Part 32 (1/2)
”Did you hear the crash when Leslie broke down the door of the storeroom?”
”No. I was in a sort of stupor.”
”Did you know the prisoner before you employed him on the Ella?”
”Yes; he had been in our employ several times.”
”What was his reputation--I mean, as a s.h.i.+p's officer?”
”Good.”
”Do you recall the night of the 31st of July?”
”Quite well.”
”Please tell what you know about it.”
”I had asked Mr. Singleton below to have a drink with me. Captain Richardson came below and ordered him on deck. They had words, and he knocked Singleton down.”
”Did you hear the mate threaten to 'get' the captain, then or later?”
”He may have made some such threat.”
”Is there a bell in your cabin connecting with the maids' cabin off the chart-room?”
”No. My bell rang in the room back of the galley, where Williams slept. The boat was small, and I left my man at home. Williams looked after me.”
”Where did the bell from Mr. Vail's room ring?”
”In the maids' room. Mr. Vail's room was designed for Mrs. Turner.
When we asked Mrs. Johns to go with us, Mrs. Turner gave Vail her room.
It was a question of baths.”
”Did you ring any bell during the night?”
”No.”
”Knowing the relation of the bell above Mr. Vail's berth to the bed itself, do you think he could have reached it after his injury?”
(Slowly.) ”After what the doctor has said, no; he would have had to raise himself and reach up.”
The cross-examination was brief but to the point:
”What do you mean by 'ill'?”
”That night I had been somewhat ill; the next day I was in bad shape.”
”Did you know the woman Karen Hansen before your wife employed her?”