New Britain herald., 1916-03-30
EPISODE XI. In the Alley.

\ witness room, like an n-liner, begetS strange friendships in it's en- forced intimacy, and also has this in common with the great ships, that those who come on deck only toward the close of a stormy passage find themselves unreasOnably Ostracized by their fellow passengers who have been daily sharing the excitement of the voyage. Thus the three newcomers among the witnesses in the trial of Mary Page were left sitting primIy on a bench close to the door while the incongruOus but friendly group of those who had already testified stood near the window.
 The trio themselves were oddly con- glomerate-a burly man in what were obviously his best clOthes with a col lar a size too small and a buxom wOn- an whose flushed face looked out from under a marvellous purple bonnet. Her hands were encased in very large white cotton gloves and she held back her skirts progressively from contact with the short and elaborate gown of the over-d dressed, tired looking woman whose face was pasty with powder and hard with rouge.
 All of the witnesses, for that matter, from the little bell-hOp to Mrs. Page herself, surveyed this last conner with disapproval; and Amy declared sue cinctly that if MT. LangdOn put THAT on the witness stand-it would be GOOD NIGHT!'
 LangdOn, however, greeted her with warmth that more than overbal- anced their chilliness and his wei come to the other man and woman was equally enthusiastic. To him, the presence of these three was a triumph. It meant that he had sue ceeded where the police had failed, and that he had still another surpriSe 1 to spring upon the jury in this most astounding trial.
 Some hint of all this crept into his i tone lending it a new, almost boyish note, when, at the beginning of the l days proceedings he rose and said: 1 Your Honor, and Gentlemen of the ! Jury: Ever since the beginning of 1 this trial one point has remained . l mystery. The state has admitted it: 1 inability to offer evidence on this 1 mooted subject, and therefore I crave 1 the indulgence of the court to digreS: 1 from direct proceedings this morning 1 to show you where and how Mary | Page spent those hours between tho | death of David Pollock and her sur 1 render to the law on the followine | morning."
 ! "What!' The startled exclamation
 was Wrung involuntarily from the Dis 1 triCt Attorney as he half rose from hi: 1 chair. but it was drowned in the sti1 of excitement that swept through the
 entire room. For this had indeed beer
 a mOoted question and a decidedly | sore point with the PrOsecutor-th, | whereabouts of Mary during thOst | hours imm ediately following the mur der
 Miss Page,' continued Langdor | when the Judges gavel had restored
 order "did not herself know exactl,
 what was happening. As always fol l lows an attack of repressed psychosis | the mind of the sufferer was like tha
 of patient coming out of ether;
 flash of recollection and a stretch o
 blank inconsistencies therefore, it i
 not until now that I have succeeded
 in piecing together the story of tha
 night and I shall call as my frs
 witness, Kate O'Neill,"
 Kate proved to be the buxom wom
 an in the purple bonnet who gav
 her age as round thirty-five'' an,
 her occupation as "a cook, and a gooc
 one" to the delighted amusement o
 the spectators.
 l Miss O'NeiH," said Langdon afte
 the preliminary questions, you sa;
 you are a cook. Where were you las
 employed?"
 1 'In the boardin'- house of Mrs. Wat
 son. she answered with strong Hi
 bernian accent And the very oult
 divil of 8 job it was, tool"
 That is on the same street as tn
 Hotel Republic, is it not?"
 "Suret and it's but two doors away
 and what wid the dancin' and the mu sic going on there, and the phony graph at the Club back, 'tis never