The Warwickshire Herald. — 1895-01-24 (Birmingham, West Midlands, England)

CHAPTER VH. COMNIIITET, FOR TRIAL.  Mr. Brandon, when the Court Was erapi-,ing, sought Falconer. eager to ascertans what he thought of the evidence; but Falconer was very reticent. All he would say was that the prisoner was certain to be committed; but this was enough to shew that he thought the case very serious for Sir Arnold, and Mr. Brandon was more than ever glad that it was in the hands of so able an advocate. If any man could secure an acquittal, Grahame Falconer could. For himself, Mr. Brandon WaS convinced, in spite of appearances, of his client's innocence, and he set to work con amore, as well as in initilment of his duty, to rake up evidence in trivour of Sir Arnold. Unluckily, the young man's own admissions were dead against him! The magistrate committed the prisoner for trial, and, by Falconer's advice, he reserved his defence.  "And we must get the case removed to the Central Criminal," Falconer said to Mr. Brandon. He spoke now more frankly of the evidence. "It will resolve itself," he said, "into picking holes in the prosecution. Sir Arnold's straightforward statement of facts tells for him, so far as his manner is oenoerned; but remember that every one of those facts is proved without his help; so that the admissions go practically for very little. He would have done mere wisely, in his own interest, by asserting that he had the revolver that night, and that he often carried one in lonely places. This might reduce the crime to manslaughter. But when a man deliberately arms himself with a loaded revolver, and that for a meeting with a woman, the presumption is almost overwhelming that be means to kill her; either in any case, or as an alternative." . "But isn't the very admission of a damaging truth a point in the prisouer's favour?"  "It depends upon the prisoner. Most 131611, especially very young men, conscious of guilt, think first of denying the possession of an incriminating weapon."  - "But there might be rebutting evidence as to our client's practice of sometimes carrying a revolver."  "You forget he had been barely three weeks at home, and he stated in his own evidence that he had this very revolver with him in his travels abroad. I don't advo.iate the lie. If Sir Arnold is conscious of innocence he would, naturally, speak the truth; only sometimes the truth injures a man more than a lie."  Sir Arnold's advisers succeeded in getting the venue of the trial transferred to the Central Criminal Court, where it was set down for hearing early iu November. Meanwhile, the general interest in the case was in no way abated, and Sir Arnold Laurence was tried, and condemned, or acquitted hundreds of times over in drawing-rooms, clubs, and bar-parlours. But no fresh evidence was discovered, nor any information concerning Miss Greystoke's past life; nor did anyone come forward to claim her body. The salary due to her more than sufficed to afford her a seemly funural, and she was quietly buried in a corner of Bradruere Churchyard, without, apparently, leaving a single creature to regret her, save Arnold Laurence. The lady who recommended her to Lady Laurence being communicated with, said that she had met Mies Greystoke travelling in Amerika, and, after • brief acquaintance, brought her to Europe as companion. This lady knew absolutely nothing of Alma. Possibly Greystoke was not even her name.  How and where the deceased woman had obtained the ragged garments in which she was found in the wools was, to all app.arance, the chief mystery in the case, They wore too genuine to be exposed for sale in any shop; they would not fetch sixpence. However, it seemed almost certain that she had had them in her possession before the day of the murder. That she should assume a male disguise when traversing uountry .lanes at midnight was not so strange, and,for the same reason, ragged garments would recommend themselves as safer—less likely to attract attention to the wearer—than more decent clothing. It was suggested that the deoeased might have been at one time on the stage, and that the tramp's dress formed a part of her properties; but no evidence was forthcoming to support the conjecture, and no other theatrical properties were found among her effects. Perhaps the mystery would tever be solved. It was, after all, a side issue; it left untouched the great and terrible facia of the case.