Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1908-01-16
CHAPTER Y.
COUNSEL FOR THE DEFENSE

CHAPTER y.
COUNSEL FOR THE DEFENSE.
When l opened the office door,
twenty minutes later. l was surprised
10 find Godfrey just within, In close
conference with Mir. Royce.
Here he isl" he cried. mo, no:
don't take off your coat: don't even
take off your hiatt Come along: it's u
mighty close thing now" and he caught
me by the arm.
ITS all right. Lester" sn:d IL tun-
Tor. seeing my astonished c~ountenance.
Mr.. Godfrey will explain on the way
out"
That was enough: 1 needed no second
bidding. and ran after Godfrey to the
elevator. AT the curb a cab was wait
ing. n we jumped into 1t.
James Slip" called Godfrey, and In
an instant we were off.
The driver semed Ia realize the need
Of haste, for we bumped over the paw
ing stones at a p%rodigious rate, thread
Ing the dirty streets of the Italian and
Jewish quarters. and finally pulling up
with a whirl In the shadow Of Brook
!yn bridge.
Come on" cried Godfrey, and we
crossed the ferry-house at a jump,
slammed u tickets into the chopper,
and spranG aboard the boat Just as 1t
was casting lOOSe.
That was n close shave" said Cod
Trey. sinking into the nearest seat and
taking off his hat.
sat down beside him and mopped
away the perspiration. l had need of
ell my breath for a moment, out at last
l managed to blurt out u question.
Whats 1t all about"
Well" began Godfrey. putting on his
hat again and looking at me with a
NlltZZira1 Sfni1A .'tn tho f3rct pla.,n tl,,
eminent and widely known frm of Ora
nam Il Royce has been engaged 10 de-
fend n John Tolbert Drysdale, now
under arrest charged with murder and
robbery. You are ON your way to Baby
Ion. Long Island. to look over the
ground. have a ak with your client,
and get the las ready"
So" l nodded: yes, l read of the
.ase In last nights papers. But Mr..
Drysdale has V l think. been a
client OF our how did he happen to
hoose us?'
He didn't: I chose you. l wanted
him to have the best in the market"
Thanks" l said. coloring a little.
But how did the oAice come to take
the case? We're always rather shy of
criminal cases. o know
Yes. l know you are. But 1 chinned
POUR junior a bit"
That explains it," 1 said, laughing.
"Of course Wen do our best for him"
You'll acquit him." said Godfrey,
with conviction. Il was at Boston yes
terday. or I'd have gone down to Baby
ion at once and taken you with me-"
Then l shouldn't have got to say
goodby to Cecily."
ITO whom"
ITO Cecily-Tremaine's sweetheart,
you know. He shipped her back to
Martinique this morning."
ooh did hop, and ~, ,,.,,o-;..,-
eyes narrowed suddenly. Why was
that?'
I related briefly the Incidents Of the
preceding evening and of the morning
Godfrey" l added impulsively, III
you knew Tremaine personally. l think
you'd realize what a poor case we've
got against him. Why, it's no case at
all! Theorizing's all very well. but
what a jury wants is evidence-plain,
straight-out, direct evidence. and we
haven't enough of that to build a cob
web. l thought I'd found some yester-
day afternoon, but it was all the effect
Of self-induced hypnosis" and I told
MIN Of my visit to Sing Sing.
He listened with intent face.
Tn not so sure 1t was hypnosis" he
eaid, when 1 had finished. LAT least,
I'll have Il look at those photographs
myself before 1 accept that theory. In
fact. l rather think it's Tremaine who
has hypnotized you, not l."
u don't believe he's guilty" 1 re-
peated.
Then who ise"
h the ore who killed Thompson,
anyway"
Where's your evidence"
Il haven't any" l said helplessly;
only a kim OF intuition"
well. I've the same kind OF intuition
1t was Tremaine."
but we haven't any evidence
direct, convincing evidence"
Perhaps not" he agreed: but we're
going to get it--enough to convict him
and some to spare"
Convict him OF WHAT"
OF two murders and one robbery"
Then you believe he's implicated in
this Edgemere AFFAIR.""
I'm sure of it,
But there isn't n shred OF evidence
against him." l protested again, coming
back to my old objection; really Cod.
trey was allowing his prejudices to car
ry him too far.
Not e shred, apparently" he assent
ed readily.
Well. then, how"
Here's h landing" he INTERRUPTED
we can talk It over on the train"
We left the boat and fastened across
to he station. The train was waiting
the word to start. and was in motion a
moment after we stepped aboard. There
were O many passengers. for the
morning travel is toward the city. not
from II; and we had no difficulty In
dndng a seat where We could talk With
out fear Of being overheard.
Now" began Godfrey. AS you say
there isn't a shred OF evidence. appar.
emily. against Tremaine. How about
your client?"
Against Drysdale," l answered. .th.
evidence seems to be unusually corr
plete."
You might have used a stronger