Delphi Complete Works of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (Illustrated)

by SIR ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE

  MR. CLERK. Q. When was it that your wife’s mother died? A. 15 years ago, in October — I never visited her in the asylum but once — I can’t say whether she was there 12 mouths or 2 years — I think she was between sixty and seventy when she died — my wife had never been confined in any asylnm — I cannot say that I ever perceived any appearance of an unsound mind in her during our marriage — I never did — she was rather more kind to Charles than to Thomas — that has been a cause of difference, a cause of words between us — I have frequently told her that Charles was most in fault.

  JOHN VARNEY (Policeman, P 333). I remember Beard speaking to me on the morning of 31st July — I went by myself to 16, Manor-place, Walworth, about 6 o’clock — I went into the house and went up stairs on to the second floor landing — when I went up there I saw three dead bodies on the landing; the first was a boy about 10 or 11 years old; the next was a female lying on her face; and another female a little to the left of her — the prisoner came to the door; he said, “Oh! policeman, here is a sight; what shall I do?” — he made a step to come towards me on the landing — he was standing at the back room door when he said that — he was stepping out on to the landing, and I said,” Go back into the room and put on your clothes” — he was not dressed; he was in his night-shirt; I noticed the right sleeve of the shirt was torn, and the wristband was hanging on his hand — I noticed that when he was standing at the door — the wristband appeared to hang on the back of his hand — the inspector arrived just then — I then left the prisoner with him and went into the front room — the prisoner did not say anything to me before the inspector came, further than what I have stated; he said his mother had done all this — he said that at the time that he said “Here is a sight; what shall I do?” he said, “My mother has done all this;” and when in the back room he said, “I struck my mother, but it was in self-defence, and would not you have done the same? that is law.”

  Crosi-examined. Q. You told him to go into his room and dress himself? A. Yes — at that time he was only in his shirt — I am sure I saw the wristband hanging down — after my coming into the front room he took off his shirt to put another one on, and at that time I missed the wristband of it; I could not find it anywhere — I am quite sure it was on when I saw him first — I have the shirt here.

  JAMES DANN (Police Inspector, P). Shortly before 6 o’clock on the morning of 31st July I heard of what had taken place at Manor-place — I went to the house accompanied by a constable of the name of Lack — I went up the stall’s — I saw the prisoner standing on the landing on the second floor — we were both on the landing — he said, “This is my mother’s doing; she came to the bedside where my brother and I were sleeping; killed him, and made a stab at me, and I in my own defence wrenched the knife from her hand and killed her, if she is dead” — upon that, the constable Lack, pointing to the body of the young woman, said, “Was this young woman lying here when you killed your mother?” — the prisoner hesitated a little and then said, “I don’t know” — at that time there were three bodies on the landing — the boy, Thomas Neale Youngman, was lying on his back — his head was close to the edge of the top stair — his feet were in a direction away from the stairs; towards the wall of the house; the opposite wall — he was in his night-shirt — the right leg was a little drawn up — there was a great deal of blood where the body of the boy was lying — I then observed the position of the young woman, Mary Streeter — she was lying on the landing with her head inside the back room door — I should say that her head was about a foot or thirteen inches inside the doorway — her feet were towards the front room door — the body wag lying on the right side — she was in her night-dress — there was nothing on her feet; no slippers — there was a great deal of blood near where her head was lying — the blood had flowed from near her head under the door of the back room and under the foot of the bed in the back room; the Stream was about four feet six or seven inches in length — the breadth at the commencement was about fifteen inches, at the termination about six or seven — I then observed the body of the elder woman, Elizabeth Youngman — she was lying on the landing with her face downwards; on her stomach — her face was close to the thighs of the young woman; resting on the floor — the right shoulder of the elder woman rested on the legs of the young woman — the feet of Mrs. Youngman were inside the front room door — she was also in her night-dress; without slippers, or steckings, or anything on her feet — I observed a great deal of blood where she was lying — most of it was close to her head and throat; it had spread some distance; several inches away from her — there was a pool of blood where she was lying; where her bead was — I went into the front room and there saw the body of the youngest child — it was on a bed in the front room, outside the bed-clothes, quite dead — he was in his nightdress — he was lying move on the right side than any other position — the feet were towards the head of the bed; and the head towards the foot — there was a great deal of blood on the bed — it had soaked through the counterpane, blanket, and sheet; and into the bed — the blood was just underneath where the child was lying; underneath the child’s neck and shoulders — I observed the floor of that room — there was not any pool of blood anywhere on the floor in that room — I saw marks of blood in the room — some had been trodden into the room with a naked foot — the footmark was sufficiently distinct for me to be able to speak of its size — it appeared to be the foot of a grown-up person — I saw two footmarks of blood; both in the same direction — I mean that I saw two footsteps which had imprints of blood, which had left the marks of blood, both going in the same direction, from the door towards the bed where the child was lying — there was no smear of blood along the floor of that room — there was no other blood in the bed except that which I have mentioned as being underneath the head and shoulders of the child, and that which had soaked through the clothes — I examined the bed in the back room — there was an appearance of blood about that bed — there wen three or four drops of blood on the sheet, and some smears of blood on the sheet — it appeared to have been wiped off a person’s hands — there was no pool of blood about that bed — there was some blood that had run from the door under the foot of the bed, and there was some blood that bad been trampled about the floor of the room; but no pool of blood in any part — when I first came to the house the prisoner was not dressed; he was in his night-shirt — his bands and feet were bloody; his night-shirt was very much stained with blood also — I did not see any wound about any part of his person — I did not examine him particularly, but I stripped him, and I did not see any wound — I saw the weapon after it was found — the prisoner was taken into custody — I did not see any cut on him when he was taken into custody; he did not complain of any — on the evening of the same day I went down to Wadhurst, to the residence of Mr. Streeter the father of the deceased — I received from Mr. Streeter a number of letters, which I have here — I have fifteen in all — six of these letters were read before the Magistrate — these (produced) are the six given in evidence, and these (produced) are the nine — they are all here — on my return to town I saw a box at the police-station, in the possession of Superintendent Payne — I opened that box with a key which I found in the prisoner’s possession — I there found the paper which I now produce — it is a policy of assurance — I have a piece of the guard of the knife which has been produced — the prisoners brother John gave it to me.

  Cross-examined. Q. You have told us there were two footmarks leading into the front room? A. Two — the first I should say was about two feet inside the door; that is, as near as I can remember — the second was about two feet six inches further on; towards the bed — one was the right, and the other was the left foot — there were no more footsteps round the bed — there was too much blood just at the landing outside between the two doors, to trace any footmark there — when the prisoner had the conversation with Lack, myself, Lack, and Varney were present — when the question was put to him he was a little co
nfused — he was not so all through — he was very little excited; not at all — he appeared confused when Lack put the question — he hesitated, as I have said — he was not confused during any other part of the time — he appeared to be quite collected.

  DAVID LACK (Policeman, P 132). On the morning of 31st July I went with Mr. Dann to 16, Manor-place, Walworth, a few minutes before 6 — I saw three bodies lying on the second landing — I found this knife — it was lying just between the two females; it was open as it is now, with the point and a piece of the guard broken off, and smeared with blood just the same as it is now — I picked it up — I saw the prisoner at this time — he spoke to me first — he pulled his right shirt-sleeve up and said, “Here is a job; my mother has done all this” — I said, “Where is your mother?” he pointed down to the elder female and said, “There she lies; I struck her in my own defence” — I said, “Was this young female lying here when you struck your mother?” — he hesitated for a moment and then said, “I do not know.”

  EDMUND PAYNE. I am superintendent of the P division of police — I obtained the box which was opened by inspector Dann at the house, 16, Manor- place — I found it in the back room on the top floor — I directed its removal to my office and went with it — when the prisoner was brought to the police-station on the morning of 31st July, I spoke to him about the knife which has been produced here — I said, “Do you know anything about that knife?” — Lack the constable had just shown the knife to me; I think that was in the presence of the prisoner — the prisoner’s reply was, “It is my knife; it is what I had to cut my bread and cheese with” — I think I asked how long he had had it, and he said, “A few days,” or “about a fortnight” — I did not expect at that time to be called as a witness, and I do not recollect distinctly whether it was in reply to me or of his own accord, but he said he had had it in his possession a few days or nearly a fortnight — I believe he used both expressions; first, “a few days,” and I believe he afterwards said, “Nearly a fortnight.”

  JOHN VARNEY (re-examined). When I saw the prisoner on that morning at the house in Manor-place, I asked him where the young woman slept the previous night, and he said, “In the front room” — he said she had slept with his mother and his little brother, and the elder boy slept with himself in the back room

  WILLIAM BARNARD BODDY. I am a surgeon, and practise at 3, Savillerow, Walworth — on the morning of Tuesday, 31st July, I was called to go to the house 16, Manor-place — that was, I should think, about 6 o’clock — Beard, the carpenter, the man who lives in the second floor, came to me — I went to the house immediately — I there found the bodies of four persons, who were dead — three were on the landing and the body of the little boy was on the bed in the front room — the bodies were all quite warm; as warm as if they had been alive; from animal heat — I examined the body of the young woman, Mary Wells Streeter, which was lying on the landing — I found a stab over her left breast which penetrated the cavity of the chest — there was also a wound on the throat; it was literally cut from ear to ear — that had been done with a very sharp and very strong instrument — the carotid artery and jugular vein on each side were divided; making a clean sweep through everything, down to the cervical vertebrae or bones of the neck — the wound had severed the windpipe and the gullet — such a wound would, I think, have caused instantaneous death; the cutting through the windpipe and the gullet would prevent a person from calling out; it would be quite impossible for a person to call out with such a wound — I think it must have required a strong arm to have inflicted that wound.

  COURT. Q. That must, of course, depend upon the instrument? A. It would depend upon the instrument.

  MR. CLERK. Q. What sort of person was the deceased? A. A young woman in good animal condition, I think — in no way emaciated, but healthy — she was anything but weak; I think she was healthy and strong — I then examined the body of the elder woman; she had three stabs altogether, two over the left shoulder-blade, one over the sternum or breast- bone, and a deep cut or stab behind the left side of the neck, which divided the carotid artery and jugular vein on the left side down to the cervical vertebra — that wound would have caused almost immediate death, perhaps not so instantaneous as with the other, who had her throat cut — I should not think it possible that the wounds either upon the young woman or the elder woman could have been inflicted by themselves, particularly upon the elder woman; it would be an impossibility — the elder woman seemed to be a person in tolerably good health, not particularly bulky or muscular, but tolerably healthy, I thought — she was not particularly strong certainly, rather inclined to be stout than thin — I did not discover any injury about the hands of either of the women — I then examined the body of the younger boy, Charles, who was lying on the bed in the front room — I discovered one wound over the chest-bone, and two small incised cuts on the left upper arm, and there was one deep plunging cut or stab through the back of the neck, which divided the bones of the neck and cut right through the spinal cord — that wpund would have caused immediate death — a part of the gullet and windpipe was likewise wounded in the sweep of the knife; that would have quite prevented the child from crying out — I then examined the body of the elder boy, which was lying on the stairs; he had two cuts, one on the right angle of the lower lip, and one cut all round the throat, merely dividing the cutis, not the skin positively, but the small enveloping membrane — there were six stabs altogether, one on the right side of the neck and half way between the ear and the right shoulder, one over the left breast, another over the left breast about an inch and a half below the former, and more to the left side, and three stabs on the left side over the ribs — the three first fingers of the right hand at the extremities were cut through to the bone; the third finger of the left hand was likewise cut at its extremity quite into the bone — those were all the wounds — the one that entered the chest was the cause of death — there wore two wounds on the chest; both were fatal wounds; one entered the pericardium, the enveloping membrane of the heart, that would be necessarily fatal, the other penetrated the lungs — both wounds entered the lungs, the top as well as the bottom plunge, and both would be fatal — if the child had grasped a sharp instrument, the hands would have presented exactly the appearance that I discovered, if the weapon had been drawn through the hands — I see the knife that has been produced; the marks I saw were just such as I should have expected to find from such an instrument — all the wounds upon all the four bodies were inflicted with a sharp instrument; it must have been a very sharp, powerful instrument — I have seen this knife before; the point of it is broken — I apprehend that it was originally a sharp pointed instrument; such an instrument as that, if the point had been sharp, might have inflicted all the wounds I saw upon all the bodies — there was no mark upon any of the bodies of a struggle having taken place during life, except upon that of the child that was lying near the stairs; his were the only hands that were wounded.

  Cross-examined, Q. If I understand you rightly the mother had one wound in the chest? A. Yes — if that wound had been inflicted first I think she would possibly have screamed; I think it is more than probable she would — she had four wounds — I think the mischief that was product on the boy’s hand was from an attempt in struggling to relieve himself from some injury that was being inflicted upon him; the cuts presented the appearance as if they were inflicted when struggling with some person, putting his hands up to prevent his throat being cut — if those wounds on the boy had been inflicted with great rapidity he would have died almost immediately — the two in the chest would have caused nearly instant death — I think he might have had time to scream out; death would not have followed so rapidly as that; there would have been some moments between the infliction of the wound and death — I have had very little experience in cases of cancer of the womb — I have never known it to create delirium; it produces a great deal of emaciation if it is of long continuance — it is an extremely painful disease — I s
hould not think the pain would affect the brain; it might occasionally, but not as a general rule — it is not taken as a symptom or consequence of disease of the womb — supposing that Mrs. Youngman had been in a state of delirium I think she was strong enough to have inflicted these blows.