He would call
evidence to show that it was the prisoner who ultimately handed
his stepmother her coffee on the fatal night. Later in the
evening, he had sought admission to her room, on which occasion,
no doubt, he found an opportunity of destroying the will which,
as far as he knew, would render the one in his favour valid.
The prisoner had been arrested in consequence of the discovery,
in his room, by Detective Inspector Japp--a most brilliant
officer--of the identical phial of strychnine which had been sold
at the village chemist's to the supposed Mr. Inglethorp on the
day before the murder. It would be for the jury to decide
whether or not these damning facts constituted an overwhelming
proof of the prisoner's guilt.
And, subtly implying that a jury which did not so decide, was
quite unthinkable, Mr. Philips sat down and wiped his forehead.
The first witnesses for the prosecution were mostly those who had
been called at the inquest, the medical evidence being again
taken first.
Sir Ernest Heavywether, who was famous all over England for the
unscrupulous manner in which he bullied witnesses, only asked two
questions.
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