John Carr - The Judas Window

'Instead, he kept there only his "trophies". This, members of the jury, refers to the fact that the deceased had been a keen follower of the pastime of archery. He was a member of the Royal Toxophilite Society and of the Woodmen of Kent, societies which exist for the furtherance of this good old sport. On the wall of his study hung some prizes of the annual matches of the Woodmen of Kent. These consisted of three arrows - inscribed respectively with the dates on which they had been won, 1928, 1932, 1934 - and a bronze medal presented by the Woodmen of Kent for a record number of points, or hits, in 1934-

'With this background, then; the deceased went into his study at about 5.15 on the evening of January 4th. Now mark what follows. At this time the deceased called to Dyer, the butler, and instructed him to close and lock the shutters. Dyer said: "The shutters?" - expressing surprise, since this had not been done since the deceased had

left off using the room as an office. The deceased said: "Do as I tell you; do you think I want Fleming to see that fool making trouble?"

'You will hear that this referred to Mr Randolph Fleming, a fellow archery-enthusiast and a friend of the deceased, who lived next door: in fact, in the house across the narrow paved passage outside the study windows. Dyer followed the deceased's instruction, and securely barred the shutters. It is worthy of note that the two sash-windows were also locked on the inside. Dyer, making sure that everything was in order in the room, then observed on a sideboard a decanter full to the stopper of whisky, an unused syphon of soda-water, and four clean -tumblers. Dyer left the room.

'At 6.10 o'clock the prisoner arrived. You will hear evidence which will enable you to decide whether he was or was not in an extremely agitated frame of mind. He then refused to remove his overcoat, and asked to be taken at once to Mr Hume. Dyer took him to the study and then left the room, closing the door.

'At about 6.18 Dyer, who had remained in the little passage outside the door, heard the prisoner say: "I did not come here to kill anyone unless it- becomes absolutely necessary." Some minutes later he heard Mr Hume cry out, "Man, what is wrong with you? Have you gone mad?" And he heard certain noises which will be described to you.'

This time the Attorney-General's pause was of the slightest. Sir Walter Storm was warming up: though he remained fluently impersonal, and still read out quotations with the same painstaking articulation. His only gesture was to move his forefinger slowly at the jury at each word he read. Sir Walter is a tall man, and the sleeve of his black gown flapped a little:

'At this point, members of the jury, Dyer knocked at the door and asked whether anything was wrong. His employer replied: "No, I can deal with this; go away" - which he did.

'At 6.30 Miss Amelia Jordan came downstairs, on her way out of the house, and went to the study. She was about to knock at the door when she heard the voice of the prisoner say: "Get up I Get up, damn you!" Miss Jordan tried the knob of the door, and found that it was bolted on the inside. She then ran down the passage, meeting Dyer who was just coming into it. She said to him: "They are fighting; they are killing each other; go and stop them." Dyer said that it might be better to get a policeman. Miss Jordan then said: "You are a coward; run next door and fetch Mr Fleming." Dyer suggested that Miss Jordan had better not be left alone in the house at that moment, and that she herself had better go after Mr Fleming.

'This she did, finding Mr Fleming just leaving his house to go out. Mr Fleming returned with her. They found Dyer returning from the kitchen with a poker, and all three went to the study door. Dyer knocked; after a minute they heard a noise which they correctly believed to be that of the bolt being slowly withdrawn from its socket on the other side of the door. I say "correctly", members of the jury. That the bolt was indeed withdrawn at this moment, and that it was a stiffly working bolt which required some effort to draw, has repeatedly been acknowledged by the prisoner himself.

'The prisoner opened the door a few inches. On seeing them, he opened it fully, and said: "All right; you may as well come in."

'You may or may not think the remark a callous one under the circumstances. The circumstances were that Mr Hume was lying on the floor between the window and the desk, in a position you will hear described. An arrow had been driven into his chest, and remained upright in the body. You will hear that arrow identified as one which, when deceased was last seen alive in the company of the prisoner alone, had been hanging on the wall of the study: this, indeed, has been acknowledged by the prisoner himself.

'With regard to this arrow, we shall demonstrate by medical evidence that it had been driven into the body with such force and direction that it penetrated the heart and caused instantaneous death.

'You will hear, on the testimony of expert witnesses, that this arrow could not possibly have been shot or fired - as, that is to say, one might discharge it from a bow - but that it must have been used as a hand-weapon, as one might use a knife.

'You will hear from police officers that there was on this arrow (which had been hanging for some years against the wall) a coating of dust. This dust had been disturbed at only one place, where there were found clear finger-prints.

'You will hear, finally, that these finger-prints were those of the prisoner at the bar.

'Now, what happens when the prisoner opens the door of the study to Miss Jordan, Mr Fleming, and the butler? He is alone in the room with the dead man, as they establish. Mr Fleming says to him: "Who did it?" The prisoner replied: "I suppose you will say I did it." Mr Fleming says: "Well, you have finished him, then; we had better send for the police." Still, they proceed to examine the room: discovering the steel shutters still barred on the inside, and the sash-windows locked on the inside as well. The prisoner, it will be our course to demonstrate to you, has been found alone with a murdered man in a room rendered inaccessible in this fashion; and nowhere, we may say literally, can there be shown a crack or crevice for the entrance or exit of any other person. During the time that Mr Fleming searched the room, the prisoner sat in a chair with what was apparently complete calm (but you must hear this from the witnesses) and smoked a cigarette.'

Someone coughed.

It was an inadvertent cough, since every face in the court wore a strain of gravity; but it caused a stir. How most of the people had taken all this I could not tell. Still, such things have an atmosphere; and this atmosphere was sinister. Behind us in the seats of the City Lands Corporation were two women. One was good-looking and wore a leopard-skin coat; the other was plain, not to say ugly, and made up her aristocratic face several times. It is only fair to admit that they did not shift round or laugh or make their voices carry; the metallic whispers reached only us.

Leopard-Skin said: 'Do you know, I met him at a cocktail party once. I say, isn't it frightfully exciting? Just think, in three weeks he'll be hanged.'

Plain-Face said: 'Do you find it amusing, darling? I do wish they would give one a comfortable place to sit.'

Sir Walter Storm leaned against the back of the bench, spreading out his arms along it, and contemplated the jury.

'Now, members of the jury, just what does the prisoner himself have to say to all this? How does he explain the fact that he, and he alone, could have been with the deceased when Mr Hume died? How does he explain the presence of his finger-prints on the weapon? How does he explain (a fact which will further be presented to you) that he went to that house armed with a pistol? You will hear in detail the various remarks he made to Mr Fleming, to Dyer, and to Dr Spencer Hume, who arrived shortly after the discovery of the body.