Footsteps in the Fog Page #4

Now, Mr Jones, when you and Mr Corcoran

saw Mrs Burke's assailant,

- why did you not apprehend him?

- Beg your pardon, sir?

Why did you not appre...

Why did you not stop him?

Oh! Apprehend. Yes.

We couldn't. He disappeared into the fog

before we could say "Jack Robinson".

- It was a real peasouper, that night.

- Consider carefully

and remember you're under oath,

before answering my next question.

Are you quite certain, when you emerged

from the lighted pub into the foggy night,

you saw the assailant's face clearly enough

to identify him beyond a shadow of a doubt?

I am. It was Mr Lowry, all right.

So the fog was too thick

for you to apprehend the murderer,

- but clear enough for you to see his face!

- Yes.

That's all. Oh, one more question, Mr Jones.

How many drinks had you with Mr Corcoran?

Two, maybe three gins. No more than three.

- Large gins or small gins?

- Small ones.

Thank you.

Call Michael Corcoran.

Mr Corcoran, I wish you to tell us how you came

to see the assailant of Katherine Burke.

Oh, that's easy, sir. In the light from the pub.

- He was only a yard or two away.

- Thank you, Mr Corcoran.

First of all, Mr Corcoran, do you remember

how many drinks you had with Mr Jones?

Uh... six gins, sir.

It should've been seven, but Jones

hadn't any money left for his last round.

- Large gins or small gins?

- Well, it was a bitter, foggy night, sir,

so they was large gins.

Six large gins seems rather a lot.

The average man would be a bit tipsy on all that.

Not me! After six gins, I'm as sober as a beak.

What does the witness mean,

"Sober as a beak"?

As I understand it, Your Worship,

he means after six large gins,

he's as sober as a...

judge.

Silence in court!

- That's all, Mr Corcoran.

Call Lily Watkins.

Lily Watkins!

Remove you right-hand glove...

...and now take the testament in your right hand.

Now read the oath.

I swear by almighty God

that the evidence I give to this court

shall be the truth, the whole truth

and nothing but the truth, so help me God.

Now, Lily, do you remember

the evening of November the third?

I do, sir.

Can you tell us where Mr Lowry was

between 8.30 and 9.30 that night?

Yes, sir.

- He didn't leave the house all evening.

- How do you know?

Well, I was with Mr Lowry

every minute of the time.

And were you in the room with him

every minute of the time?

Oh, no, sir. I had my duties to attend to.

But you know exactly

where Mr Lowry was every minute, is that it?

Yes, sir. He didn't leave the drawing room

until he went upstairs to his room.

Well, I suggest that Mr Lowry did leave

the drawing room, Miss Watkins,

- and that he left the house.

- He couldn't have.

- Not without me knowing it.

- And I suggest that if you didn't know it,

it's because

between nine o'clock and a quarter past

you were in another part of the house

intent on your duties.

No, sir.

At nine, according to the town hall clock,

I was in the dining room polishing the silver

before putting it away.

Well, the drawing room

being just across the hall,

Mr Lowry was in plain sight the whole time.

And what was the duration of this "whole time",

during which you watched from the dining room

while he stayed in the drawing room?

About half an hour, sir.

Then I went up to do the fire in his room.

I was on my way to the servants' quarters

and I heard Mr Lowry come up the stairs

and go into his room.

Someone, I presume,

can corroborate your testimony?

- Oh, Mr Lowry can.

- I don't mean the prisoner.

One of the other servants, perhaps?

Well, I'm the only servant in the house, sir.

If witnesses swear they saw Mr Lowry

near the Anchor pub about 9.15,

do you say they're lying?

Either that, sir, or drunk.

I want you to take a good look at the article

that will be shown you.

Please show Exhibit A to the witness.

- Do recognise that walking stick?

- Yes, sir.

It belongs to Mr Lowry.

Now, Miss Watkins, perhaps you can tell us

when exactly you last saw the stick.

Well... it must have been about two months ago

that I lost it.

Silence in court!

Would you care to tell us how, exactly,

you came to lose the walking stick?

Well, I'd sprained my ankle on the cellar steps

and it was paining me a lot

when I had to go and do the marketing,

so I borrowed one of Mr Lowry's sticks

from the hall rack.

I took that one because he didn't use it often.

And you lost it - this stick that your painful injury

had made so necessary?

How did this misfortune occur?

It was in the greengrocer's. I leaned the stick up

against a bin while I did the shopping

and when I looked for it, it was gone.

Some boy must have pinched it to play with.

I... Well, I didn't tell Mr Lowry,

hoping he wouldn't miss it.

And I suggest it never happened - any of it!

That you made up this story because Mr Lowry

is your employer and pays you a good wage.

It would take a lot more than wages to make me

lie for Mr Lowry, or any other employer.

An attitude that does you proud.

But it would take a lot more than attitudes

to make me change my belief that it was

Stephen Lowry, not you, who lost the stick.

That it was lost on the night of the murder, not

"pinched" two months ago by any playful boy.

And you can't prove I'm wrong.

Can you, Lily Watkins?

No, sir. But when you find the boy

that pinched it, he'll be able to tell you!

The burden consequently rests

upon the prosecution

to show a prima facie case

on which the prisoner can be committed for trial

on an indictment for murder

before a High Courtjudge and a jury.

Counsel for the prisoner has submitted

that the evidence

does not show such a prima facie case.

I accept that submission...

...and the prisoner, Stephen Lowry,

is discharged.

This way, sir.

Oh, Stephen, I'm so glad!

There must be something wrong with the law

when a man

like Stephen Lowry can be humiliated like this

while the man who

murdered Burke's wife is free to run at large.

Lowry might well have been subjected for trial,

had it not had been for Lily's testimony.

Surprisingly excellent testimony.

The Crown now has a murder on its hands

and no suspect.

And Constable Burke and his two sons...

no wife and no mother.

- Thank you. Good night.

Good night, sir.

Welcome home, Mr Lowry.

Yesterday, I was standing trial for murder...

and for the first time,

I knew what a murderer felt like.

It may seem incredible to you, but I didn't feel

like that at all, when I killed my wife.

I just felt a great release.

I suppose you've wondered

why I ever married her.

You don't have to tell me.

That must have been pretty obvious.

Yes, I married her for her money.

- How long have you worked here, Lily?

- Just over a year.

I remember you smiled at me

the first day I came.

Did I? Well, you were here long enough

to know what went on.

Always having to be at her beck and call.

The scenes,

if I tried to slip away for an hour or two.

And then, when she started

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