The examination of the prisoner by the magistrate lasted but a very
short time, for the reason that no replies of any kind could be
obtained to the questions put to him. He maintained a dogged silence,
and although the magistrate impressed upon him that this silence was
in itself a strong proof of his guilt, and that if he had anything to
say in his defence it would be to his advantage to say it at once, not
a word could be extracted from him, and he was taken to his cell,
instructions being given that he should not be unbound and that a
strict watch should be kept over him. While the unsuccessful
examination was proceeding I observed the man two or three times raise
his eyes furtively to mine, or rather endeavour to raise them, for he
could not, for the hundredth part of a second, meet my stern gaze, and
each time he made the attempt it ended in his drooping his head with a
shudder. On other occasions I observed his eyes wandering round the
room in a wild, disordered way, and these proceedings, which to my
mind were the result of a low, premeditated cunning, led me to the
conclusion that he wished to convey the impression that he was not in
his right senses, and therefore not entirely responsible for his
crime. When the monster was taken away I spoke of this, and the
magistrate fell in with my views, and said that the assumption of
pretended insanity was not an uncommon trick on the part of criminals.
I then asked him and Doctor Louis whether they would accompany me in a
search for the weapon with which the dreadful deed was committed (for
none had been found on the prisoner), and in a further examination of
the ground the man had traversed after he had killed his comrade in
guilt. Doctor Louis expressed his willingness, but the magistrate said
he had certain duties to attend to which would occupy him half an hour
or so, and that he would join us later on. So Doctor Louis and I
departed alone to continue the investigation I had already commenced.
We began at the window at the back of the doctor's house, and I again
propounded to Doctor Louis my theory of the course of events, to which
he listened attentively, but was no more convinced than he had been
before that a struggle had taken place.
"But," he said, "whether a struggle for life did or did not take place
there is not the slightest doubt of the man's guilt, I have always
viewed circumstantial evidence with the greatest suspicion, but in
this instance I should have no hesitation, were I the monster's judge,
to mete out to him the punishment for his crime."
Shortly afterwards we were joined by the magistrate who had news to
communicate to us.
"I have had," he said, "another interview with the prisoner, and have
succeeded in unlocking his tongue. I went to his cell, unaccompanied,
and again questioned him. To my surprise he asked me if I was alone. I
moved back a pace or two, having the idea that he had managed to
loosen the ropes by which he was bound, and that he wished to know if
I was alone for the purpose of attacking me. In a moment, however, the
fear was dispelled, for I saw that his arms were tightly and closely
bound to his side, and that it was out of his power to injure me. He
repeated his question, and I answered that I was quite alone, and that
his question was a foolish one, for he had the evidence of his senses
to convince him. He shook his head at this, and said in a strange
voice that the evidence of his senses was sufficient in the case of
men and women, but not in the case of spirits and demons. I smiled
inwardly at this--for it does not do for a magistrate to allow a
prisoner from whom he wishes to extract evidence to detect any signs
of levity in his judge--and I thought of the view you had presented to
me that the man wished to convey an impression that he was a madman,
in order to escape to some extent the consequences of the crime he had
committed. 'Put spirits and demons,' I said to him, 'out of the
question. If you have anything to say or confess, speak at once; and
if you wish to convince yourself that there are no witnesses either in
this cell--though that is plainly evident--or outside, here is the
proof.' I threw open the door, and showed him that no one was
listening to our speech. 'I cannot put spirits or demons out of the
question,' he said, 'because I am haunted by one, who has brought me
to this.' He looked down at his ropes and imprisoned limbs. 'Are you
guilty or not guilty?' I asked. 'I am not guilty,' he replied; 'I did
not kill him.' 'But he is murdered,' I said. 'Yes,' he replied, 'he is
murdered.' 'If you did not kill him,' I continued, 'who did?' What do
you think he answered? 'A demon killed him,' he said, 'and would have
killed me, if I had not fled and played him a trick.' I gazed at him
in thought, wondering whether he had the slightest hope that he was
imposing upon me by his lame attempt at being out of his senses. 'A
demon?' I said questioningly. 'Yes, a demon,' he replied. 'But,' I
said, and I admit that my tone was somewhat bantering, 'demons are
more powerful than mortals.' 'That is where it is,' he said; 'that is
why I am here.' 'You are a clumsy scoundrel,' I said, 'and I will
prove it to you; then you may be induced to speak the truth--in
which,' I added, 'lies your only hope of a mitigation of punishment.
Not that I hold out to you any such hope; but if you can establish,
when you are ready to confess, that what you did was done in
self-defence, it will be a point in your favour.' 'I cannot confess,'
he said, 'to a crime which I did not commit. I am a clumsy scoundrel
perhaps, but not in the way you mean. Prove it to me if you can.' 'You
say,' I began, 'that a demon killed your comrade.' 'He did,' persisted
the prisoner. 'And,' I continued, 'that he would have killed you if
you had not fled from him.' 'He would,' said the prisoner. 'But,' I
said, 'demons are more powerful than men. Of what avail would have
been your flight? Men can only walk or run; demons can fly. The demon
you have invented could have easily overtaken you and finished you as
you say he finished the man you murdered.' He was a little staggered
at this, and I saw him pondering over it. 'It isn't for me,' he said
presently, 'to pretend to know why he did not suspect the trick I
played him; he could have killed me if he wanted. I have spoken the
truth. I heard him pursuing me.' 'There again,' I said, wondering that
there should be in the world men with such a low order of
intelligence, 'you heard him pursuing you. Demons glide noiselessly
along. It is impossible you could have heard this one. You will have
to invent another story.' 'I have invented none,' he persisted
doggedly, and repeated, 'I have spoken the truth.' As I could get
nothing further out of him than a determined adherence to his
ridiculous defence, I left him."
"Do you think," asked Doctor Louis, "that he has any, even the
remotest belief in the story? Men sometimes delude themselves."
"I cannot believe it," replied the magistrate, "and yet I confess to
being slightly puzzled. There was an air of sincerity about him which
might be to his advantage had he to deal with judges who were ignorant
of the cunning of criminals."
"Which means," said Doctor Louis, "that it is really not impossible
that the man's mind is diseased."
"No," said the magistrate, in a positive tone, "I cannot for a moment
admit it. A tale in which a spirit or a demon is the principal actor!
In this age it is too absurd!"
At that moment I made a discovery; I drew from the midst of a bush a
stick, one end of which was stained with blood. From its position it
seemed as if it had been thrown hastily away; there had certainly been
no attempt at concealment.
"Here is the weapon," I cried, "with which the deed was done!"
The magistrate took it immediately from my hand, and examined it.
"Here," I said, pointing downwards, "is the direct line of flight
taken by the prisoner, and he must have flung the stick away in terror
as he ran."
"It is an improvised weapon," said the magistrate, "cut but lately
from a tree, and fashioned so as to fit the hand and be used with
effect."
I, in my turn, then examined the weapon, and was struck by its
resemblance to the branch I had myself cut the previous night during
the watch I kept upon the ruffians. I spoke of the resemblance, and
said that it looked to me as if it were the self-same stick I had
shaped with my knife.
"Do you remember," asked the magistrate, "what you did with it after
your suspicions were allayed?"
"No," I replied, "I have not the slightest remembrance what I did with
it. I could not have carried it home with me, or I should have seen it
this morning before I left my house. I have no doubt that, after my
mind was at ease as to the intentions of the ruffians, I flung it
aside into the woods, having no further use for it. When the men set
out to perpetrate the robbery they must have stumbled upon the branch,
and, appreciating the pains I had bestowed upon it, took it with them.
There appears to be no other solution to their possession of it."
"It is the only solution," said the magistrate.
"So that," I said with a sudden thrill of horror, "I am indirectly
responsible for the direction of the tragedy, and should have been
responsible had they used the weapon against those I love! It is
terrible to think of."
Doctor Louis pressed my hand. "We have all happily been spared,
Gabriel," he said. "It is only the guilty who have suffered."
We continued our search for some time, without meeting with any
further evidence, and I spent the evening with Doctor Louis's family,
and was deeply grateful that Providence had frustrated the villainous
schemes of the wretches who had conspired against them. On this
evening Lauretta and I seemed to be drawn closer to each other, and
once, when I held her hand in mine for a moment or two (it was done
unconsciously), and her father's eyes were upon us, I was satisfied
that he did not deem it a breach of the obligation into which we had
entered with respect to my love for his daughter. Indeed it was not
possible that all manifestations of a love so profound and absorbing
as mine should be successfully kept out of sight; it would have been
contrary to nature.
I slept that night in Doctor Louis's house, and the next morning
Lauretta and Lauretta's mother said that they had experienced a
feeling of security because of my presence.
At noon I was on my way to the magistrate's office.