Don Gutteridge - Minor Corruption

So it happened that these gentlemen hadattended a dinner and evening’s entertainment on that great estatein late August. And part of the entertainment had been aventriloquist performance by Seamus Baldwin, in which he wascostumed like a leprechaun and the live dummy on his lap wasintended to be an Irish peasant girl, complete with ruffled skirtand low-cut peasant blouse. The only positive thing from Marc’spoint of view during this otherwise devastating testimony, was thatthe dummy had been Edie Barr, not Betsy Thurgood. But much damagewas done nevertheless. Both gentlemen were shocked at thespectacle. Seamus Baldwin had placed his right hand in the bun thatformed the back of the girl’s hair as if it were a string on adummy’s mouth, and while he tried unsuccessfully to keep his lipsfrom moving, Edie’s lower jaw dropped and rose – dummy-like – andappeared to engage in a putatively comic dialogue with theleprechaun. The “dummy,” without corsets or stockings, was perchedas plump as you please on the old fool’s lap.

Marc chose to cross-examine only the first ofthese two witnesses.

“Mr. Leigh, did you not laugh at theentertainment? Remember, sir, you are under oath.”

The question caught Leigh by surprise, but hesaid grudgingly, “Once or twice. It would’ve been comical if ithadn’t been improper.”

“Have you ever been to the theatre, sir?”

“Well, yes. Once or twice.”

“Ever see a comedy or a French farce?”

“One or two.”

“Ever see actors, male and female, doingthings on stage that you might in your own home consider a bitnaughty or ‘improper’ even?”

“Yes, but that was on a stage!”

“Were Mr. Baldwin and Miss Barr incostume?”

“Well, yes.”

“Were they on a platform in Dr. WilliamBaldwin’s drawing-room?”

“Well, yes, they were. Just a littleone.”

“Was each of them playing a role other thantheir own selves?”

“Well, yes – ”

“So what was improper, sir? You were being entertained , were you not? By a pair of costumed actors? Mr.Seamus Baldwin was not fondling the girl, was he? The girldid not look distressed, did she? Or as if she were beingcoerced?”

Leigh had rocked back under this barrage, andCambridge had just reached his feet when the witness mumbled, “No,sir. None of those things.”

Sitting on the rear bench near the back doorsnext to the bailiff, Cobb felt the heat rise up through his collar.What on earth was Marc up to? Was he out to cut up every witness,every honest citizen who stepped up to the stand to do his duty?How far would his friend go to dismantle this airtight case?

Marc’s rapid-fire examination of Samuel Leighdid much to blunt the subsequent testimony of Ralph Broadhead. SoMarc declined to cross-examine.

The last witness of the morning was BethEdwards. She had watched several dramatic trials in the past twoyears, but she had never been on the witness-stand herself. She wasnervous but did her best to appear calm. She had not beeninterviewed by Neville Cambridge, but she was anticipating theworst. Few people in the room did not know she was the wife of thedefense attorney. If she had compelling testimony to offer theCrown, it would weigh mightily with the jury. Marc caught her eye,and she smiled grimly. Marc had studiously avoided discussing thepossible questions she might be asked, as she was an officialprosecution witness. Even so, she was better left to her owndevices, which were considerable.

“Mrs. Edwards, I believe you attended abirthday party at the beginning of September for Miss Eliza Baldwinout at Spadina?”

“I did,” Beth said, certain now where thiswas going. She braced herself.

“Did the defendant, Mr. Seamus Baldwin, makean appearance at that party?”

“Yes.”

“Describe the nature and course of thatappearance for the members of the jury.”

Beth hesitated.

“Begin with his arrival, please, and go fromthere.”

“Mr. Baldwin arrived doin’ a jig and playin’an Irish fife. He was dressed like an elf or a leprechaun.”

“This child-like behaviour was intended toentertain the children?”

“Yes. And it did. They laughed and prancedaround him.”

“What else did he do to entertain them?”

Marc suddenly realized that the reasonCambridge had not bothered to interview Beth was that someone elseat that party had already filled in the details. But who? Therewere no outsiders that day. Surely not Fabian Cobb. But it couldhave been Edie. From Cobb’s report of his interview with her, Marcgot the impression that she had a love-hate relationship with theold man. If he had, in his recent depression, not paid hersufficient attention, then she might have tattled to spite him. Shecame into St. James cathedral every Sunday with the family. Therewould be ample time for her to slip away and make a statement. Heturned his attention back to the witness-stand, where Beth hadstarted to answer Cambridge’s question.

“He played Blind Man’s Buff with the childrenat the party.”

“And he was the blind man?”

“Yes.”

“Who else joined in the game?”

“The two housemaids, Betsy Thurgood and EdieBarr.”

Cambridge paused, glanced meaningfully at thejurors, and said, “And who invited them to join?”

Beth sighed, but she had little choice: shewould tell the truth, if she was compelled to. “They asked if theycould join, and when Miss Partridge objected, Mr. Baldwin gave thempermission. And they joined in.”

“Mr Seamus Baldwin?” Cambridge said asif he were introducing that name for the first time.

“Yes. He wanted them to enjoy themselves,too.” It was the best she could do.

“In the course of this children’s game, theBlind Man tries to capture one of the participants, who taunt andtease him. Am I correct?”

“You are. But whenever Mr. Baldwin came closeto catching a child, he’d pretend to stumble and lose his hold. Thechildren roared with laughter. They were having a wonderfultime.”

“I’m sure they were. There’s a little childin all of us. But at some point did Mr. Baldwin actually catch aparticipant?”

“Yes. He caught Edie Barr, one of thehousemaids.”

“I see. No stumbling there, I take it?”

Marc grimaced but kept quiet. Beth took thequestion as rhetorical and waited, apprehensively.

“One variation of this game, as I understandit, is that when someone is captured, the children cry out, ‘Who isit? You’ve got to tell us who you’ve caught!’ Did that happen onthis occasion?”

“Yes. The children ordered him to name theperson he’d captured.”

“Describe, as precisely as you can recall,how he went about it.”

“Well, first of all, I’m sure he knew whohe’d caught. I was told he could actually see through the scarf heused for a mask. That was so he could pretend to stumble andstagger and play ignorant so he could entertain the children withhis pratfalls. So as she stood stock still, he moved his hands upand down her figure, keeping them deliberately away from touchingher. Again, the children howled at his exaggeratin’.”

“Then what happened?”

“I think Edie lost her balance and then -fell against . . . Mr. Baldwin.”

“Fell into his hands so that he was graspingher? Where?”

Beth waited as long as she could beforesaying, “Around the hips.”

“And how can you be sure it was Miss Barr whofell into those hands and not the hands that moved most improperlyagainst her ?”

“I can’t. But it looked to me like she losther balance. Like it was an accident.”

“Did he remove his hands right away? Sort ofjump back startled? After all, you say he could see everything thatwas happening through the scarf.”