Witness for the Prosecution Page #7

taken and the premises fingerprinted.

- What fingerprints did you discover?

- I found the fingerprints of Mrs French,

those of Janet McKenzie, and some which

later proved to be those of Leonard Vole.

- No others?

- No others.

Did you say the room had the appearance

that a robbery had been committed?

Yes. Things were strewn about and the

window had been broken near the catch.

There was glass on the floor,

and fragments were found outside.

The glass outside was not consistent with

the window being forced from the outside.

You're saying that someone made it look

as if it had been forced from the outside?

My lord, I must object. My learned friend

is putting words in the witness' mouth.

After all, if he insists

on answering his own questions,

the presence of the witness

would seem superfluous.

Quite. Don't you think so, Mr Myers?

Yes, my lord.

Inspector,

did you ascertain if any of the murdered

woman's property was missing?

According to the housekeeper,

nothing was missing.

In your experience, Inspector,

when burglars or burglaresses

break into a house,

do they leave without taking anything?

No, sir.

- Do you produce a jacket, Inspector?

- Yes, sir.

Is that the jacket?

- Yes, sir.

- That is exhibit P1, my lord.

Where did you find this, Inspector?

That is the jacket

found in the prisoner's flat,

which I handed to our lab

to test for bloodstains.

- And did you find any bloodstains?

- Yes.

Though an attempt

had been made to wash them out.

What tests were made?

First to determine

if the stains were human blood,

then to classify it by group or type.

And was the blood

of a particular group or type?

Yes, sir. It is type O.

And did you subsequently

test the blood of the dead woman?

- Yes, sir.

- What type was that?

- The same. Type O.

- (murmuring)

Thank you, Inspector.

No further questions.

Inspector, you say the only fingerprints

you found were those of Mrs French,

Janet McKenzie and Leonard Vole.

In your experience, when a burglar breaks

in, does he usually leave fingerprints

- or does he wear gloves?

- He wears gloves.

So the absence

of fingerprints in a robbery

- would hardly surprise you?

- No, sir.

Can't we surmise the burglar might have

entered a presumably empty house,

suddenly encountered

Mrs French and struck her,

then, realising she was dead,

fled without taking anything?

I submit, my lord,

that it is entirely impossible

to guess what went on in the mind

of some entirely imaginary burglar.

With or without gloves.

Let us not surmise, Sir Wilfrid,

but confine ourselves to facts.

Inspector, when you questioned

the prisoner as to the stains on his jacket,

did he not show you

a recently-healed scar on his wrist,

- saying he had cut himself slicing bread?

- Yes, sir, that is what he said.

And were you not told

the same thing by his wife?

- Yes, sir. But afterwards...

- Just a simple yes or no, please.

Did the prisoner's wife show you a knife

and tell you that her husband

had cut his wrist while slicing bread?

- Yes, sir.

- I will ask you to examine this knife.

Just test the edge of it

with your finger. Carefully!

You agree that the point

and the cutting edge are razor-sharp?

- Yes, sir.

- Now, if such a knife were to slip,

might it not inflict a cut

that would bleed profusely?

Yes, sir, it might.

Inspector, you stated that the bloodstains

on the prisoner's jacket were analysed,

as was the blood of Mrs French, and

they were both found to be of group O.

- That is correct.

- However,

if the prisoner's blood

were also of this same group,

then the stains on his jacket

may well have resulted

from the household accident

he described to you.

Yes, sir.

Did you examine

the prisoner's blood, Inspector?

No, sir.

I have here a certificate

stating that Leonard Stephen Vole

is a blood donor

at the North London Hospital.

And that his blood is group O.

(murmuring)

Thank you, Inspector.

Inspector, granted that the cut

on the wrist was caused by that knife,

is there anything to show

whether it was an accident

or done deliberately after the murder

to account for the bloodstains?

- Oh, really, my lord!

- I withdraw the question.

You may stand down.

- Call Janet McKenzie.

- Janet McKenzie.

- Janet McKenzie.

- Janet McKenzie.

I swear by Almighty God

that the evidence...

(buzzer)

...the truth, the whole truth

and nothing but the truth.

Carter. Carter. Pill. Pill.

- Your name is Janet McKenzie?

- Aye, that's my name.

- When did you first come to London?

- That was many years ago. 28 years ago.

- Where do you live?

- Now that Mrs French, poor soul, is dead,

I've moved in with my niece

at 19 Glenister Road.

You were companion-housekeeper

to the late Mrs Emily French?

I was her housekeeper!

I've no opinion of companions,

poor feckless bodies, afraid

of a bit of honest domestic work.

I meant you were on friendly terms, not

altogether those of mistress and servant.

Aye. Ten years I was with her

and looked after her.

She knew me and she trusted me.

Many's the time

I prevented her doing a foolish thing.

Please tell us, in your own words, about

the events of the evening of October 14.

It was a Friday and my night out. I was

going to see my niece at Glenister Road,

which is about five minutes' walk.

I left the house at half past seven.

I promised to take her

a dress pattern that she admired.

- Och, is this thing necessary?

- An excellent question.

However, it has been installed at

considerable expense to the taxpayers,

so let us take advantage of it.

Please continue.

Well, when I got to my niece's,

I found I'd left the pattern behind.

So after supper I slipped

back to get it as it was no distance.

I got back to the house at 25 past 9.

I let myself in

and went upstairs to my room.

As I passed the sitting room, I heard the

prisoner in there, talking to Mrs French.

- No, it wasn't me! It wasn't my voice!

- (court murmurs)

Talking and laughing they were.

But it was no business of mine,

so I went upstairs to fetch my pattern.

Now, let us be very exact as to the time.

You say that you

re-entered the house at 25 past 9?

Aye. The pattern was on a shelf in my

room next to my clock so I saw the time.

- And it was 25 past 9.

- Go on, please.

I went back to my niece. Och,

she was delighted with the pattern. Si...

Simply delighted. I stayed until 20 to 11,

then I said good night and I come home.

I went into the sitting room to see

if the mistress wanted anything

before she went to bed.

And there she was, dead.

And everything tossed hither and thither.

Did you really think

that a burglary had been committed?

My lord, I must protest!

I will not allow that question

to be answered, Mr Myers.

Miss McKenzie, were you aware

that Leonard Vole was a married man?

No, indeed.

And neither was the mistress.

- Janet!

- My lord, I must object.

What Mrs French knew or did not know is

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