Part 46 (1/2)
She paled and shrank from the face, which was brutal even in death, but answered, quietly, ”I do.”
”Did you know him when alive?”
”I did not.”
This answer surprised both the coroner and his jury.
”Your stepfather testified that he came to your home.”
”So he did. But I refused to see him. My stepfather met him outside the door. I never spoke to him in my life.”
”You may be seated again,” said Carmody, and after a slight pause proceeded: ”Why did you dislike the deceased? Was he disrespectful to you?”
”He was.”
”In what way?”
She hesitated and flushed. ”He wrote to me.”
”More than once?”
”Yes, several times.”
”Have you those letters?”
”No; I destroyed them.”
”Could you give me an idea of those letters?”
Hanscom interposed: ”She can't do that, Mr. Coroner. It is evident that they were vile.”
The coroner pa.s.sed this point. ”You say he called at your house--how many times?”
”Two or three, I think.”
”Was your father at home each time?”
”Once I was alone.”
”Did you meet Watson then?”
”No. I saw him coming in the gate and I went inside and locked the door.”
”What happened then?”
”He beat on the door, and when I failed to reply he went away.”
”Was he drunk?”
”He might have been. He seemed more like an insane man to me.”