Part 14 (1/2)
”I saw her with my own eyes. One time, I even saw her listening at the door to the parlor. Dr. Burdell was inside with a gentleman.”
”So would you say she was in the habit of tracking his movements?”
”She certainly kept a watch on him. She had a halter around his neck, that's for sure. I may not be a lady, but I knows about the truth.” The room was hushed and Alice's voice was rising.
”And on the day of the murder, was she keeping track of his movements?”
”She was all over the house, checking on everything. When I was downstairs, pa.s.sing by the stair, there was a big argument.”
”Which day was this?”
”Why, Friday, sir, the very day he was slaughtered.”
”Can you tell me the nature of the argument?”
”She was at his door, banging. It was about some papers or a paper that was stolen. Then I went about my business. I headed to the bas.e.m.e.nt. That's when she came down looking for the house keys.”
”Did you give her your house keys?”
”She grabbed them away from me, just as you please.”
”Afterward, what did you do?”
”I tried to prevent her from taking them. I told her, with all due respect, that she could not have them, they were the possession of the Doctor. Then she slapped me just as hard as she pleased, and it sent me reeling.” There were faint gasps from the audience. ”I told her I would not work in such a place. I told her I was finished, and that I would not suffer in such a way. I went to the back door and left that very day, without even getting my things.” Alice appeared distraught and reached for her gla.s.s of water. Hall stepped forward with a look of concern and refilled her tumbler from the pitcher. When she finished sipping down the water, she coughed again, and gasped, as if she was having trouble breathing. Hall paced, patiently.
After she had sipped some more water, Hall deliberated and then said, ”Miss Donahoe, I do not want to disturb you any further. That shall be all. I thank you for your testimony.” He quickly retreated, for she had served her purpose.
”Does the defense wish to cross-examine this witness?” asked Judge Davies, who looked at Clinton squarely, but the task was to be Thayer's. ”Yes, Your Honor,” replied Thayer, standing up, pus.h.i.+ng his hair out of his eyes.
”Easy,” Clinton whispered, sotto voce as Thayer edged behind, approaching the bench. By agreement, Clinton would show deference to witnesses, as he had with Hannah, and allow Thayer to be the one to go on the attack. It seemed insincere to a jury when a lawyer s.h.i.+fted his stance. Thayer had an aggressive nature, which was valuable when impeaching a witness, but untethered, at cross-examination, it could leave the least credible witness looking wounded and sympathetic. Clinton hoped that the young lawyer was up to the task. The workingmen in the jury would have little sympathy if the defense badgered the servants. Alice, however, was hostile to the defendant, and discrediting her testimony would take a certain amount of skill and finesse.
'Miss Donahoe...,” Thayer began, his voice trailing off, as if he were still formulating his thoughts in his mind. ”Madame...,” he began again. Alice pulled herself upright, readying herself, with a look of scorn. ”Let me understand something. Did you say there was a halter around Dr. Burdell's neck? Was it a real rope or an artificial rope?” Thayer asked, speaking with a puzzled tone.
”Well, sir, the imaginary kind, the kind a lady holds over a man, to keep him in her command.”
”Do you mean the kind of rope a wife might pull to bring her husband home from the taverns?” asked Thayer, bringing laughter from the spectators.
”Dr. Burdell hardly drank,” she said emphatically. ”I always considered him very refined-a correct gentleman.”
”And Mrs. Cunningham? Was she a proper lady?”
”Oh, heavens no! As a mother and a widowed lady, it was most improper for her to be in his room late at night.”
”Is it improper for any wife to be in her husband's room at night?”
”Well, if I could look through the keyhole, I could tell you if it was improper or not.” Again the room erupted in laughter, and Alice seemed to take pride in her bawdy joke.
”I trust you never did look through your employer's keyhole, did you Miss Donahoe?” and Alice blushed at the insinuation. ”On the night of the murder,” he continued, ”on Friday night, January thirty-first, did you observe any unusual behavior?”
”I was not there in the evening of the occurrence, if you please.”
”You did not sleep in your bedroom in the attic with Hannah that night?”
”That was my usual place to sleep, but I was not there, because I gave my dismissal.”
”Wasn't it Mrs. Cunningham who dismissed you from your job that very morning?”
”Mrs. Cunningham got it wrong,” Alice replied, brashly. ”I took leave on my own accord.”
”Is it true that Mrs. Cunningham went looking all over the house for you and found you in the bas.e.m.e.nt?”
”After I finished in the bedrooms, I was feeling poorly and got a cold in my feet and felt ill, so I went to the bas.e.m.e.nt to rest.”
”Did she find you in the cellar with a whiskey bottle, and you could hardly stand?” The spectators shuffled and murmured. Oakey Hall pursed his lips, listening.
”No, sir, that is not the case,” replied Alice, tartly. ”I had the rheumatism, and I went down to the cellar for a rest.”
”Did you go down into the cold bas.e.m.e.nt to drink whiskey and when you became intoxicated you could not stand up? And did your mistress tell you she would have to let you go because you drank too much?”
”That's not true!” said Alice, indignant. ”If she saw me on the ground, it was because I was going down on my knees to say a prayer to G.o.d.”
”Were you intoxicated on the morning of January thirty-first? Answer the question, yes or no,” said Thayer.
”Please allow me, sir,” said Alice imploringly, turning to the Judge.
”I asked you, yes or no!” Thayer said loudly.
The Judge interrupted: ”Mr. Thayer, let her give her own explanation, in her words.”
”Thank you, sir,” Alice said, nodding to the Judge. She settled in her seat and continued her tale, now speaking to the Judge. ”I had been doing very poorly. I am a poor girl, and I get cold in my feet and my hands get the rheumatism. I feel poorly in the wintertime and I was...”
”Witness, you have not answered my question.”
”Mr. Thayer, I have asked that she have time to speak without interruption,” Judge Davies said. ”Miss Donahoe, you must speak to the question of whether or not you were intoxicated during the day of January thirty-first. Please take your time.”
”Sir, if I had some liquor, it was but a little bad brandy. In wintertime the cook sometimes adds it to the soup, and it made me ill. I did not ask for it, for I am not accustomed to having it. No, sir, after I had my meal, I went down into the cellar and I took a fainting fit, or a spasm-and I fell to the ground. Mrs. Cunningham came looking for me. She was mistaken, thinking I was in my cups. I was never in the beastly state of intoxication that I have seen Mrs. Cunningham in!”
The room erupted in laughter, which was suppressed by the rapping of the Judge's hammer. ”Sir,” Alice implored, ”I am but a poor person, and I have to depend upon myself,” she whined.
As the laughter subsided, Clinton glanced around to see the effect. The jury and spectators had a sneering look. As he swiveled slightly he caught a glance at the door, where he saw Snarky, bobbing urgently, handing something to the court attendant. The attendant came forward and dropped a note before Clinton on the defense table. It was a ripped sc.r.a.p of paper folded in two and Clinton opened it to see the words: ”Stansbury off list. Husband Tammany fixer.” Clinton allowed himself a deep breath as the news sank in. Hall had just lost an important witness, slated after the maid. She was the woman who had come to rent rooms in the house from Dr. Burdell the very same day as the murder. Unlike the servants, who carried grudges, this woman had no prior contact with the defendant and had a simple but d.a.m.ning message-that she came to the house to lease the upper floors; that Dr. Burdell intended that Emma's and her daughter's rooms would soon be vacated. Her message, if true, was troubling, for it could be inferred that Dr. Burdell wanted Emma gone. The tip from Snarky meant that the woman's husband had a link to ward politics, and perhaps to payoffs, and the party bosses feared the exposure. Clinton lifted his eyes to focus back on the testimony and kept his facial muscles still, but if he could allow himself a spontaneous response to both the note and Thayer's performance, it would be a smile as broad as a schoolboy's.
”Let me make sure your statement is clear,” resumed Thayer carefully, allowing the room to settle and Alice's words to linger in the air. ”You witnessed the defendant, Emma Cunningham, in a drunken state?”
”Well I certainly suspected....”