Collected Short Fiction of Ngaio Marsh

A Telescript

“Crown Court” was a popular British television series produced by Granada Television Limited. The program presented civil and criminal cases, with members of the audience chosen to act as the jury. Each script therefore gives brief alternate endings. Evil Liver was announced as “the first television play by distinguished crime thriller writer Dame Ngaio Marsh.” It was recorded at the Granada studios in Manchester on July 23, 1975, and broadcast exactly a month later. It lasted an hour and fifteen minutes, including commercial breaks. Among its cast were William Mervyn as the Judge, Jonathan Elsom as the Prosecution Counsel, William Simons as the Defense Counsel, David Waller as Major Ecclestone, and Joan Hickson as Miss Freebody. Joan Hickson would later become famous for her role as Miss Marple in the British series which was broadcast in the United States on the Public Broadcasting System program Mystery and on the Arts and Entertainment cable network.

Although in line with the format of “Crown Court” the script of Evil Liver does not state who was guilty, Ngaio Marsh included clues which, I believe, point toward her solution. At the end of the play, I’ll rejoin you to discuss the various possibilities.

We gratefully acknowledge Granada Television Limited for giving permission to print Evil Liver.

D. G. G.

Cast of Evil Liver:

Mr. Justice Campbell

The Prosecution Counsel, Marcus Golding, QC

The Defense Counsel, Martin O’Connor

Mary Freebody

Major Basil Ecclestone

Dr. Stephen Swale

Thomas Tidwell

Barbara Ecclestone

Dr. Ernest Smithson

Gwendoline Miggs

Wardress

Clerk of Court

Court Usher

Jury Foreman

Court Reporter

Court Reporter: The case you are about to see is fictional. But the jury is made up of members of the public, who will assess the evidence and deliver their own verdict at the end of the program.

(Major Ecclestone is called by the Prosecution Counsel. He takes the witness stand and takes the oath.)

Court Reporter: On March 28th of this year, Miss Mary Freebody’s cat was savaged and killed by Bang, an Alsatian dog belonging to her next-door neighbor, Major Basil Ecclestone. A week later, or the 4th April, meat ordered by the Ecclestones was delivered to the outside safe of their house. That evening Major Ecclestone took from the safe some liver for his dog. The dog ate a portion of the liver, was instantly thrown into violent convulsions, and died. The contents of its stomach were analyzed and found to contain a massive amount of cyanide-of-potassium. A tin of wasp exterminator containing a high proportion of cyanide was found in Miss Freebody’s shrubbery, half empty. The Major made to the police an accusation of attempted murder against Miss Freebody maintaining that she had had the intention of killing not only his dog but himself. A police investigation has led to her being charged, and she now stands trial at the Crown Court in Fulchester.

Golding: … Now Major, if you would just describe the events leading to the—the tragedy. You were away from your house, were you not, during the afternoon of April 4th?

Major: Club. Bridge. Every Friday. (He gestures at the accused) As was well-known to my neighbor.

Golding: Quite so. Your wife was at home, I think?

Major: Migraine. In her room.

Golding: Yes. And you returned — when?

Major: Six-thirty.

Golding: May we have the order of events from then on?

Major: I — ah — I had a drink. Listened to the wireless. Seven o’clock, I went to the safe and got the dog’s food.

Golding: Yes. The safe: where is it?

Major: In the outside wall by the back door. It’s a two-doored safe; you can open it inside from the pantry. The butcher uses the outside door. So could anyone else. (At the prisoner) It’s opposite her bathroom window and her side door. And her gate onto the right-of-way. And my gate onto the right-of-way. She could get to it in a matter of seconds.

Golding: Quite so. We shall come to that presently, Major. Did you use the inside door of the safe into the pantry when you got the dog’s liver?

Major: I did.

Golding: Major, can you describe the wrapping at all? Did you happen to notice it?

Major (Pauses. Looks at prisoner): Matter of fact I did. Two or three layers of the Daily Telegraph.

Golding: Good. So you removed the liver from the safe? And then?

Major: I unwrapped the liver, put it in the dog’s dish and took it out to the kennel.

Golding: The dog being tied up?

Major: Certainly.

Golding: And then?

Major: Put it in front of him.

Golding: How many pieces?

Major: Two. All there was. Only gave him liver on Fridays. Other nights “Doggy Bits” or “Yaps.” Sunday, a bone.

Judge: What are “Doggy Bits” and “Yaps”?

Golding: I understand they are proprietary canine food, my lord.

(The Judge stares at the Major and then nods to Prosecution Counsel to continue.)

Golding: Yes, Major. So you put the dish before the dog. And?

Major: He swallowed part of one piece.

Golding: Yes.

Major: It happened at once. Frightful contortions. Convulsions. Agony. By Gad I’ve seen some terrible sights in my time, but never anything like that. And it was my dog, sir. It was Bang, my dog. My faithful old Bang. (He breaks down, blows his nose and belches. The Judge contemplates him stonily.)

Golding: A most painful experience and I am sorry to revive it. Mercifully it was soon over, was it not?

Major: Nothing merciful about it. (At the prisoner) A fiendish, cold-blooded murder, deliberately brought about by a filthy-minded, vindictive old cat.

Miss Freebody (standing): Cat! Cat! You dare to utter the word!

Major: I do so advisedly, madam. Cat. Cat is what I said and cat is what I meant…

Miss Freebody: Poor defenseless little thing. It was…

Judge: Silence. Silence. If there is any repetition of this grossly improper behavior I shall treat it as a contempt of court. (Turning to the Major) You understand me?

Major (mumbling): Great provocation. Regret—

Judge: What? Speak up,

Major: I apologize, my lord.

Judge: So I should hope. (He nods to Prosecution Counsel)

Golding: My lord. Major Ecclestone, I want you to tell His Lordship and the jury what happened after the death of the dog.

Major: My wife came down. At my suggestion, telephoned Dr. Swale.

Judge: Why not a veterinary surgeon?

Major: I’ve no opinion of the local vet.

Judge: I see.

Major: Besides, there was my wife.

Judge: Your wife, Major Ecclestone?

Major: She was upset, my lord. He gave her a pill. I had a drink.

Judge: I see. Yes, Mr. Golding.

Golding: Go on please, Major.

Major: Swale took away the remaining piece of liver to be analyzed and he also removed the—the body.

Golding: Was there any other event before or at about this time that seemed to you to have any bearing on the matter?

Major: Certainly.

Golding: Please tell the court what it was.

Major: That woman’s (The Judge looks at him) — The accused’s bathroom window overlooks my premises. It’s got a Venetian blind. She’s in the habit of spying on us through the slats. I distinctly saw them—the slats, I mean — open in one place.

Golding: When did you see this?

Major: Immediately after Swale left. She’d watched the whole performance. And gloated over it.

Judge: You are here to relate what you observed, Major, not what you may have conjectured.

Golding: Had anything occurred in the past to make bad blood between you and the defendant?

Major: Yes.

Golding: What was it?

Major: A cat

Judge: What?

Major: She had a cat, my lord. A mangy brute of a thing—

Miss Freebody: Lies! Lies! It was a beautiful little cat. (The Wardress quells her.)

Golding (coughs): Never mind what sort of cat it was. Yes, Major?

Major: About a week earlier it strayed into my garden at night. Not for the first time. Always doin’ it. Yowlin’ and diggin’. Drove my dog frantic. Naturally he broke his tether. Tore it away with a piece of the kennel.

Golding: And then?

Major: Ask yourself.

Golding: But I’m asking you, you know.

Major: Made short work of the poor pussy. (He laughs shortly.)

Miss Freebody: Brute!

Judge: Miss Freebody, you must be silent.

Miss Freebody: Pah!

Judge: Mr. O’Connor, will you speak to your client? Explain.

O’Connor: Certainly, my lord. (He turns and speaks to the accused who stares over his head, biting her lip.)

Golding: What were the results of the cat’s demise?

Major: She kicked up a dust.

Golding: In what way?

Major: Waylaid my wife. Went to the police. Wrote letters. Threatened to do me in.

Golding: Did you keep any of these letters?

Major: Last one. Burnt the others. About five of them.

Golding: May he be shown Exhibit Two?

(The letter is produced, identified, circulated to the Judge, to Counsel and to the jury.)

Golding: Is that the letter which you retained?

Major: Yes.

Golding: It reads, members of the jury: “This is my final warning. Unless your brute is destroyed within the next three days, I shall take steps to insure that justice is done not only upon it but upon yourself. Neither you nor it is fit to live. Take warning. M. E. Freebody.” (To Major) You received this letter—when?

Major: First of April.

(Laughter)

Usher: Silence in court.

Golding: Did you answer it?

Major: Good God, no. Nor any of the others.

Judge: Why did you keep it, Major?

Major: Thought of showing it to my lawyer. Decided to ignore it.

Golding (quoting): “I shall take steps to see that justice is done not only upon it but upon yourself.” Can you describe the nature of the letters you had received before this one?

Major: Certainly. Same thing. Threats.

Golding: To you personally?

Major: Saying that my dog ought to die and if I didn’t act smartly we both would.

Golding: And it was after the death of the dog and in consideration of all these circumstances, Major, that you decided to go to the police?

Major: Precisely. Decided she meant business and that I was at risk personally. My wife urged me to act.

Golding: Thank you, Major Ecclestone. (Golding sits down. Defense Counsel rises.)

O’Connor: Major Ecclestone, would you describe yourself as a hot-tempered man?

Major: I would not.

O’Connor: As an even-tempered man?

Major: I consider myself to be a reasonable man, sir.

O’Connor: I said “even-tempered,” Major.

Major: Yes.

O’Connor: You get on well with your neighbors and tradesmen, for instance? Do you?

Major: Depends on the neighbors and tradesmen. Ha!

O’Connor: Major Ecclestone, during the five years you have lived in Peascale you have quarreled violently with your landlord, your late doctor, the secretary of your club, your postman and your butcher, have you not?

Major: I have not “quarreled violently” with anyone. Where I encounter stupidity, negligence and damned impertinence I made known my objections. That is all.

O’Connor: To the tune of threatening the postman with a horsewhip and the butcher’s boy with your Alsatian dog?

Major: I refuse to stand here and listen to all this nonsense. (He pulls himself up, looks at his watch, takes a small container from his overcoat pocket, extracts a capsule and puts it in his mouth.)

Judge: What is all this? Are you eating something, Major Ecclestone?

Major: I suffer from duodenal ulcers, my lord. I have taken a capsule.

Judge (after a pause): Very well. (He nods to Defense Counsel.)

O’Connor: Major Ecclestone, was the liver the only thing in the safe that evening?

Major: No, it wasn’t. There was stuff for a mixed grill on Thursday. Chops, kidneys, sausages. That sort of thing.

O’Connor: And these had been delivered with the dog’s meat that afternoon?

Major: Yes.

O’Connor: Did you have your mixed grill?

Major: No fear! Chucked it out. Destroyed it. Great mistake, as I now realize. Poisoned like the other. Not a doubt of it. Intended for me.

O’Connor: And what about Mrs. Ecclestone?

Major: Vegetarian.

O’Connor: I see. Can I have a list of complaints, please? (Solicitor gives him a paper.) Major Ecclestone, is it true that, apart from my client, there have been five other complaints about the character and behavior of your dog?

Major: The dog was perfectly docile. Unless provoked. They bated him.

O’Connor: And is it not the case that you have received two warnings from the police to keep the dog under proper control?

Major: Bah!

O’Connor: I beg your pardon.

Major: Balderdash!

O’Connor: You are on oath, Major Ecclestone. Have you received two such warnings from the police?

Major (pause): Yes. (Nods.)

O’Connor: Thank you. (He sits down)

(Dr. Swale is called to the stand. Prosecution Counsel rises.)

Golding: Dr. Swale, you were called into The Elms on the evening of 4th April, were you not?

Swale: Yes. Mrs. Ecclestone rang me up and sounded so upset I went round.

Golding: What did you find when you got there?

Swale: Major Ecclestone was in the yard near the dog kennel with the Alsatian’s body lying at his feet.

Golding: And Mrs. Ecclestone?

Swale: She was standing nearby. She suffers from migraine and this business with the dog hadn’t done anything to help her. I took her back to her room, looked at her and gave her one of the Sternetil tablets I’d prescribed,

Golding: And then?

Swale: I went down to the Major.

Golding: Yes?

Swale: He, of course, realized the dog had been poisoned and he asked me, as a personal favor, to get an analysis of what was left of the liver the dog had been eating and of the contents of the dog’s stomach. I arranged this with the pathology department of the general hospital.

Golding: Ah yes. We’ve heard evidence of that. Massive quantities of potassium cyanide were found.

Swale: Yes.

Golding: Did you, subsequently, discuss with Major Ecclestone the possible source of this cyanide?

Swale: Yes.

Golding: Dr. Swale, were you shown any letters by Major Ecclestone?

Swale: Yes. From the defendant.

Golding: Are you sure they were from the defendant?

Swale: Oh yes. She had in the past written to me complaining about the National Health. It was her writing and signature.

Golding: What was the nature of the letters to Major Ecclestone?

Swale: Threatening. I remember in particular the one that said his dog ought to die and if he didn’t act smartly they both would.

Golding: What view did you take of these letters?

Swale: A very serious one. They threatened his life.

Golding: Yes. Thank you, Dr. Swale. (He sits.) (Defense Counsel rises.)

O’Connor: Dr. Swale, you have known the Ecclestones for some time, haven’t you?

Swale: Yes.

O’Connor: In fact you are close friends?

Swale (after a slight hesitation): I have known them for some years.

O’Connor: Would you consider Major Ecclestone a reliable sort of man where personal judgments are concerned?

Swale: I don’t follow you.

O’Connor: Really? Let me put it another way. If antagonism has developed between himself and another person, would you consider his view of the person likely to be a sober, fair and balanced one?

Swale: There are very few people, I think, of whom under such circumstances, that could be said.

O’Connor: I suggest that at the time we are speaking of, a feud developed between Major Ecclestone and the defendant and that his attitude towards her was intemperate and wholly biased. (Pause) Well, Dr. Swale?

Swale (unhappily): I think that’s putting it a bit strong.

O’Connor: Do you indeed? Thank you, Dr. Swale. (Defense Counsel sits.)

Judge: You may leave the witness box, Dr. Swale.

(Thomas Tidwell is called to the stand. Prosecution Counsel rises.)

Golding: You are Thomas Tidwell, butcher’s assistant of the West End Butchery, 8 Park Street, Peascale, near Fulchester?

Tidwell: Yar.

Golding: On Friday 4th April, did you deliver two parcels of meat at The Elms, No. 1 Sherwood Grove?

Tidwell: Yar.

Golding: Would you describe them please?

Tidwell: Aye?

Golding: How were they wrapped?

Tidwell: In paper. (Judge looks.)

Golding: Yes, of course, but what sort of paper?

Tidwell: Aye?

Golding: Were they wrapped in brown paper or in newspaper?

Tidwell: One of each.

Golding: Thank you. Did you know, for instance, the contents of the newspaper parcel: what was in it?

Tidwell: Liver.

Golding: How did you know that?

Tidwell (to Judge): It was bloody, wannit? Liver’s bloody. Liver’ll bleed froo anyfink, won’t it? I seen it, din’ I? It’d bled froo the comics.

(Major half-rises. Prosecution Counsel checks him with a look. Major signals to Usher, who goes to him.)

Judge: Are you chewing something, Mr. Tidwell?

Tidwell: Yar.

Judge: Remove it.

Golding: You’re sure of this? The wrapping was a page from a comic publication, was it?

Tidwell: That’s what I said, din’ I? I seen it, din’ I?

Golding: If I tell you that Major Ecclestone says that the liver was wrapped in sheets from the Daily Telegraph, what would you say?

Tidwell: ’E wants is ’ead read. Or else ’e was squiffy. (The Major rises and is restrained by the Usher.)

Golding (glaring at the Major, turning to Tidwell): Yes. Yes. Very good. Now, will you tell the court how you put the parcels away?

Tidwell: Like I always done. Opened the safe and bunged ’em in, din’ I?

Golding: Anything at all unusual happen during this visit?

Tidwell: Naow.

Golding: You left by the side gate into the right-of-way, didn’t you?

Tidwell: S’right.

Golding: This would bring you face to face with the side wall of Miss Freebody’s house. Did you notice anything at all unusual about it?

Tidwell: Nothin’ unusual. What you might call a regular occurrence. She was snooping. Froo the blind. You know. Froo the slats—you know. Nosey. She’s always at it.

Golding: Did you do anything about it?

Tidwell (Turns to accused, gives a wolf whistle and a sardonic salute. She is furious): Just for giggles. (Whistles)

Golding: Did Miss Freebody react in any way?

Tidwell: Scarpered.

Golding: Why should she spy upon you, do you think?

Tidwell: Me? Not me. I reckon she was waiting for the boyfriend.

Miss Freebody: How dare you say such things…

Golding: The boyfriend?

Tidwell: S’right. (He guffaws and wipes away the grin with his hand.) Pardon me.

Golding (He has been taken aback by this development but keeps his composure): Yes. Well. I don’t think we need concern ourselves with any visitor the accused may or may not have been expecting.

Tidwell: Her? Not her. Her.

Judge: What is all this, Mr. Golding?

Golding: I’m afraid it’s beyond me, my lord. Some sort of bucolic joke, I imagine.

(Judge grunts.)

Golding: That’s all I have to ask this witness, my lord. (He sits down.)

(Thomas Tidwell makes as if to leave the box. Defense Counsel rises.)

Judge: Stay where you are, Mr. Tidwell. (He has decided to push this unexpected development a little further.) Mr. Tidwell, when a moment ago you said “not her”—meaning the accused—but “her,” to whom did you refer?

Tidwell: It’s well-known, innit? His missus.

Judge: Mrs. Ecclestone?

Major: What the devil are you talking about?

Tidwell: S’right. Every Friday, like I said, reg’lar as clockwork.

Judge: What is as regular as clockwork?

Tidwell: ’E is. Droppin’ in. On ’er.

Judge: Who is?

Tidwell: ’Im. It’s well-known. The doctor.

Major: God damn it, I demand an explanation. Death and damnation—(Usher moves to restrain the Major.)

Miss Freebody (laughing): That’s right. You tell them.

Golding: Major Ecclestone! Sit down.

Usher: Quiet!

(The commotion subsides.)

Judge: For the last time, Major Ecclestone, I warn you that unless you can behave yourself with propriety you will be held in contempt of court. Mr. Golding.

Golding: My lord, I do apologize. Major, stand up and apologize to his Lordship. (The Major mutters.) Stand up then, and do it. Go on.

Major (He looks as if he will spontaneously combust. He rises, blows out his breath, comes to attention and bellows in court-martial tones): Being under orders to do so, I tender my regrets for any apparently overzealous conduct of which I may appear to have been unwittingly guilty.

Judge: Very well. Sit down and—and—and imagine yourself to be gagged. (The Major sits. He is troubled with indigestion.) Yes, Mr. O’Connor…

O’Connor: Now, Mr. Tidwell, you say, do you, that you know positively that Dr. Swale visited Major Ecclestone’s house after you left it?

Tidwell: ’Course I do.

O’Connor: How do you know?

Tidwell: I seen ’im, din’ I?

O’Connor: What time was this?

Tidwell: Free firty.

O’Connor: Describe where you were and precisely how you saw Dr. Swale.

Tidwell: I’m on me bike in the lane, arn’ I, and I bike past ’is car and ’e’s gettin’ aht of it, inn’e? (O’Connor signs for him to address the Judge. He does so.) I turn the corner and I park me bike and come back and look froo the rear window of the car and see ’im turn into the right-of-way. (He giggles.)

O’Connor: Go on.

Tidwell (still vaguely to the Judge): Like I see ’im before. Other Fridays. “Ullo, ullo, ullo!” I says. “At it again?” So I nips back to the turning into the right-of-way, stroll up very natural and easy and see ’im go in at the garden gate. And let ’imself in by the back door, carryin’ ’is little black bag. No excuse me’s. Very much at ’ome. Oh dear!

O’Connor: And then?

Tidwell: I return to bizzness, don’ I? Back to the shop and first with the news.

O’Connor: Thank you.

(He sits. Prosecution Counsel rises.)

Golding: Did you notice the accused’s bathroom window while you were engaged in this highly distasteful piece of espionage?

Tidwell: ’Ow does the chorus go?

Golding: I beg your pardon?

Tidwell: I don’ get cher.

Golding: While you were spying on Dr. Swale, could you and did you see the accused’s bathroom window?

Tidwell: Oh, ar! I get cher. Yar. I seen it. And ’er, snooping as per, froo the blind.

Golding: Dr. Swale carried his professional bag, I think you said?

Tidwell: S’right.

Golding: And he went straight into the house? Without pausing, for instance, by the safe?

Tidwell: I couldn’t see the safe, where I was, could I? But ’e went in.

Golding: Quite so. To his patient who was ill upstairs.

Tidwell: Oh, yeah?

Golding: I have one more question. Do you deliver meat at the accused’s house?

Tidwell: Yar.

Golding: When was your last call there, previous to the 4th April?

Tidwell: Free days before. She gets ’er order reg’lar on Wednesdays.

Golding: Do you remember what it was?

Tidwell: Easy. Chops. Bangers. And—wait for it, wait for it.

Golding: Please answer directly. What else?

Tidwell: Liver.

Golding: I call Mrs. Ecclestone.

Usher: Mrs. Ecclestone.

(Mrs. Ecclestone comes in with the Usher. Enters the box and takes the oath. While she is doing so we see Dr. Swale and the Major and then the accused, leaning forward and staring at her. Mrs. Ecclestone is a singularly attractive woman, beautifully dressed and aged about thirty-five. There is a slight stir throughout the court At the end of the oath, she makes a big smile at the Judge.)

Golding: You are Mrs. Ecclestone? (She assents.) What are your first names, please?

Mrs. Ecclestone: Barbara Helen.

Golding: And you live at The Elms, No. 1 Sherwood Grove, Fulchester?

Mrs. Ecclestone: Yes.

Golding: Thank you. Mrs. Ecclestone, I want you to tell his Lordship and the jury something of the relationship between you and the accused. Going back, if you will, to the time when you first came to live in your present house.

Mrs. Ecclestone: We used to see her quite often in her garden and—and—

Golding: Yes?

Mrs. Ecclestone: And in her house.

Golding: You visited her there?

Mrs. Ecclestone: We could see her at the windows. Looking out.

Golding: Did you exchange visits?

Mrs. Ecclestone: Not social visits. She came in not long after we arrived to—to—

Golding: Yes?

Mrs. Ecclestone: Well, to complain about Bang.

Golding: The Alsatian?

Mrs. Ecclestone: Yes. He’d found some way of getting into her garden.

Golding: Was that the only time she complained?

Mrs. Ecclestone: No, it wasn’t. She—well, really, she was always doing it. I mean—well, hardly a week went by. It was about then, I think, that she first complained to the police. They came to see us. After that we took every possible care. We put a muzzle on Bang when he wasn’t tied up and made sure he never went near Miss Freebody’s place. It made no difference to her behavior.

Golding: Would you say that the complaints remained at much the same level or that they increased in intensity?

Mrs. Ecclestone: They became much more frequent. And vindictive. And threatening.

Golding: In what way threatening?

Mrs. Ecclestone (to Judge, a nervous smile): Oh—notes in our letter box—waylaying us in the street—saying she would go to the police. That sort of thing. And when we were in the garden she would go close to her hedge and say things we could hear. Meaning us to hear them. Threats and abuse. (The Judge is nodding.)

Golding: What sort of threats?

Mrs. Ecclestone: Well—actually to do my husband an injury. She said he wasn’t fit to live and she said in so many words she’d see to it that he didn’t. It was very frightening. We thought she must be—well, not quite right in the head.

Golding: Coming to Friday 28th March (She looks uncertain) — was there any further incident?

(Miss Freebody sits forward.)

Mrs. Ecclestone: Oh — you mean the cat. I didn’t remember the exact date.

Golding: But you remember the event?

Mrs. Ecclestone: Oh yes, I do. It was dreadful. I was horrified. (She puts her head in her hands) I was—I was so deeply sorry and terribly upset. I wanted to go in and tell her so.

Golding: And did you do so?

Mrs. Ecclestone: No. Basil — my husband — thought it better not.

Golding: And after this incident, what happened between you and the accused?

Mrs. Ecclestone: It was worse than ever, of course. She complained again; she telephoned several times a day and wrote threatening letters. My husband burnt them but I remember one said something like vengeance being done not only on the dog but on himself.

Golding: Yes. And now, Mrs. Ecclestone, we come to the 4th April. The day when the dog was poisoned. (Gestures to her)

Mrs. Ecclestone: I heard it happening—I was in my bedroom—and I got up and looked through the window. And saw. My husband shouted for me to come down. I went down and by then Bang was—dead. My husband told me to ring up Jim Swale — Dr. Swale — and ask him to come at once. And he did.

Golding: What happened then?

Mrs. Ecclestone: They looked in the safe and Dr. Swale said we should destroy the rest of the meat in case it was contaminated. So we did. In the incinerator.

Golding: How was the other meat wrapped? In what sort of paper?

Mrs. Ecclestone: Like the other — in newspaper.

Golding: You are sure? Not in brown paper?

Mrs. Ecclestone: No — I’m sure I remember noticing when we burnt it. It was the front page of the Telegraph.

Golding: Thank you. And then?

Mrs. Ecclestone: Dr. Swale suggested getting the vet, but my husband wanted him to cope and he very kindly said he would. I was feeling pretty ghastly by then (smiles at Judge), so he asked me to go back to my room and I did. And he had a look at me before he left and gave me one of my pills. I didn’t go downstairs again that evening. (She hesitates.) I think perhaps I ought to say that there was never any doubt in our minds—any of us—about who had put the poisoned meat in the safe.

O’Connor: My lord, I must object.

Mrs. Ecclestone: After all, it was what had been threatened, wasn’t it?

Judge: Yes, Mr. O’Connor. (To Mrs. Ecclestone) You may not talk about what you think was in the minds of other persons, madam.

Mrs. Ecclestone: I’m sorry.

Golding: When do you think the meat was poisoned?

Mrs. Ecclestone: It must have been after the butcher delivered the order, of course.

Golding: Have you any idea of the time of the delivery?

Mrs. Ecclestone: As it happens, I have. The church clock struck three just as he left.

Golding: Did you hear any sounds of later arrivals?

Mrs. Ecclestone (hesitating): I — no — no, I didn’t. (Rapidly) But of course it would be perfectly easy for somebody to watch their chance, slip across the right-of-way. Nobody would see. My bedroom curtains were closed because I darken my room when I have a migraine.

(Grin from Tidwell to Swale)

Golding: Yes. Had you seen anything of the accused during the day?

Mrs. Ecclestone: Yes, indeed I had. That morning the paper boy delivered her Telegraph with our Times. I didn’t want to see her; I slipped out by our front gate and up to her front door. I was going to put her Telegraph through the flap when the door opened and there she was. Stock still and sort of glaring over my head.

Golding: That must have been disconcerting.

Mrs. Ecclestone: It was awful. It seemed to last for ages, and then I held out her paper and she snatched it.

Golding: Did she speak?

Mrs. Ecclestone: She whispered.

Golding: What did she whisper?

Mrs. Ecclestone: That I needn’t imagine this would stop justice from taking its course. And then the door was slammed in my face.

Miss Freebody: Quite right.

Golding: And then?

Mrs. Ecclestone: I went back. And my migraine started.

Golding: Mrs. Ecclestone, do you know what happened to the wrapping paper round the dog’s liver?

Mrs. Ecclestone: Yes. My husband had dropped it on the ground and Jim — Dr. Swale — said it shouldn’t be left lying about and he put it into the incinerator.

Golding: Did you notice what paper it was?

Mrs. Ecclestone: It was the same as the other parcel — the Daily Telegraph.

Golding: Thank you.

(He sits. Defense Counsel rises.)

O’Connor: Mrs. Ecclestone, anybody could have come and gone through the right-of-way and through the garden gate and replaced one parcel of liver by another?

Mrs. Ecclestone: I suppose they could have.

O’Connor: Your husband has a lot of enemies in the neighborhood apart from Miss Freebody, hasn’t he?

Mrs. Ecclestone (deprecatingly): Oh — enemies!

O’Connor: Let me put it another way. There had been a number of complaints about the dog from other neighbors, hadn’t there?

Mrs. Ecclestone: None of them threatened to kill my husband. Hers did.

O’Connor: Did other persons, apart from Miss Freebody, write letters and complain to the police?

Mrs. Ecclestone: There were some, I think.

O’Connor: How many?

Mrs. Ecclestone: I don’t know.

O’Connor: Two? Three? Four? Half a dozen? More?

Mrs. Ecclestone: No. No. I don’t know. I don’t remember.

O’Connor: How very odd. Had the dog ever attacked any of your friends? (She is silent) Dr. Swale, for instance?

Mrs. Ecclestone: Bang was rather jealous. Alsatians can be.

O’Connor: Jealous, Mrs. Ecclestone? Do you mean jealous of you? Did the dog resent anyone paying you particular attention, for example?

Mrs. Ecclestone: He was rather a one — I mean a two-person — dog.

(Mrs. Ecclestone and Dr. Swale exchange a brief look.)

O’Connor: Had Bang, in fact, ever attacked Dr. Swale?

Mrs. Ecclestone: I think — once. Before he got to know him.

O’Connor: Because Dr. Swale was paying you “particular attention,” Mrs. Ecclestone?

Mrs. Ecclestone: No. I don’t remember about it. It was nothing.

O’Connor: The dog did get to know Dr. Swale, didn’t it?

Mrs. Ecclestone: Well, yes, naturally.

O’Connor: Naturally, Mrs. Ecclestone?

Mrs. Ecclestone: Dr. Swale is in our circle of friends.

O’Connor: Apart from being your doctor?

Mrs. Ecclestone: Yes.

(She has become increasingly uneasy. Major Ecclestone has been eyeing Dr. Swale with mounting distaste.)

O’Connor: On that Friday afternoon, Mrs. Ecclestone— earlier in the afternoon, when you were lying on your bed in your darkened room, did Dr. Swale come and see you?

Mrs. Ecclestone: I — don’t know who you — I — I — (She looks at Dr. Swale. We see him very briefly close his eyes in assent) Why yes, as a matter of fact — I’d forgotten all about it, he did.

O’Connor: Thank you, Mrs. Ecclestone.

(Defense Counsel sits. Prosecution Counsel rises.)

Golding: As this earlier visit of Dr. Swale’s has been introduced, Mrs. Ecclestone, I think that perhaps, don’t you, that we’d better dispose of it? Dr. Swale, you’ve told the court, is an old friend and a member of your social circle. Is that right?

Mrs. Ecclestone (she has pulled herself together): Yes.

Golding: Was there anything at all out-of-the-way about his dropping in?

Mrs. Ecclestone: No, of course not. He often looks in. He and my husband do crosswords and swop them over. I’d quite forgotten but I think that was what he’d come for — to collect the Times crossword and leave the Telegraph one. (She catches her breath, realizing a possible implication.)

Golding: Did you see him?

Mrs. Ecclestone (fractional hesitation): I — think — yes, I remember I heard someone come in and I thought it was my husband, home early. So I called out. And Dr. Swale came upstairs — and knocked and said who it was.

Golding: Exactly. Thank you so much, Mrs. Ecclestone. (He sits.)

Judge: You may go and sit down, Mrs. Ecclestone.

Mrs. Ecclestone: Thank you, my lord.

(She does so. As she goes to the witness seats, she and the accused look at each other. Mrs. Ecclestone gets past the other witnesses, who leave room for her. She sits between Dr. Swale and her husband, looking at neither of them.)

Golding: That concludes the case for the prosecution, my lord.

(Defense Counsel rises.)

O’Connor: I now call Mary Emmaline Freebody.

(The accused is escorted to the witness box and takes the oath. The Clerk asks her to remove her glove.)

O’Connor: You are Mary Emmaline Freebody of No. 2 Sherwood Grove, Peascale near Fulchester?

Miss Freebody: I am.

O’Connor: Miss Freebody, did you attempt to poison Major Ecclestone?

Miss Freebody: I did not.

O’Connor: You are a practicing Christian, are you not?

Miss Freebody: Certainly.

O’Connor: And you swear that you had no such intention?

Miss Freebody: I do.

O’Connor: Miss Freebody, I’m sorry to recall an extremely painful memory to you, but will you tell his Lordship and the jury how you first learnt of the death of your cat?

Miss Freebody (breaking out): Learnt of it! Learnt of it! I heard the screams. The screams. I still hear them. (To Judge) Still. All the time. Asleep and awake. I am haunted by them.

(Major snorts.)

O’Connor: Where were you at the time of the cat’s death?

Miss Freebody: Indoors. In my house.

O’Connor: What did you do when you heard the screams?

Miss Freebody: I rushed out. Of course. I thought he was in my garden. I hunted everywhere. The screams stopped but I hunted. And then I heard that man — that monster — that fiend—

O’Connor: Major Ecclestone?

Miss Freebody (she gives a contemptuous assent): Laughing. He was laughing. Devil! He was talking to it. To that brute. And do you know what he said?

Golding (rising): My lord! Really—

Miss Freebody (shouting): He said “Good dog.” That’s what he said: “Good dog.” (She bursts out crying.)

Judge: If you would like to sit down, you may.

(The Wardress moves to lower the flap-seat in the box.)

Miss Freebody: I don’t want to sit down. Go away. (She blows her nose.)

O’Connor: Miss Freebody, what happened after that? Please remember that you may tell the court if you heard people talking and you may say who they were and what you did but not what they said, unless they are going to give evidence or have done so.

Miss Freebody: Idiocy! Legal humbug! Balderdash!

Judge: That will do.

Miss Freebody: No, it won’t. I won’t be talked down. I won’t be told what will do or won’t do. I’ll say what I’ve got to say and—

Judge: Be silent! Mr. O’Connor, I’m afraid that I am bound to agree with Miss Freebody that your exposition of the hearsay rules was so inaccurate as to amount to legal humbug. If you must tell witnesses what the law is, do at least try to get it right.

O’Connor: I’m sorry, my lord.

Judge: Miss Freebody, you will answer counsel’s question: what happened after that?

(She stares at him and he at her.)

Miss Freebody (suddenly and very rapidly): “What happened after that?” He asks me, “What happened after that?” I’ll tell you what happened after that. She talked and he talked and she talked and he talked and then — then — then — no, I can’t. I can’t.

O’Connor: Miss Freebody—however painful it is—please go on. Try to speak calmly.

Miss Freebody: Out of the air. At my feet. Wet. Bleeding. Torn to pieces. Dead.

O’Connor: You are telling the court, aren’t you, that Major Ecclestone had thrown the body of the cat into your garden?

Miss Freebody: Cruel. Cruel! Horrible and wicked and cruel.

O’Connor: Please try to be calm. After that? Immediately after that and subsequently, what did you do?

Miss Freebody: I — I couldn’t at first but then I did—I buried him. And then I — I went indoors and I felt desperately ill. I was ill and afterwards I lay on my bed.

O’Connor: Yes. You went to bed?

Miss Freebody: No. I lay there. As I was. All night. Sometimes I dozed off and then I had nightmares. I thought that brute was attacking me as it had my — my little cat. I thought it was coming at me. Here. (She clasps her throat) And for night after night it was the same.

O’Connor: And during the daytime?

Miss Freebody: I kept thinking it was loose and outside my doors, snuffling at them. Scratching at them, trying to get at me. I telephoned the police. I was terrified.

O’Connor: Did you go out?

Miss Freebody: I was afraid to go out. I stayed indoors. Day after day.

O’Connor: But you sent letters, didn’t you? To Major Ecclestone?

Miss Freebody: I gave them to my daily help to post. I was afraid to go out.

O’Connor: It has been suggested that you were spying upon Dr. Swale and his visits to The Elms.

Miss Freebody: Those two! I didn’t care about them. I used to think they were wicked but they were against him, weren’t they? They were making a fool of him. They wanted to be rid of him.

Judge: Miss Freebody, you must confine yourself to facts. You must not put forward your notions as to anybody’s wishes or intentions.

(Pause. She sniffs.)

Judge: Very well.

O’Connor: On the morning of the dog’s death, Mrs. Ecclestone called to give you your paper, didn’t she?

Miss Freebody: I stood inside the door. I thought it was him with the dog. And then I heard her clear her throat. So I made myself open the door. And there she was! The adultress. Oh yes! She came.

O’Connor: Later in the day, did you see Dr. Swale go into The Elms?

Miss Freebody: Oh yes. I saw him. In at the side door as usual. He always does that. And upstairs in her bedroom she had the curtains drawn. All ready for him. As she always does on Fridays. And of course he (She indicates the Major) was out playing bridge at his club, poor fool.

O’Connor: Did you see Dr. Swale enter the house?

Miss Freebody (indifferent): I can’t see their side door. There’s a tree and bushes.

O’Connor: And the outside safe? Can you see that?

Miss Freebody: Not that, either.

O’Connor: So you wouldn’t know if Dr. Swale, for whatever purpose, paused by the safe before entering the house.

Miss Freebody (her fingers at her lips, staring at him with growing excitement): Paused? By the safe? For whatever purpose? But you’re right. You’re perfectly right. Fool that I am. Fool! Of course! That’s how it was. He — the doctor—

(She points to Dr. Swale, who stands.)

Dr. Swale: My lord, I protest. This is outrageous.

Judge: You cannot address the court, sir. You must sit down.

Dr. Swale: My lord, this amounts to slander.

Judge: Be quiet, Dr. Swale. You must know very well that any such interruption is impermissible. Sit down, sir. (Dr. Swale sits.) Very well, Mr. O’Connor.

O’Connor: Miss Freebody, please answer the questions simply and without comment. I bring you to the death of the dog. Did you see anything or hear anything of that event?

Miss Freebody: I was upstairs. I heard a commotion — a howl and his voice shouting. So I went into the bathroom and looked. I saw the dog thrashing about and then I saw it was dead. And I was glad. Glad. I didn’t know why it was dead. I thought at first that he — its owner — might have destroyed it at last but it was dead and I exulted and gave thanks and was joyful.

(She looks at the witnesses. Her gaze becomes riveted upon Dr. Swale and Mrs. Ecclestone. She leans forward, apparently in the grip of some kind of revelation. We see them. They exchange a quick look. He briefly closes his hand over Mrs. Ecclestone’s. Miss Freebody licks her lips.)

O’Connor: Did you see the arrival of Dr. Swale? Miss Freebody!

(Miss Freebody is still gazing at Dr. Swale and Mrs. Ecclestone.)

O’Connor: Miss Freebody, may I have your attention, please? (She turns her head slowly and looks at him.) Did you see the arrival of Dr. Swale?

Miss Freebody: Oh yes! Yes, I watched that. I watched him—the doctor. I saw how surprised and put out he was when they showed him the dog. Just like he is now. I saw them look at each other.

O’Connor: What happened next?

Miss Freebody: She went indoors and he followed. And he came back after a time and they carried away the carcass.

O’Connor: The two men did? (She nods.) Afterwards, when you heard about the poisoned meat, what then?

Miss Freebody: Ah! Then I didn’t realize. But now! (With an extraordinary sly look towards the witnesses’ seats) It could have been an accident, couldn’t it? The dog, I mean.

O’Connor (taken aback): An accident, Miss Freebody?

Miss Freebody: He always has liver on Fridays. She is a vegetarian. They did it between them. They meant it for him. For him!

Golding: This is outrageous.

(Golding is on his feet and so are Major Ecclestone and Dr. Swale. They speak together.)

Major: My God, what’s the woman saying? By God, she means me. She means—(He turns on Swale.) By God, she means you—

Swale: This must stop. I demand that she’s stopped. Major, for God’s sake, you can’t think—

Usher: Silence. Silence in court.

Judge (rapping): Silence! (Ecclestone and Swale subside.) This is insupportable. If there is any more of it, I shall clear the court. (Pause) Yes, Mr. Golding.

Golding: Indeed, my lord. How much more of this are we to have? I protest most strongly, my lord.

Judge: Yes, Mr. Golding. You may well do so. Well, Mr. O’Connor?

O’Connor: My lord, I quite agree it is not for the witness to advance theories, but the point is not apparently without substance. I have no further questions.

Judge: Very will. In that case — Mr. Golding?

(Prosecution Counsel rises.)

Golding: Thank you, my lord. Now, Miss Freebody, we have heard a great deal about emotions and all the rest of it. Suppose for a change we get down to a few hard facts. You admit to writing a number of threatening letters the last of which includes the phrase “neither of you is fit to live, take warning.” Do you agree?

Miss Freebody: Yes.

Golding: You have heard the police evidence. A container half-full of cyanide-of-potassium has been found in your shrubbery. You have heard the local chemist depose that he sold cyanide-of-potassium to the previous tenant of your house, who used it to exterminate wasps. The container, Exhibit One, is very clearly, even dramatically labelled. There it is. You see it there, don’t you? On the clerk’s desk?

Miss Freebody: For the first time.

Golding: What! You have never seen it before! Be careful, Miss Freebody. The chemist has identified the container and has told the court that he advised the purchaser to keep it in a conspicuous place. Had you never seen it in your garden shed?

Miss Freebody: My gardener saw that one.

Golding: Oh. The gardener saw it, did he? And reported it to you?

Miss Freebody: Yes. And I told him to get rid of it. So he did.

Golding: When was this?

Miss Freebody: Soon after I came. Five years ago.

Golding: Indeed. How did the gardener in fact “get rid of it,” as you claim?

Miss Freebody: I have no idea.

Golding: You have no idea! Is the gardener going to give evidence on your behalf?

Miss Freebody: Can’t. He’s dead.

(Somebody laughs. Defense Counsel grins.)

Usher: Silence in court.

Golding: And how do you account for its being discovered in your shrubbery in a perfectly clean condition three days after the dog was poisoned?

Miss Freebody: I repeat, the one in the shed had been destroyed. This was another one. Thrown there, of course, over the hedge.

Golding: We are to suppose, are we, that an unknown poisoner brought a second jar of cyanide with him or her, although he or she had already prepared the liver and wrapped it. Why on earth should anyone do that?

Miss Freebody: To incriminate me. Obviously.

Golding (irritated): Once more into the realms of fantasy! I put it to you that no shadow of a motive and no jot of evidence can be found to support such a theory.

Miss Freebody: Oh yes, it can. It can.

Golding: It can! Perhaps you will be good enough to explain—

Judge: Mr. Golding, you have very properly attempted to confine the witness to statements of fact. Are you now inviting her to expound a theory?

Golding: My lord, the accused, so far as one can follow her, appears to be advancing in her own defense a counter-accusation.

Judge: Mr. O’Connor, have you anything to say on this point?

O’Connor (rising): Yes, my lord, I have. I must say again at once, my lord, that I have received no instructions as to the positive identity of the person my client apparently believes — most ardently believes—to have — may I say “planted”? — the half-empty container of cyanide on her property. My instructions were simply that she herself is innocent and therefore the container must in fact have been planted. As a result of the way the evidence has developed, I’d be obliged for a short adjournment to see whether there are further enquiries that should be made.

(O’Connor sits. Golding rises.)

Golding: My lord, I submit that the antics, if I may so call them, of the accused in the witness box are completely irrelevant. If there were one jot of substance in this rigmarole, why on earth did she not advance it in the first instance?

Miss Freebody: And I can tell you why. It’s because I’ve only now realized it—in this court. It’s been borne in upon me. (She points at Mrs. Ecclestone and Dr. Swale) Seeing those two together. Watching them. Hearing them! Knowing! Remembering! They’re would-be murderers. That’s what they are.

Judge: Be quiet, madam. I warn you that you do your own cause a great deal of harm by your extravagant and most improper behavior. For the last time, I order you to confine yourself to answering directly questions put by learned counsel. You may not, as you constantly have done, interrupt the proceedings and you may not, without permission, address the court. If you persist in doing so you will be held in contempt. Do you understand me?

(She makes no response.)

Judge: Mr. O’Connor, am I to understand that in view of the manner in which this case has developed and the introduction of elements—unanticipated, as you assure us, in your instructions—you would wish me to adjourn?

O’Connor: If your Lordship will.

Judge: Mr. Golding?

Golding: I have no objection, my lord.

Judge: Does an adjournment until ten o’clock tomorrow morning seem appropriate?

O’Connor: Certainly, my lord.

Judge: Very well. (Generally) The court is adjourned until ten o’clock tomorrow morning. (He rises.)

(The Judge goes out. Counsel gather up their papers and confer with their solicitor representatives. The accused is removed. The witnesses stand, and the Clerk issues instructions as to re-assembly. Major Ecclestone confronts his wife and Dr. Swale. There is a momentary pause before she lifts her chin and goes out. The men remain face-to face for a second or two, and then Dr. Swale follows and overtakes her in the doorway.)

(The court reassembles at 10:00 the next morning.)

(The Judge enters and takes his seat)

Judge: Members of the jury, I am sure you apprehend the reasons for an adjournment in this, in many ways, somewhat eccentric case. I’m sorry if the delay has caused you inconvenience. Before we go on I would like to remind you that you are where you are for one purpose only: to decide whether accused, Mary Emmaline Freebody, is guilty of the attempted murder of Major Ecclestone. You are not concerned with anything that may have emerged outside the provenance of this charge unless it bears on the single question—the guilt or innocence of the accused.

(The accused is in the witness box. The Ecclestones and Dr. Swale now sit apart from each other, separated by Tidwell and the local chemist. They are shaken and anxious. They look straight in front of them. The Major keeps darting glances at them. He withdraws a small plastic case from his pocket. He extracts a capsule and swallows it)

Judge: Mr. Golding, you may now wish to continue your cross-examination.

Golding: I have no further questions, my lord.

Judge: Very well. Mr. O’Connor, do you wish to re-examine the defendant, and may I say, Mr. O’Connor, that I trust there will be no repetition of yesterday’s irregularities.

O’Connor (rising): My lord, I sincerely hope not. I have no further questions to put to the defendant.

Judge: You may go back to the dock, Miss Freebody.

(The Wardress puts an arm on Miss Freebody who glares at her. Miss Freebody returns to the dock. Prosecution Counsel rises.)

Golding: My lord, I must inform your Lordship that Major Ecclestone has waited upon me and has expressed a desire to amend some of his former evidence, and has asked me to put his request before your Lordship.

Judge: Did you anticipate anything of this sort, Mr. Golding?

Golding: Not I, my lord.

Judge (after a long pause): Very well.

Golding: I recall Major Basil Ecclestone.

(There is a general stir as the Major goes back to the box. His manner is greatly changed. His animosity is now directed against Dr. Swale.)

Golding: May I remind you that you are still on oath. (Major grunts.) Major Ecclestone, is it true that because of certain developments you now wish to amend some of the former evidence that you gave earlier in these proceedings?

Major: I do.

Golding: And that evidence concerns the identity of the person you believe to have been responsible for poisoning the meat?

Major: It does, sir.

Golding: And will you tell the court who—

(A cry from the Major. The Clerk stands sharply. The Major is in a sudden agony of convulsion. He struggles, jerks violently, falls, suffers a final galvanic spasm and is still. The Usher goes to the box. The body slides half down the steps. Dr. Swale hurries across and stoops over it)

Usher: Quiet. Quiet! Silence in court. Silence.

(The Judge has risen. Dr. Swale looks up at him and with a slight gesture of bewilderment shakes his head.)

Judge: Clear the court!

Usher. Clear the court.

(The accused is standing triumphant in the dock and pointing at the body.)

Miss Freebody: Justice. Justice. (Reporters scramble for the door.)

O’Connor: … and I would submit, my lord, with respect that the evidence is admissable. My lord, may I very briefly review the somewhat macabre sequence of events?

Judge (smiling): Briefly, Mr. O’Connor? Very briefly?

O’Connor: My lord, I really am very much obliged. Very briefly then, my client is accused of putting cyanide-of-potassium into Major Ecclestone’s meat. Major Ecclestone who laid the case against her has died and cyanide has been found in his body. There is a strong presumption—indeed an overwhelming probability—that cyanide was introduced into one of the capsules Major Ecclestone was in the habit of taking at stated intervals for a digestive disorder. He was seen to take one of these capsules immediately before his death. My lord, I shall, if permitted, call expert evidence to show that a capsule containing cyanide would only remain intact for an hour. After that, the poison would begin to seep through the container. Miss Freebody has not been left alone since the commencement of this trial. It is obvious, therefore, she cannot be held responsible for causing his death. Whoever murdered Major Ecclestone, it was certainly not Miss Freebody. So that if, as of course we most strenuously deny, she caused the death of the dog, we have to accept a grotesque coincidence of two persons independently attempting to kill Major Ecclestone. Thus, my lord, I submit that the circumstances leading to Major Ecclestone’s death are admissable evidence.

(Defense Counsel sits down. A pause. The Judge has taken an occasional note during this submission. He now looks up and waits for a moment)

Judge: Yes. Thank you. (He turns to Prosecution Counsel.) Well, Mr. Golding?

Golding (rising): My lord, I shall oppose the introduction of any reference whatever to the death of Major Ecclestone. I submit that it would be grossly improper to confuse in the minds of the jury two entirely separate issues. The inquiry into Major Ecclestone’s death is in the hands of the police. And if they make an arrest there will be a trial in another court under another jury. What will transpire on what accusations may be made is utterly irrelevant to these proceedings. I submit that it will be irregular in the highest degree to anticipate them. As far as this court is concerned, my lord, may I venture to remind my learned friend that “the dog it was that died” and not its master?

Judge: And what do you say to that, Mr. O’Connor?

O’Connor (good-humoredly): Touché, I suppose, my lord.

Judge: This is in more ways than one a most unusual case. The death in the witness box of the principal witness for the prosecution, the man who laid the accusation against the defendant, and the finding of cyanide in his body is an extraordinary circumstance. I may order the jury to dismiss all this from their minds, but gentlemen, I may do so until my wig turns black and falls off my head but they won’t be able to do so. But to return to the argument. It would be remarkable if two people had independently desired to bring about the Major’s death. Thus if the second, successful, attempt could not have been made by the accused, it seems to me to be relevant to the allegation that she made the first attempt. I therefore rule that evidence regarding the nature and characteristics of the poisoned capsule is admissable.

O’Connor: I am greatly obliged to your Lordship.

Judge: Very well. Here we go again, gentlemen. (To the Usher) The jury may come back.

(The court reassembles. The jury enters. Miss Freebody returns to the dock. Dr. Swale now sits by himself in the witnesses’ seats. Mrs. Ecclestone, in mourning, hesitates and takes a seat removed from his. A pause and then he rises and goes to her. He bends over her for a moment and then offers his hand. After hesitating, she takes it. He then takes a seat behind hers.)

Judge: Members of the jury. Your attendance in this case was interrupted by an extraordinary and most distressing event which in the interval has received a great deal of publicity and has acquired a considerable amount of notoriety. You are of course not here to try anyone for Major Ecclestone’s death. You are here to decide whether Mary Emmaline Freebody is guilty or not guilty of attempted murder and that is your sole duty. Having said this I add one important qualification. If, during the continuation of the hearing, evidence is tendered that arises out of the circumstances attending upon Major Ecclestone’s death and that evidence has a bearing upon the question of the defendant’s guilt or innocence, then I will admit it for your consideration. Very well, Mr. O’Connor.

O’Connor (rising): You are Dr. Ernest Smithson, of 24 Central Square, Fulchester.

Dr. Smithson: Yes.

O’Connor: You, Dr. Smithson, are consultant pathologist for the Fulchester Constabulary?

Dr. Smithson: I am.

O’Connor: Did you carry out a post mortem on Major Ecclestone?

Dr. Smithson: Yes. I found he had died of cyanide poisoning.

O’Connor: May he be shown Exhibit Six? Is that the bottle taken from the Major’s body?

Dr. Smithson: Yes. I found it myself in his pocket. It was a bottle of Duogastacone which contained capsules of potassium cyanide.

O’Connor: Which suggests that cyanide had been introduced into a bottle containing capsules of Duogastacone?

Dr. Smithson: Yes.

O’Connor: Now will you please tell the court whether it would be possible to fill capsules of the sort commonly used in pharmaceutical dispensaries with cyanide-of-potassium?

Dr. Smithson: It would be possible, yes.

O’Connor: In what form would the cyanide be?

Dr. Smithson: In the form of powder.

O’Connor: And would the capsules be indistinguishable from those filled with a doctor’s prescription?

Dr. Smithson: If the prescribed powder was the same color, which it probably would be, yes. To begin with, that is.

Judge: To begin with, Dr. Smithson? Can you explain a little farther?

Dr. Smithson: After about an hour, my lord, the cyanide would begin to seep through the capsule and this would become increasingly noticeable.

O’Connor: Let me get this quite clear. To escape detection the whole operation, filling the capsules with the lethal powder and conveying them to the intended victim, would have to be executed within an hour before one of the capsules was taken?

Dr. Smithson: Before they had begun to disintegrate, I would prefer to say.

O’Connor: Dr. Smithson, are you aware that from the day before the death of Major Ecclestone, my client has been under constant supervision?

Dr. Smithson: I have been so informed, yes.

O’Connor: And therefore could not, for instance, possibly have concocted lethal capsules of the sort we have been talking about and conveyed them to some person or place outside her own premises?

Dr. Smithson: Obviously not if she was under constant supervision.

O’Connor: Thank you. (O’Connor sits. Golding rises.)

Golding: My lord.

Judge (with a slight smile and an air of knowing what’s coming): Yes, Mr. Golding?

Golding: Well — yes, indeed, my lord. I merely beg to remind the jury of what your Lordship has already laid down. The defendant is not on trial for concocting lethal capsules and I submit that the evidence we have just heard is irrelevant. I have no questions to put to Dr. Smithson.

Judge (to Smithson): Thank you, Dr. Smithson. You may go if you wish.

Dr. Smithson: Thank you, my lord. (He leaves the witness box.)

O’Connor: My lord, in view of the development of this trial since Dr. Swale gave evidence and particularly in view of subsequent evidence, I ask for leave to re-open my cross-examination of him. I ask for him to be recalled.

Judge: What do you say to this, Mr. Golding? Do you object?

Golding: My lord, I can find no conceivable reason for this procedure, but—I do not object.

Judge (after a moment’s pause): Very well, Mr. Defense Counsel. Go back to the witness box, please, Dr. Swale.

(Dr. Swale takes the stand.)

O’Connor: Dr. Swale, you realize that you are still on oath, do you not?

Dr. Swale: I do.

O’Connor: You heard the evidence given by the previous witness?

Dr. Swale: Yes.

O’Connor: Do you agree with it?

Dr. Swale: I am not a pathologist, but I would expect it to be correct.

O’Connor: With respect to the deterioration within an hour of a capsule containing cyanide?

Dr. Swale: I have had no experience of potassium cyanide, but yes, I would, of course, expect Dr. Smithson to be right.

O’Connor: Yes. Dr. Swale, I’m going to take you back if you please to April 4th, the evening when you were called in to the Ecclestones’ and saw the dead Alsatian. You will remember that you removed what was left of the liver that had been fed to the dog and subsequently had it analyzed and that cyanide-of-potassium was found in massive quantities.

Dr. Swale: Yes.

O’Connor: There was also, in the same safe, the material for a mixed grill which was intended for the Major’s dinner that night.

Dr. Swale: So I understand.

O’Connor: Did you do anything about this meat?

Dr. Swale: I have already deposed that I said it should be destroyed.

O’Connor: And was it destroyed?

Dr. Swale: It was. I have already said so.

O’Connor: By whom?

Dr. Swale: By Mrs. Ecclestone and myself. In their incinerator.

O’Connor: As she subsequently deposed. After you had given your evidence.

Dr. Swale: Quite.

O’Connor: Dr. Swale, did it not occur to you that this meat which was destined for the Major’s dinner should also be analyzed?

Dr. Swale: No. I was simply concerned to get rid of it.

O’Connor: Upon further consideration would you now say it would have been better to have sent it, or a portion of it, for analysis?

Dr. Swale: Perhaps it might have been better. But the circumstances of the dog’s death—their description of its symptoms and its appearance so strongly suggested a convulsive poison such as cyanide—I really didn’t think.

O’Connor: I’m sorry, doctor, but you told us just now, you’ve had no experience of cyanide.

Dr. Swale: No experience in practice but naturally during the course of training I did my poisons.

O’Connor: Is Mrs. Ecclestone a vegetarian?

Dr. Swale (a slight pause): I believe so.

O’Connor: You believe so, Dr. Swale? But as Mrs. Ecclestone has told us, you are a member of their intimate circle. You are her doctor, are you not?

Dr. Swale (less cool): Yes, of course I am.

O’Connor: Surely, then, you know definitely whether or not she’s a vegetarian?

Dr. Swale: Yes. All right. I simply said “I believe so” as one does in voicing an ordinary agreement. I know so, if you prefer it. She is a vegetarian.

O’Connor: Are you in the habit of visiting her on Friday afternoons?

Dr. Swale: Not “in the habit” of doing so. I sometimes used to drop in on Fridays to swop crosswords with the Major.

O’Connor: But Major Ecclestone was always at his club on Fridays.

Dr. Swale: He used to leave his crossword out for me. I visit The Hermitage private hospital on Fridays and it’s close by. I did sometimes — quite often — drop in at The Elms.

O’Connor (blandly): For a cup of tea, perhaps?

Dr. Swale: Certainly. For a cup of tea.

O’Connor: You heard the evidence of Thomas Tidwell, didn’t you?

Dr. Swale (contemptuously): If you can call it that.

O’Connor: What would you call it?

Dr. Swale: An example of small-town lying gossip dished out by a small-town oaf.

O’Connor: To what part of his evidence do you refer?

Dr. Swale: Clearly, since it concerns me, to the suggestion that I went to the house for any other purpose than the one I have given.

O’Connor: What do you say to Miss Freebody’s views on the subject?

Dr. Swale: I would have thought it was obvious that they are those of a mentally disturbed spinster of uncertain age.

Miss Freebody (sharply): Libel! Cad! Murderer!

(The Judge turns and stares at her. The Wardress admonishes her. She subsides.)

O’Connor: You are not Miss Freebody’s doctor, are you?

Dr. Swale: No, thank God.

(Laughter)

Usher: Silence in court.

O’Connor: When you paid your earlier visit to The Elms on the afternoon in question, did you carry your professional bag with you?

Dr. Swale (after a pause): I expect so.

O’Connor: Why? It was not a professional call.

Dr. Swale: I’m not in the habit of leaving it in the car.

O’Connor: What was in it?

Dr. Swale: You don’t want an inventory, do you? The bag contains the normal impedimenta of a doctor in general practice.

O’Connor: And nothing else?

Dr. Swale: I’m not in the habit of using my case as a shopping bag.

O’Connor: Not for butcher’s meat, for instance?

Golding: My lord, I do most strenuously object.

Dr. Swale: This is intolerable. Have I no protection against this sort of treatment?

Judge: No. Answer.

Dr. Swale: No. I do not and never have carried butcher’s meat in my bag.

(Defense Counsel sits.)

Judge (to Golding): Mr. Golding, do you wish to re-examine?

Golding: No, my lord.

Judge (to Swale): Thank you, doctor.

Dr. Swale: My lord, may I speak to you?

Judge: No, Dr. Swale.

Dr. Swale: I demand to be heard.

Judge: You may do no such thing, you may—

Dr. Swale (shouting him down): My lord, it is perfectly obvious that counsel for the defense is trying to protect his client by throwing up a series of infamous suggestions intended to implicate a lady and myself in this miserable business.

Judge (through this): Be quiet, sir. Leave the witness box.

Dr. Swale: I refuse. I insist. We are not legally represented. I am a professional man who must be very gravely damaged by these baseless innuendoes.

Judge: For the last time I warn you—

Dr. Swale (shouting him down): I had nothing, I repeat, nothing whatever to do with the death of the Ecclestones’ dog (Judge gestures to Usher), nor did I tamper with any of the meat in the safe. I protest, my lord. I protest.

(The Usher and a police constable close in on him and the scene ends in confusion.)

(Gwendoline Miggs is sworn in on the stand. She is a large, determined-looking woman of about sixty.)

O’Connor: Your name is Sarah Gwendoline Miggs?

Miggs: Yes.

O’Connor: And where do you live, Miss Miggs?

Miggs: Flat 3, Flask Walk, Fulchester.

O’Connor: You are a qualified medical nurse, now retired?

Miggs: I am.

O’Connor: Will you give us briefly an account of your professional experience?

Miggs: Fifteen years in general hospital and twenty years in ten hospitals for the mentally disturbed.

O’Connor: The last one being at Fulchester Grange Hospital where you nursed for some two years before retiring?

Miggs: Correct.

O’Connor: And have you, since the sitting of this court, been looking after the defendant, Miss Mary Emmaline Freebody?

Miggs: Right.

O’Connor: Miss Miggs, will you tell his Lordship and the jury how the days are spent since you took this job?

Miggs: I relieve the night nurse at 8:00 a.m. and am with the case until I’m relieved in the evening.

Judge: With the “case”?

O’Connor: Miss Freebody, my lord.

Judge (fretfully): Why can’t we say so, for pity’s sake? Very well.

O’Connor: Do you remain with Miss Freebody throughout the day?

Miggs: Yes.

O’Connor: Never leave her?

Miggs: Those are my instructions and I carry them out.

(Dr. Swale, who has been looking fixedly at the witness, writes a note, signals to the Usher and gives him the note. The Usher takes it to Mr. Golding, who reads it and shows it to his junior and the solicitor for the prosecution.)

O’Connor: Do you find Miss Freebody at all difficult?

Miggs: Not a bit.

O’Connor: She doesn’t try to — to shake you off? She doesn’t resent your presence?

Miggs: Didn’t like it at first. There was a slight resentment but we soon got over that. We’re very good friends, now.

O’Connor: And you have never left her?

Miggs: I said so, didn’t I? Never.

O’Connor: Thank you, Miss Miggs. (Defense Counsel sits.)

Golding (rising): Yes. Nurse Miggs, you have told the court, have you not, that since you qualified as a mental nurse, you have taken posts in ten hospitals over a period of twenty years, the last appointment being of two years’ duration at Fulchester Grange?

Miggs: Correct.

Golding: Have you, in addition to these engagements, taken private patients?

Miggs (uneasily): A few.

Golding: How many?

Miggs: I don’t remember offhand. Not many.

Golding: Nurse Miggs, have you ever been dismissed— summarily dismissed—from a post?

Miggs: I didn’t come here to be insulted.

Judge: Answer the question, nurse.

Miggs: There’s no satisfying some people. Anything goes wrong—blame the nurse.

Golding: Yes or no, Miss Miggs? (He glances at the paper from Dr. Swale.) In July 1969, were you dismissed by the doctor in charge of a case under suspicion of illegally obtaining and administering a drug and accepting a bribe for doing so?

Miggs (breaking in): It wasn’t true. It was a lie. I know where you got that from. (She points to Dr. Swale.) From him! He had it in for me. He couldn’t prove it. He couldn’t prove anything.

Golding: Come, Miss Miggs, don’t you think you would be well advised to admit it at once?

Miggs: He couldn’t prove it. (She breaks down.)

Golding: Why did you leave Fulchester Grange?

Miggs: I won’t answer. It’s all lies. Once something’s said about you, you’re done for.

Golding: Were you dismissed?

Miggs: I won’t answer.

Golding: Were you dismissed for illegally obtaining drugs and accepting a bribe for so doing?

Miggs: It wasn’t proved. They couldn’t prove it. It’s lies!

Golding: I have no further questions, my lord.

Judge: Mr. Defense Counsel? (O’Connor shakes his head.) Thank you, Miss Miggs. (She leaves the witness box.) Have you any further witnesses, Mr. Defense Counsel?

O’Connor: No, my lord.

Judge: Members of the jury, just let me tell you something about our function—yours and mine. I am here to direct you as to the law and to remind you of the salient features of the evidence. You are here as judges of fact; you and you alone have to decide, on the evidence you have heard, whether the accused is guilty or not of the charge of attempted murder…

You may think it’s plain that the liver which the dog ate was poisoned. The prosecution say that whoever poisoned that liver must have known that it might have been eaten by the late Major, and was only given to the dog by accident. The vital question, therefore, you may think, is who poisoned that liver. The prosecution say that Miss Freebody did. They say she had the opportunity to take the meat from the safe, poison it and replace it, having for some reason or other changed the paper in which it was wrapped. They say she had a motive—her antagonism to the Major as evidenced by the threatening letters which she wrote. But, say the defense, and you may think it is a point of some weight, the fact that the Major actually died before your eyes of cyanide poisoning at a time when the accused would have had no opportunity to administer the poison is evidence that someone else wanted to and did kill the Major. So if someone other than the accused did kill the Major in the second attempt on his life, how can you believe that the accused rather than the culprit of the second attempt was guilty of the first attempt?

Remember that before you can bring a verdict of guilty you must be satisfied beyond all reasonable doubt that the accused did make this attempt on the life of the late Major. Will you now retire, elect a foreman to speak for you when you return, and consider your verdict.

Clerk: All stand.

(The jury leave the room. Time passes, and the jury return to their seals.)

Clerk: Members of the jury, will your foreman stand. (The Foreman rises.) Just answer this question yes or no. Have you reached a verdict upon which you are all agreed?

Foreman: Yes.

Clerk: Do you find the accused, Mary Emmaline Freebody, guilty or not guilty on the charge of attempted murder?

Foreman (answers either “guilty” or “not guilty.”):

Clerk (if guilty): Is that the verdict of you all?

Judge (if not guilty): Mary Emmaline Freebody, you are free to go.

Court Reporter (if guilty): Mary Freebody was remanded in custody for psychiatric reports.

At the end of the broadcast of Evil Liver the jury decided that Miss Freebody was not guilty, but nothing is recorded of their analysis of the prosecution’s case or of their opinion about who in fact was guilty. But we can act as armchair detectives and examine the case against Miss Freebody as well as other possible solutions.

SOLUTION 1

Miss Freebody poisoned the dog and, during the trial, murdered Major Ecclestone. The evidence supporting Miss Freebody’s guilt in the poisoning of the dog is given in detail by the prosecution. Everything is circumstantial but nonetheless persuasive: she had threatened the Major and his dog because of the death of her cat; a tin of wasp exterminator containing cyanide was found on her property; and she could have poisoned the liver shortly after it was delivered. In short, motive, means, and opportunity. It might be argued that only a mentally disturbed person would so openly have warned her victim, but (if we can trust Dr. Swale) Miss Freebody was obviously mentally disturbed.

The jury found Miss Freebody not guilty probably because it seemed impossible for her to have killed Major Ecclestone during the trial. She could not have been near enough to him to have placed the cyanide capsule into his plastic medicine case. Not only did Nurse Miggs swear that Miss Freebody was constantly under observation, but common sense indicates that nothing like that could have happened without someone noticing. Is there any way that Miss Freebody could have gotten the capsule to the Major? First, it would have been necessary that someone be her agent. Second, the agent would have to have been someone with access to cyanide. Third, the agent must have been someone Miss Freebody could trust, either because she could exert pressure or because the agent had a motive for helping her. Is there anyone who fits those qualifications? Yes, indeed—Nurse Miggs is the obvious candidate. As a nurse she had access to cyanide. She worked for twenty years in a hospital for people with mental problems, and she also had private patients. Miss Freebody, we have noted, was certainly unbalanced and could well have been one of those patients. Perhaps Miss Freebody threatened to reveal Nurse Miggs’s past. Or perhaps Nurse Miggs had a strong motive herself. She had a festering resentment against Dr. Swale, and having heard the testimony emerging against him saw her opportunity to make him a suspect in a murder. Is it any wonder that she and Miss Freebody became “good friends” during the trial? The murder of Major Ecclestone would avenge them both.

All of this seems a strong case until we look closely and see that there is little evidence. To take the successful murder first, no one testified that Nurse Miggs had gotten near enough to the Major to slip a capsule into his container; had she left Miss Freebody long enough to do so, someone surely would have seen her. As for most of the rest—Miss Freebody’s being treated as a mental patient in the care of Nurse Miggs and so on—it’s just unsubstantiated speculation. The evidence that Miss Freebody poisoned Bang, the Alsatian, is stronger, but I find it unconvincing, especially in regard to the tin of wasp exterminator. Even a slightly deranged person would have known better than to toss such an incriminating bit of evidence onto her own property. As Miss Freebody herself pointed out, it has all the indications of a plant. If it was not part of a frame-up, it must have been discarded by someone who wanted to get rid of it as quickly as possible.

SOLUTION 2

Dr. Swale and Mrs. Ecclestone poisoned the dog and killed the Major. We needn’t go over this theory in as much detail, for perhaps even more obviously than in the case against Miss Freebody, Dr. Swale had motive, means, and opportunity in the poisoning of the liver. If Dr. Swale did the deed, the killing of the dog must have been accidental, or a preliminary to the Major’s death when he ate the mixed grill, which we can assume was also poisoned. In regard to the successful attempt against the Major, we should note that Dr. Swale had access to cyanide and to capsules, and that Mrs. Ecclestone was sitting next to her husband and could have slipped the poisoned capsule into his medicine case. It’s a bit harder to know why the poisoning was done in the courtroom, especially since it seemed to exonerate Miss Freebody. The Major was about to accuse his wife and Dr. Swale, but unless he had new evidence the accusation would not have meant much. But did he have new evidence? We don’t know, though Dr. Swale may have feared that the Major could make the accusation stick.

Like the case against Miss Freebody, the above outline seems at first glance plausible, but it founders on a problem. Mrs. Ecclestone certainly and Dr. Swale probably knew that liver was always given to the dog. They also were familiar enough with the Major’s character to know that he would have assumed that he was the target. Why, if they planned to murder the Major, did they devise a scheme by which the dog would die first? They could have made certain that the Major ate the poisoned food first—the mixed grill—then fed a bit to the dog so that Miss Freebody’s threatening letters would make her the obvious suspect in both deaths. Moreover, if they did not poison the liver, they had no reason to fear any courtroom revelations from the Major, and therefore no reason to kill him during the trial.

SOLUTIONS 3 AND 4

Miss Freebody poisoned the dog, but Dr. Swale and Mrs. Ecclestone poisoned the Major. Solution 4 is the reverse: Dr. Swale and Mrs. Ecclestone poisoned the dog, but Miss Freebody poisoned the Major. As experienced mystery readers, we don’t have to agree with the Judge’s opinion that both crimes were the work of the same person, but in this case it’s difficult to accept a Miss Freebody-Dr. Swale-Mrs. Ecclestone combination. This solution, no matter how the details are juggled about, combines the weaknesses of the previous solutions. In order to show why a Solution 5 is necessary, let’s summarize the conclusions that seem to exonerate the obvious suspects:

The First Crime:

Miss Freebody probably did not poison the liver because she would not have left the tin of wasp exterminator in her own shrubbery.

Dr. Swale and Mrs. Ecclestone probably did not poison the liver because they would not have poisoned the dog first.

The Second Crime:

Miss Freebody probably did not murder the Major because she was watched at all times and her only possible agent, Nurse Miggs, could not have poisoned him without someone noticing that she was no longer guarding Miss Freebody.

Dr. Swale and Mrs. Ecclestone probably did not murder the Major because they would not have done it during the trial unless they were guilty of the first crime which, as we have pointed out, is unlikely.

Having finally eliminated these three suspects, we are left with—

SOLUTION 5

A person or persons previously unsuspected committed both crimes. Ngaio Marsh, like her contemporaries Agatha Christie, John Dickson Carr, and Ellery Queen, often used the least-likely-person gambit. Would Marsh have chosen someone like Miss Freebody, Mrs. Ecclestone, and Dr. Swale, who had such obvious motives? She carefully shows that others had less obvious but perhaps just as compelling motives to kill Major Ecclestone. The Major quarrelled with everyone he dealt with, including his landlord, his late doctor, the secretary of his club, the postman, and the butcher. In fact, he threatened the butcher’s boy with his dog. Whether this boy was Thomas Tidwell or, more likely, a lad who worked with him, Tidwell had a motive to kill the dog and by extension the Major himself. But how could Tidwell have gotten the poison and the capsule in which to put it? Quite easily: he was apparently a friend of the local chemist, with whom he is sitting in the final scene. The tin of wasp exterminator came from the chemist. We recall that Mrs. Ecclestone testified that Tidwell delivered the meat shortly after 3:00, but that Tidwell himself said that he left at 3:30. What was he doing during that half hour? Though he probably did not know of Miss Freebody’s motive, he knew that Dr. Swale was having an affair with Mrs. Ecclestone, and that Miss Freebody could swear to their frequent meetings. He must have been waiting for Dr. Swale’s arrival so that an obvious suspect was present. He poisoned the liver, and then changed the wrappings to indicate that someone had opened the parcel after he had handled it. But he feared being caught with the tin of poison, so he simply threw it into the nearest shrubbery. During the trial, Miss Freebody seemed genuinely surprised by the evidence against Dr. Swale and Mrs. Ecclestone. Not only was Tidwell not surprised, but he carefully pointed it out. To make his case against Dr. Swale and Mrs. Ecclestone complete and to make Major Ecclestone finally pay for his threats, Tidwell decided to poison the Major during the trial. Did he do it himself, or did his friend the chemist manage it? We don’t know, for Ngaio Marsh’s stage directions are a bit vague, but she points out that the two of them sat between the Ecclestones. In both the death of the dog and the murder of the Major, Thomas Tidwell had the most obvious opportunity, and when that is combined with his motive and, through the chemist, the means, it is clear that he should be the defendant in the next session of “Crown Court.”

—Douglas G Greene

The End