The Judas Window

'Yes.'

"Why did you decide to do that?' An indistinguishable mutter.

'You will have to speak up,' said the judge sharply. 'We cannot hear a word you are saying.'

Answell looked round; but the fixed, sunken expression of his eyes never altered. With some effort he found his voice, and seemed to catch up things in the middle of a sentence. and I wanted to buy an engagement ring. I had not got one yet'

'You wanted to buy an engagement ring’ repeated H.M., keeping his tone to an encouraging growl. 'When did you decide to go? I mean, what part of Friday d'you decide this?'

'Late Friday night.'

'Uh-huh. What made you think of this trip?'

'My cousin Reg was going up to town that evening, and he asked me whether he could get an engagement ring for me.' A long pause. 'It was the first time I had thought of it.' Another long pause. 'I suppose I should have thought of it sooner.'

'Did you tell Miss Hume you were goin'?'

'Yes, naturally,' replied Answell, with a sudden and queer ghost of a smile which vanished immediately.

'Did you know that on this Friday evening she had put through a telephone-call to her father in London?'

'No, I did not know it then. I learned it afterwards.'

'Was it before or after this call that you decided to come to town next day?'

'Afterwards.'

'Yes. What happened then?'

'Happened? Oh, I see what you mean,' said the other, as though with relief. 'She said she would write a note to her father, and she sat down and wrote one.'

'Did you see this note?'

‘Yes.’

'In this note, did it mention what train you were takin' in the morning?'

'Yes, the nine o'clock from Frawnend station.'

'That's about an hour and three-quarters' run, ain't it? Thereabouts?'

'Yes, on a fast train. It is not quite as far as Chichester.'

'Did the note mention both the time of departure and the time of gettin' there?'

‘Yes, ten-forty-five at Victoria. It's the train Mary herself always takes when she goes up.'

'So he knew the train pretty well, eh?' 'He must have.'

H.M. was allowing him plenty of time, and handling him with the softest of gloves. Answell, with the same fixed and sunken look, usually started off a sentence clearly, but allowed it to tail off.

'What'd you do after you got to London?'

'I - I went and bought a ring. And some other business.'

'And after that?'

'I went to my flat.'

'What time did you get there?'

'About twenty-five minutes past one.'

'Was that when the deceased rang you up?'

'Yes, about one-thirty.'

H.M. leaned forward, humping his shoulders and spreading out his big hands on the desk. At the same time the prisoner's own hands began to tremble badly. He looked up at the edge of the roof over the box; it was as though they were approaching some climax where wires must not be drawn too tightly or they would snap.

'Now, you've heard it testified that the deceased had already rung up your flat many times that mornin', without getting an answer?'

'Yes.’

'In fact, he was ringin' up that flat as early as nine o'clock in the morning?' 'Yes.'

'You heard Dyer say that?' 'Yes.'

'Uh-huh. But he must have known perfectly well he couldn't get you, mustn't he? At nine o'clock you were just leavin' Frawnend, on an hour and three-quarters' journey. There were the times of arrival and departure smack in front of him, on a train his daughter frequently took. He must have known - mustn't he? - that it'd be two hours before he could hope to get you?'

'I should have thought so.'

('What on earth is the man doing?' demanded Evelyn in my ear. 'Pulling his own witness to pieces?)

'Now let's take this phone conversation. What did the deceased say?'

Answell's account was the same as the others'. He had begun to speak with a terrible earnestness.

'Was there anything in what the deceased said that you could take offence at?'

'No, no, nothing at all.'

'What'd you think of it, in general?'

'Well, he did not sound exactly friendly, but then some people are like that. I thought he was just being reserved.'

'Was there any dark secret in your life that you thought he'd discovered?'

'Not that I know of. I never thought of it.'

'When you went along to see him that evenin', did you take your cousin's gun with you?'

'I - did - not. Why should I?'

'You got to the deceased's house at ten minutes past six? Yes. Now, we've heard how you dropped your hat, and seemed in a temper, and refused to take your overcoat off. Son, what was the real reason for all that conduct?'

Mr Justice Rankin interposed during the prisoner's quick mutter. 'If you are to do yourself any good, you must speak up. What did you say? I cannot hear.'

The prisoner turned towards him and made a baffled kind of gesture with his hands.

'My lord, I wanted to make as good an impression as I could.' Pause. 'Especially as he had not sounded - you know, cordial, over the phone.' Pause. 'Then, when I went in, my hat slipped out of my hands. It made me mad. I did not want to look like -'

'Like a what? What did you say?'

'Like a damned fool.'

'"Like a damned fool,"' repeated the judge without inflection. 'Go on.'

H.M. extended a hand. 'I suppose young fellers calling on their in-laws for the first time often do feel just as you did. What about the overcoat?'

'I didn't mean it. I didn't want to say it. But after I had said it I could not take it back, or it would have seemed worse."

'Worse?'

'More like an ass,' blurted the witness. 'Very well. You were taken back to the deceased? Yes. What was his manner towards you?' 'Reserved and - queer.'

'Let's make that clearer, son. Just what d'you mean, "queer"?'

'I do not know.' Pause. 'Queer.'

'Well, tell the jury what you said to each other.'

'He noticed me looking at those arrows on the wall. I asked him if he was interested in archery. He began talking about playing bows and arrows in the north when he was a boy, and how it was fashionable here in London. He said the arrows were trophies of what he called the "annual wardmote" of the Woodmen of Kent. He said: "At those meets, whoever first hits the gold becomes Master Forester for the next year."'

'"The gold?"' repeated H.M. in a rumbling voice. ‘ "The gold?" What did he mean by that?'

'I asked him that, and he said he meant the centre of the target. When he said this, he looked straight at me in an odd kind of way -'

'Explain that. Just take it easy, now

Again Answell gestured. 'Well, as though he thought that I had come fortune-hunting. That is the impression I got.'

'As though you'd come fortune-huntin’. But I s'pose, whatever else you could be called, you couldn't be called a fortune-hunter?'

'I hope not.'

'What did he say then?'

'He looked at his fingers, and looked hard at me, and said: "You could kill a man with one of those arrows."'

'Yes; after that?' prodded H.M. gently.

'I thought I had better change the subject. So I tried to be light about it, and I said: "Well, sir, I didn't come here to steal the spoons, or to murder anyone unless it becomes absolutely necessary."'

'Oh?' roared H.M. 'You used the expression, "I didn't come here to steal the spoons," before you said the rest of it. We haven't heard that, y'know. You said that?'

'Yes. I know I said that first, because I was still thinking about "the gold" and wondering what he had in mind. It was only natural.'

'I agree with you. And then?'

'I thought it was no good beating about the bush any longer, so I just said: "I want to marry Miss Hume, and what about it?"'