The Argosy — page 17: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

THREE THEORIES OF A CRIME. 7 209 the character of the defense was going to be such as to appeal only to men of heart, conscience, and imaginative temperament, and I gained my point, for _ never did a worthier body of men grace a jury box. Step by step the district attorney proceeded, as it were, on his way to the gallows with his prisoner. Strand by strand was woven about his neck the rope that was to hang him. I could do but little. All of the evidence we were prepared to admit any way, and in justice to the various witnesses I am free to confess that their testimony was honest and impartial. I raised no objections as the prosecution went on. Old lawyers, friends of my late father, who had hoped brilliant things for me, eyed me pityingly, and I could easily see wondered what I had been doing on the case. Mur- murs of aversion and dislike of the prisoner were barely audible here and there as the guilt of the man became more and more apparent, and the de- fense appeared so manifestly unable to stem the tide. This was particularly noticeable when John Bright took the stand and displayed the piece of bloody carpet, showed the imprint of the hand upon it, and pointed out the absence of the middle finger. All the evidence for the people was heard that day. Dr. Leader testified, from a photograph of the murdered woman, to her identity as the woman he had seen in Dr. Throck’s office. Dr. Throck’s landlady proved that he had returned to his rooms about 3530 on the morning of the 4th of October, and remained home all day, suffering from nervous shock. : Miss Oldfield testified to meeting Dr. Throck upon the stairs of the Baxter Building, at three o’clock on the morning of October 4. Bright produced the pistol found in the ash pit of the Baxter Building, and Jones positively identified it as belonging to Dr. Throck. The imprint and the missing finger tallying with the shape and form of the doctor’s left hand had been dwelt upon at due length by the district attorney, and when court adjourned for the day it was plain to be seen that Dr. Throck at that moment stood convicted of murder in the minds of all. But the defense was yet to come. I was never in my life more cool and calm than at the moment I rose to open it the following day. There was an expectant hush about the place, as I stepped toward the center before the judge’s desk. I had sat passively by during the introduc- tion of the evidence of the previous day, and the prisoner himself appeared so calm and undisturbed, that after a night’s reflection, the people -had taken it all as a still deeper turn of the mystery, and crowded the courtroom in greater numbers than on the former occasion. Even the judge and jury seemed to partake of the intense suppressed excitement of the hour, and leaned toward me at the time as if bending under a weight of unasked questions. I will pass over my remarks in opening the defense and go on to the testimony of the first witness. It was Dr. Leonard Vincent, a surgeon celebrated far and near as a master of his profession. He was requested to examine the piece of carpet. ‘“Doctor,’’ I asked, ‘‘ do you discern there the outlines of a hand ?”? Eomichbooks (S@)