The Mysteries of the Court of London — page 255: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

CAROLINE WALTERS 225 an idea struck us that something was wrong. So we de- scended the stairs together, and as we passed Caroline Walters’s room, we saw that the door was standing wide open. We did not stop to examine how it had been opened, but continued our way down-stairs, when we met Miss Walters rushing away from the parlour as if she was mad. On seeing us, she uttered a dreadful scream and fainted. My fellow servant remained with her, while I went into the parlour; and there I found my poor ‘ missus’ murdered and weltering in her blood. I raised an alarm, constables came, and Caroline Walters was given into custody.” The fellow servant of this witness corroborated all the above details; and the surgeon who had attended Caroline at the period of her miscarriage deposed to the irritability and dislike which the prisoner had manifested on that occasion toward Mrs. Lindley. The same surgeon had examined the body of the murdered woman; and he declared that the fatal blow had been inflicted by a sharp dagger which had penetrated the heart in such a manner that death must have been instantaneous and most probably unaccom- panied by even a moan. We must here observe that Counsellor Sharply cross- examined each of the witnesses with all the skill and tact for which the learned gentleman was so celebrated; but he failed to shake their testimony in any detail. Mr. Peter Grumley now directed his man Mobbs to enter the witness-box, and that worthy deposed to the following effect: ‘“‘ T went over to Fore Street yesterday morning soon arter daybreak, in consequence of orders which I received from my superior,” and here Mobbs jerked his left-hand thumb over his shoulder toward Grumley. ‘‘ At the house in Fore Street,’’ he continued, “‘ I examined the chamber which had been occupied by the prisoner, Miss Walters; and I found that the door had been opened by the removal of the lock. In fact the lock, which was inside the door, had been un- screwed and took off as clean as anythink. A knife had evidently been used as a turn-screw.”’ “This case,” said the magistrate, as Mobbs stood down — from the witness-box, “‘ should have been heard yesterday; but it stood over until to-day in order to enable the officers to collect all the necessary evidence. Is any further testi- mony forthcoming? ”’ (C(O) LG 6)(0)©)