The Nine of Hearts

The Attorney-general. "Would you be able to mark the point of stoppage on a map of the road between Finchley and High Barnet?"

Witness. "I will try, sir, but I shouldn't like to be positive."

(A map was here handed to the witness, who, after a careful study of it, made a mark upon it with a pencil.)

The Attorney-general. "You will not swear that this is the exact spot?"

Witness. "No, sir."

The Attorney-general. "But to the best of your knowledge it is?"

Witness. "Yes, sir, to the best of my knowledge."

The Attorney-general. "The prisoner called to you to stop. What then?"

Witness. "I drew up immediately, and he got out."

The Attorney-general. "What were his next instructions?"

Witness. "He told me to wait for him, and to turn the horses' heads."

The Attorney-general. "Towards London?"

Witness. "Yes, sir."

The Attorney-general. "Did he say how long he would be away?"

Witness. "About five or ten minutes, he said."

The Attorney-general. "In point of fact, how long was it before he returned?"

Witness. "Thirty-two minutes by my watch."

The Attorney-general. "You always time yourself?"

Witness. "Yes, sir, always it's a habit."

The Attorney-general. "Did he make any remark upon his return, about his being away longer than he expected?"

Witness. "No, sir. He seemed to be occupied with something."

The Attorney-general. "Occupied in thinking of something?"

Witness. "Yes, sir."

The Attorney-general. "When he left you, in which direction did he go?"

Witness. "He walked on towards High Barnet till he came to a bend in the road. He went round that and I lost sight of him."

The Attorney-general. "Did he return the same way?"

Witness. "No, sir he startled me a bit."

The Attorney-general. "How?"

Witness. "I was looking out for him in the direction he had taken, when I suddenly heard him speak at my elbow."

The Attorney-general. "How do you account for it?"

Witness. "He must have taken a short cut back across some fields. If I had been on my box I might have seen him, but I was standing in the road, and there was a hedge, more than man high, on the side he came back to me."

The Attorney-general. "What did you do when he reappeared?"

Witness. "I prepared to start."

The Attorney-general. "Did he tell you immediately where to drive to?"

Witness. "No, sir. He stood considering, just as he did when we first set out."

The Attorney-general. "And then?"

Witness. "He told me to drive back the way we had come, but not to drive too quickly."

The Attorney-general. "You did so?"

Witness. "Yes, sir."

The Attorney-general. "Where did you next stop?"

Witness. "Midway between Finchley and Crouch End."

The Attorney-general. "At a house?"

Witness. "No, sir; at a part of the road where there were no houses."

The Attorney-general. "He called to you, as before, to stop?"

Witness. "Yes, sir. He got out, and said, 'Moorhouse, meet me here in about an hour or an hour and a quarter.' I said, 'Yes, sir,' and I asked him whether I should bait the horses at an inn we had passed half a mile down the road. He did not answer me, but walked quickly away."

The Attorney-general. "Can you say why he did not answer you?"

Witness. "No, sir, except that he did not hear me."

The Attorney-general. "You spoke distinctly?"

Witness. "Yes, sir."

The Attorney-general. "Have you observed, at any time during your employment, that he was at all deaf?"