
said. Il have seen him scores OF times
Wheh nave been watching in FitZjOhn
| Square
What do you mean by watching there7'
Wen. Sir, you see, | am a private in
| quiry agent. / work for one Of the large
| firms of detectives. getting up evidence and
that Kind of thing. For months past IL has
| peen my duty to keep my eye on certain
| house In the square, especially at night.
| In that way l have got to know most OF
| the inhabitants by sight, and also | have
habits"
You are a professional spy. them" the
| coroner asked
We'll. sir, If you like to put il Ike that"
| the witness said humbly. "On the night Of
| the murder about a quarter-past one. ! was
IN the square gardens watching through
| the ratings at the corner of John street
l could see perfectly well what was going
on because there is large electric arc
| light where John street and the SQUARE ad-
| join. AS l said, 1t just about a quar-
ter-past one, because ! looked al my watch
| TO see what the time was. 1t was nearly
| time for me to leave, as my instruc-
| tons
The witness broke off abruptly and
glanced about the room with the air of a
| man who has recognized an acquaintance
whom he had not expected to see. His
rambling attentions were recalled by the
coroner in a few sharp words,
Il am sure beg your pardon. AS | said.
| was waiting there till my time was up.
and l saw Mr.. Delahay come round the
| corner. He stood there just a moment As
| far as l could gather he seemed to be
| troubled about something. / was too lar
| Off to hear what he was saying, but 1t
what are you talking about?'' the
coroner interrupted. DO you mean to say
that Mr.. Deiahay was talking to himself?'
"Oh. dear no. sir; he was talking TO his
companion"
Companion! That is the first we have
heard Of that. Was the companion a man
or a woman, might ask?"
1T was lady, Sir. She was a tall
woman. dressed In black. They stood OPP
posite me for five six minutes talking
very earnestly together. Then Mr.. Delahay
turned away from the woman and went
into the house. The woman seemed to
hesitate a few moments, then she followed
| and saw her go into the house after Mr..
Delahay But she Will be able to tell you
] all about 1t herself"
Il don't understand you." the coroner
said. with puzzled frown. How can the
woman tell all about II herself? You
don't mean to say that she is in court"
The witness slowly turned and pointed a
dingy forefnger in the direction of Maria
Delahay.
That's the lady. SIR" he said That's
the lady that / saw with Mr.. Deahay the
night before last"
But that is absolutely impossible" the
coroner cried. Don't you know that that
lady is Mr.. Delahays wife?"
Go be continued tomorrow