|
He pauses.
) I repeat, in what way did
you hope for monetary advantage?
LEONARD. You see, there’s a thing I’ve invented. A kind of windscreen wiper that works in
snow. I was looking for someone to finance that and I thought perhaps Miss French would. But
that wasn’t the only reason I went to see her. I tell you I liked her.
MYERS. Yes, yes, we’ve heard that very often, haven’t we—how much you liked her.
LEONARD. (
Sulkily.
) Well, it’s true.
MYERS. I believe, Mr. Vole, that about a week before Miss French’s death, you were making
enquiries of a travel agency for particulars of foreign cruises.
LEONARD. Supposing I did—it isn’t a crime, is it?
MYERS. Not at all. Many people go for cruises
when they can pay for it
. But you couldn’t pay
for it, could you, Mr. Vole?
LEONARD. I was hard up. I told you so.
MYERS. And yet you came into this particular travel agency—with a blonde—a strawberry
blonde—I understand—and…
JUDGE. A strawberry blonde, Mr. Myers?
MYERS. A term for a lady with reddish fair hair, my lord.
JUDGE. I though I knew all about blondes, but a strawberry blonde…Go on, Mr. Myers.
MYERS. (
To LEONARD
) Well?
LEONARD. My wife isn’t a blonde and it was only a bit of fun, anyway.
MYERS. You admit that you asked for particulars, not of cheap trips, but of the most expensive
and luxurious cruises. How did you expect to pay for such a thing?
LEONARD. I didn’t.
MYERS. I suggest that you knew that in a week’s time you would have inherited a large sum of
44
money from a trusting elderly lady.
LEONARD. I didn’t know anything of the kind. I just was feeling fed up—and there were the
posters in the window—palm trees and coconuts and blue seas, and I went in and asked. The
clerk gave me a sort of supercilious look—I was a bit shabby—but it riled me. And so I put on
a bit of an act—(
He suddenly grins as though enjoying remembrance of the scene.
) and began
asking for the swankiest tours there were—all
de luxe
and a cabin on the boat deck.
MYERS. You really expect the Jury to believe that?
LEONARD. I don’t expect anyone to believe anything. But that’s the way it was. It was
made-believe and childish if you like—but it was fun and I enjoyed it. (
He looks suddenly
pathetic.
) I wasn’t thinking of killing anybody or of inheriting money.
MYERS. So it was just a remarkable coincidence that Miss French should be killed, leaving you
her heir, only a few days later.
LEONARD. I’ve told you—I didn’t kill her.
MYERS. Your story is that on the night of the fourteenth, you left Miss French’s house at four
minutes to nine, that you walked home and you arrived there at twenty-five minutes past nine,
and stayed there the rest of the evening.
LEONARD. Yes.
MYERS. You have heard the woman Romaine Heilger rebut that story in Court. You have heard
her say that you came in not at
twenty-five minutes
past nine but at
ten minutes past ten
.
LEONARD. It’s not true!
MYERS. That your clothes were bloodstained, that you definitely admitted to her that you had
killed Miss French.
LEONARD. It’s not true, I tell you. Not one word of it is true.
MYERS. Can you suggest any reason why this young woman, who has been passing as your
wife, should deliberately give evidence she has given if it were not true?
LEONARD. No, I can’t. That’s the awful thing. There’s no reason at all. I think she must have
gone mad.
MYERS. You thin she must have gone mad? She seemed extremely sane, and self-possessed.
But insanity is the only reason you can suggest.
LEONARD. I don’t understand it. Ah, God, what’s happened—what’s changed her?
MYERS. Very effective, I’m sure. But in this Court we deal with facts. And the fact is, Mr. Vole,
that we have only your word for it that you left Emily French’s house at the time you say you
did, and that you arrived home at five and twenty minutes past nine, and that you did not go
out again.
LEONARD. (
Wildly
) Someone must have seen me—in the street—or going into the house.
MYERS. One would certainly think so—but the only person who did see you come home that
night says it was at ten minutes past ten. And that person says that you had blood on your
clothes.
LEONARD. I cut my wrist.
MYERS. A very easy thing to do in case any questions should arise.
LEONARD. (
Breaking down
) You twist everything. You twist everything I say. You make me
sound like a different kind of person from what I am.
MYERS. You cut your wrist deliberately.
LEONARD. No, I didn’t. I didn’t do anything, but you make it all sound as though I did. I can
45
hear it myself.
MYERS. You came home at ten past ten.
LEONARD. No, I didn’t. You’ve
got
to believe me. You’ve got to
believe
me.
MYERS. You killed Emily French.
LEONARD. I didn’t do it.
(
The LIGHTS fade quickly, leaving two spots on LEONARD and MYERS. These fade too as he
finishes speaking and the Curtain falls.
)
I didn’t kill her. I’ve never killed anybody. Oh God! It’s a nightmare. It’s some awful, evil
dream.
CURTAIN
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