"Where were you quartered?"
"In the forecastle, with the crew, until a day or so before the
murders. Then I moved into the after house, and slept in a
storeroom there."
"Why did you make the change?"
"Mrs. Johns, a guest, asked me to do so. She said she was nervous."
"Who slept in the after house?"
"Mr. and Mrs. Turner, Miss Lee, Mrs. Johns, and Mr. Vail. The
stewardess, Mrs. Sloane, and Karen Hansen, a maid, also slept there;
but their room opened from the chartroom."
A diagram of the after house was here submitted to the jury. For
the benefit of the reader, I reproduce it roughly. I have made no
attempt to do more than to indicate the relative positions of rooms
and companionways.
_____
Forward |_____|Compartment
___________________________|_____|_____________________________
bath |_____| / /
___ ___ |_____| /Turner's/
Mrs. /room_ __/
John's /____/ /
room Main Cabin / / /
___ ___ / /_ _/bath
Mrs. / Vail's /room
Turner's ___ /________/
room / ______/linen
____ /__/store/
bath /__ room /
/___/____/
__ /general /
Miss /supplies/
Lee's /________/
room _____________ _____/________/butler's
_maid's Chart Room / pantry
room used as library /
bunk--- ___ and lounge____ /
______________|____|_/
bunk (wheel)|____|
"I slept in the storeroom in the after house. As it was very hot, I
always left the door open. The storeroom itself was a small room,
lined with shelves, and reached by a passageway. The door was at
the end of the passage. I wakened because of the heat, and found the
door locked on the outside. I lit a match, and found I could unscrew
the lock with my knife. I thought I had been locked in as a joke by
the crew. While I was kneeling, some one passed outside the door."
"How did you know that?"
"I felt a board rise under my knee as if the other end had been trod
on. Shortly after, a woman screamed, and I burst open the door."
"How long after you felt the board rise?"
"Perhaps a minute, possibly two."
"Go on."
"Just after, the ship's bell struck six--three o'clock. The main
cabin was dark. There was a light in the chart-room, from the
binnacle light. I felt my way to Mr. Vail's room. I heard him
breathing. His door was open. I struck a match and looked at him.
He had stopped breathing."
"What was the state of his bunk?"
"Disordered--horrible. He was almost hacked to pieces."
"Go on."
"I ran back and got my revolver. I thought there had been a mutiny-"
"Confine yourself to what you saw and did. The court is not
interested in what you thought."
"I am only trying to explain what I did. I ran back to the
storeroom and got my revolver, and ran back through the chart-room
to the after companion, which had a hood. I thought that if any
one was lying in ambush, the hood would protect me until I could
get to the deck. I told the helmsman what had happened, and ran
forward. Mr. Singleton was on the forecastle-head. We went below
together, and found the captain lying at the foot of the forward
companion, also dead."