Part 19 (1/2)
”What else?”
”Thin Oi heard the front dure slam.”
”Did you see anybody come in or go out?”
”Sure, an' Oi did not.”
”What time was this, as near as you can remember?”
”Atwixt tin an' eliven o'clock.”
”Did you hear anything after the slamming of the front door?”
”Oi did not, fer Oi wint down to the barn directly afterwards.”
”How long did you remain down at the barn?”
”Till Miss Margaret came scr'amin' from the house. She cries, 'Mary, oh Mary! Me father! Me father!' an' staggers around loike she was goin' to fall, an' Oi run up to her an' hild her up, poor dear.” And the servant girl shot a sympathetic glance in Margaret's direction.
”Ahem! Now--er--you remained in the barn until you heard her cry out.
Did you hear or see anything from the barn while you were down there?”
”Well, to tell the truth, sur, Oi didn't notice anythin' at the toime, bein' that interested in me pet chickens, sur. Ye see, Pat Callahan gave me three foine Leghorns, an'--”
”Never mind the Leghorns. If you saw or heard anything, what was it?”
”'Twas something Oi was afther hearin', sur. Oi think somebody ran past the barn, aisy loike.”
”You didn't see anybody?”
”No, sur. As Oi said before, thim Leghorns that Pat Callahan gave me--”
”We'll--ahem! drop the Leghorns. After you heard the strange noise how long was it before you heard Miss Langmore scream?”
”Perhaps quarter av an hour, sur. Oi didn't look to the clock.”
”And she fainted in your arms?”
”Not exactly that, sur. She scr'ams, 'Me father! me father! Mary, he is murdered! Go to the library!' An' thin she wint over in me arms loike a stone, poor dear, poor dear!” And the domestic began to weep afresh.
”What did you do then?”
”Sure, phat could Oi do? Oi scr'amed fer hilp as loud as Oi could, an'
thin Mrs. Bardon an' her son, Alfred, the docthor, came over.”
”What happened next?”
”We all wint in the house, an' there we found poor Mr. Langmore dead in the library, in his chair. The doctor thought he moight be aloive yit an' had his mother an' me run upstairs fer some medicine from the medicine closet. In the upper hall we kim on Mrs. Langmore's body, also dead, an' I got that scared Oi turned an' flew down the back stairs an' out av the house loike the divil was afther me!”
There was a general laugh throughout the courtroom, at which the coroner rapped loudly on the desk.