They Hanged My Saintly Billy (54 page)
mills
.
Yes.
S
erjeant shee
.
But
he
did
not
tell
you
who
he
was,
or
whom
he
came
from,
or
for
what
your
answers
were
wanted?
mills
.
No.
S
erjeant shee
.
Did
he
mention
Mr
Stevens's
name?
mills
.
Yes.
S
erjeant shee
.
What
did
he
say
about
Mr
Stevens?
mills
.
Mr
Stevens
was
with
him
in
the
sitting-room;
he
called
Mr
Stevens
by
name.
S
erjeant shee
.
Why
did
you
not
tell
us
that
before?
mills
.
I
was
not
asked.
[Laughter in Court.]
We
have
heard
of
Judges
warning
juries
to
place
no
reliance on
witnesses
whose
conduct
and
demeanour
were
in
every
way superior
to
those
of
Elizabeth
Mills;
yet
the
Lord
Chief
Justice supported
her
with
romantic
fervour
and
characterized
Serjeant Shee's
suggestion
that
Mr
Stevens
paid
her
money
as
'a
most
foul charge'.
The
Dr
Collier
mentioned
by
Elizabeth
Mills
had
gone, at
John
Smith's
request,
to
Hitchingley,
where
he
took
down
her statements.
When
informed
that
he
was
now
in
Court,
Baron Alderson
exclaimed
angrily:
'Dr
Collier
should
be
absent,
if
he is
to
be
examined
for
facts.
He
is
here
under
the
false
pretence
of being
a
doctor!'
Baron
Alderson
forgot
that
three
doctors
called by
the
Prosecution
to
be
examined
for
facts
were
also
in
Court.
Further
evidence
that
day
came
from
Lavinia
Barnes,
who docilely
supported
Mills's
new
story
of
having
been
poisoned
after tasting
the
broth,
but
otherwise
added
nothing
to
the
stock
of common
knowledge;
from
Dr
Jones,
Cook's
oldest
friend,
and the
only
medical
eye-witness
of
his
death,
who
kept
to
his
view that
Cook
had
died
of
natural
causes;
from
Dr
Savage,
the
London physician,
who
gave
evidence
that
Cook
was
in
reasonably
good health,
save
for
a
weakness
of
the
lung,
up
to
a
fortnight
before his
death;
and
finally
from
Charles
Newton,
Dr
Salt's
assistant.
Newton
now
testified
to
having
given
Dr
Palmer
three
grains of
strychnine
crystals
at
nine
o'clock
on
Monday
night,
November
19th.
He
also
told
a
most
improbable
tale
about
a
meeting
on
Sunday,
November
25
th,
the
eve
of
the
post-mortem
examination.
Cross-examined
by
Mr
James,
Q.C.,
for
the
Prosecution:
james
.
Do
you
remember
Sunday,
the
25th
of
November?
newton.
I
do.
james
.
Where
were
you
at
about
seven
o'clock
that
evening
?
Newton
.
At
Dr
Palmer's
house.
james
.
What
was
the
cause
of
your
going
there?
newton
.
I
was
sent
for.
james
.
Where
did
you
find
Palmer
when
you
went,
and
what
was he
doing?
newton
.
He
was
alone,
sitting
by
the
kitchen
fire,
reading.
james
.
What
did
he
say
to
you
?
newton
.
He
asked
me
how
I
was,
and
would
I
take
a
little
brandy?
james
.
Did
he
say
anything
else
to
you
?
newton
.
He
asked
me:
'What
dose
of
strychnia
would
be
required to
kill
a
dog?'
I
told
him,
'a
grain'.
He
then
asked
me
whether
it would
be
found
in
the
stomach
after
death.
james
.
What
did
you
say?
newton
.
I
told
him
there
would
be
no
inflammation,
and
that
I
did
not
think
it
would
be
found.
james
.
Did
he
make
any
remark
upon
that?
newton
.
I
think
he
said:
'It
is
all
right,'
as
if
speaking
to
himself.
Then
he
did
that
[snapping his fingers).
Newton's
evidence
was
greeted
by
a
loud
clapping
of
hands
in Court,
as
though
he
had
delivered
a
telling
dramatic
speech
at Drury
Lane.
Lord
Chief
Justice
Campbell
made
no
attempt
to quell
the
applause.
Cross-examined
by
Mr
Grove
for
the
Defence:
grove
.
You
were
examined
at
the
inquest,
I
think
you
have
stated; did
you
then
say
anything
either
about
your
conversation
with respect
to
the
dog,
or
about
the
three
grains
of
strychnia
?
newton.
N
o
,
I
did
not.
grove
.
Did
you
say
anything
about
the
conversation
of
Cook's
suffering
from
diseased
diroat—syphilis?
newton
.
Yes,
I
did.
grove
.
At
the
inquest?
newton
.
I
was
not
questioned
there
about
the
post-mortem
at
all
.
.
.