The Cretingham Murder (7 page)

Mrs Farley
: I should think nearly ten minutes.

Coroner
: There must have been a quantity of blood on the floor?

Mrs Farley
: An immense amount.

Coroner
: Did you ever hear the prisoner say he would commit suicide?

Mrs Farley
: No, never. He did not like us to know that anything was wrong.

Coroner
: I suppose there had not been any misunderstanding between the prisoner and yourself?

Mrs Farley
: No.

Coroner
: You are sure he had nothing in his left hand when he came into the room?

Mrs Farley
: I could not see anything. I saw him standing there, with a candle in his hand, looking fearfully white. It was a shock to me, and I said to Mr Farley,

‘Good gracious, the man is mad.’

For the moment, the coroner had come to the end of his questions so now it was the turn of the jury to ask about anything which was unclear to them. Samuel Stearn, the foreman, went back to the moment when Arthur had stood beside the vicar’s bed.

Foreman
: Did you see the prisoner handle Mr Farley at all?

Mrs Farley
: No.

Foreman
: You were not looking at him all the time?

Mrs Farley
: No, I was not. I should not have been surprised if he had sat down in a chair and said, ‘Oh dear, I can’t sleep.’

Foreman
: You didn’t see him turn the clothes down?

Mrs Farley
: No, I did not. The clothes did not seem disarranged. My husband was quite placid upon the pillow. I saw nothing at all on the clothes.

Foreman
: What did he do after that? Did he leave the house?

Mrs Farley
: I went to him again afterwards, because I could not get anyone to help. I tried to staunch the wound with a cold water towel and screamed for someone to help me. I said to Mr Cooper, ‘Come and help me; you don’t know what you have done.’

It is interesting to note that at this stage there was no mention of Harriet Louisa’s sending for Bilney. However, she seemed somewhat attached to the phrase ‘you don’t know what you have done’ for she reiterated it later in answer to the foreman’s question as to whether or not she had conversed with Arthur on his return.

Coroner
: Did you see him [Cooper] when he returned in the morning?

Mrs Farley
: I went up to his room after he came in, between five and six o’clock on Sunday morning.

Foreman
: Did you have any conversation with him?

Mrs Farley
: I said, ‘You don’t know what you have done.’ He looked at me, and I said, ‘Shall I write to your mother?’ He said, Oh no.’ He was very boyish in some of his ways. He was only a boy.

Coroner
: What do you mean?

Mrs Farley
: Well, he is over 30 but I treated him quite as a lad. Sometimes I could look up to him for counsel and advice.

Then followed questions about Arthur’s poor appetite and inability to sleep and Harriet Louisa’s attempts to alleviate both conditions. The jurors, like the modern reader, found certain aspects of the events difficult to understand.

Mr Gocher
: You say when you saw Mr Cooper at the door you immediately locked it again because you were afraid of him?

Mrs Farley
: Yes; it was an unusual thing for Mr Cooper to come to my room at that time of night.

Mr Gocher
: You had never seen him there before?

Mrs Farley
: No.

Foreman
: I wonder you opened the door a second time.

Mrs Farley
: I should not have done so if Mr Farley had not told me to. I was not afraid of him, because I could always manage him.

Having answered the question asked, she went on to give further explanation:

Mrs Farley
: I read to Mr Farley a great deal in the evening, and said ‘I will just step down and see how that poor man is’. Once or twice he looked at me, and I felt afraid, but I looked at him firmly, and thought to myself, ‘I’ll not be afraid of you.’

Examination of the witness was now taken up by Mr Juby whose somewhat aggressive manner suggests that he felt the widow was taking the whole business far too calmly:

Mr Juby
: It has been reported that you asked Mr Cooper when he entered the room what he had got in his other hand?

Mrs Farley
: I did not. I never said anything to him except, ‘Go away; what are you doing here?’

Mr Juby
: Had you a light when he came in?

Mrs Farley
: I could not tell. I have thought since that I must have lighted the candle before I went to the door, but I can’t remember.

Mr Juby
: You were not burning a light?

Mrs Farley
: No.

Mr Juby
: Did Mr Cooper leave his candle in your room?

Mrs Farley
: No; he took it away with him.

Mr Juby
: Did he set down the candle before he entered into conflict with your husband?

Mrs Farley
: Anyone would think so, but I did not see him.

Mr Juby
: How was it you did not feel yourself called upon to keep in the room?

Mrs Farley
: I was in the room.

Mr Juby
: Then how was it you did not see him in conflict with your husband?

Mrs Farley
: I did not notice him. I did not go round to that side.

Mr Juby
: How was it you did not keep in the room?

Mrs Farley
: I tell you I was in the room.

Mr Juby
: If you were suspicious it seems rather anomalous that you should leave the room?

Mrs Farley
: I didn’t leave the room.

Mr Juby
: Then you saw him do it?

Mrs Farley
: I didn’t see him. I heard him say, ‘What do you mean? What do you mean?’

Mr Juby
: Was he holding the candle all the time he was by the bedside?

Mrs Farley
: I don’t know; I did not notice particularly. Perhaps I was putting on my dressing-gown. I had nothing on but my night-gown.

Mr Juby
: Did Mr Farley say anything to him when he attacked him?

Mrs Farley
: He only laughed, as much as to say, ‘Don’t be foolish; I am not afraid of you.’

Mr Juby
: Did the prisoner say when he came into the room, ‘I shall not hurt you?’

Mrs Farley
: He said so to me. I said, ‘What do you want?’ and he said, ‘I shall not hurt you.’

Coroner
: Didn’t you think it was rather a curious expression?

Mrs Farley
: I didn’t think anything about it. I wanted to know what he wanted, and he said, ‘I shall not hurt you; I want to come in.’ I thought he meant he would not do any of us any mischief.

Mr Stearn, the jury foreman turned again to the strangeness of the curate coming to a lady’s room at that hour and then wanted to know if Mrs Farley had suspected for some time that he might be dangerous. This she failed to answer directly, saying instead, ‘We liked him very much, both Mr Farley and myself. We had always treated him like our own child. If he had been my own son or younger brother I could not have behaved differently.’

Printed words are incapable of the nuances of uttered speech so we cannot possibly know, though we may try to guess, if Harriet Louisa paused between ‘son’ and ‘younger brother’. In carefully building up the picture of the boyish curate was she trying to disguise the fact that she was far too young to have been his mother, there being only thirteen years between them?

It was at this point that Mr Juby, full of righteous pomposity, introduced into the case what was quite obviously the village gossip. In looking for a motive for the murder of the vicar, the locals were pretty sure that they knew what it was.

Mr Juby
: I feel it is a very unpleasant position to occupy that I am now about to take, but, painful as it is, I feel it is my imperative duty, a duty I owe to myself having taken the oath, and a duty I owe to the public here assembled, to enquire into the cause of the death of your late husband, to ask these questions: Don’t you consider there was considerable animus in the mind of Mr Farley towards Mr Cooper?

Mrs Farley
: Certainly not, not for sometime past. During the first nine or ten months there was some misunderstanding, but latterly he has been very different.

Mr Juby
: Was there any reason for that?

Mrs Farley
: Yes.

Mr Juby
: Will you tell the Jury what it was?

Mrs Farley
: There was some little unpleasantness about money matters.

This was not the answer Juby was fishing for, so he came directly to the point: ‘I presume you know very well your character has been considerably aspersed.’

Imagine the gasp that must have run round the room and the knowing looks that were exchanged. The coroner quite rightly decreed that there was no need to go into that. If he thought he was defending the lady’s susceptibilities, he must have been taken aback by her reply. ‘I don’t mind about it. People will talk.’

The coroner directed Juby that he might ask the question if he thought it necessary. Harriet Louisa was quite happy to continue:

Mrs Farley
: Mr Farley did not believe anything of the sort.

Mr Juby
: I have a good deal to ask yet if you have the time.

Coroner
: We have come here to enquire into the cause of death.

Mrs Farley
: Ask any questions you please. I am quite willing to answer any questions.

Mr Juby
: You say you had suspicions and took the razor case away?

Mrs Farley
: I have had occasion to take my husband’s razor for the same thing.

Mr Juby
: Have you ever seen Mr Farley strike Mr Cooper?

Mrs Farley
: Never.

Mr Juby
: Nor yet strike at him?

Mrs Farley
: Mr Farley used to get little fits sometimes and get angry about nothing, but we never took much notice of it. He was an impetuous man.

Mr Juby
: Of course you know that scandal and report have been very busy, and it is very natural that you should have the opportunity of explaining yourself.

Mrs Farley
: Mr Farley did not believe all the little gossip.

Coroner
: As I understand your reply it is this – that there has never been any impropriety between yourself and Mr Cooper.

Mrs Farley
: (indignantly) Good gracious, certainly not.

Mr Juby
: Did you ever go between Mr Cooper and Mr Farley?

Mrs Farley
: I don’t know that I did.

Mr Juby
: If anybody said you did this is wrong?

Mrs Farley
: Yes, I should think so. Mr Cooper once took Mr Farley by the shoulders and told him he ought to behave better.

Bearing in mind the difference in physical stature between the two men, one wonders exactly what occurred at this exchange which can only have been reported upon by one of the household staff.

Mr Juby
: What was the cause of the animus in the mind of Mr Farley?

Mrs Farley
: I used to tell him he was jealous, but he said he was not.

Mr Juby
: Was Mr Farley, in plain terms, jealous of you?

Mrs Farley
: No; he had too much sense.

Mr Juby
: Then what did he mean by saying when you and Mr Cooper went out together, ‘There go the two courters.’

Mrs Farley
: I never heard him say that – I don’t believe he said it.

Coroner
(interrupting): I don’t see what this has to do with it.

Mr Juby
: Did you and Mr Cooper ever kiss each other?

Mrs Farley
: (indignantly) No; if I did I do not think it would be wrong.

One of the other jurors, Gocher, felt things had gone far enough and protested against the questions put by Juby. Undeterred, Juby persisted and repeated them.

Mrs Farley
: I treated Mr Cooper as my younger brother. I knew he was very strange at times, but he was quite like a boy, and I managed him well. Mr Farley was not jealous of us; he was rather glad when Mr Cooper came back so that he and I could go for walks together.

Mr Juby
: You mean to tell the jury you never kissed Mr

Cooper?

Mrs Farley
: No, and if I did I should not mind.

Mr Juby
: Do you mean to say you never had?

Harriet had had enough of this. She rose to her feet, glared at Juby and turned towards the door as if to leave. Juby yelled at her to stop.

Mrs Farley
: If I had kissed him I should not look upon it as a sin. There would be no harm in it. I am a motherly person, and have been accustomed to young fellows all my life.

Mr Juby
: How was it then that you objected to Mr Cooper associating with other females?

Mrs Farley
: Because it was not good for him.

The packed court must have been twisting in their seats at this interchange. For some this would have been simply a case of bringing well-told gossip into the open while for others it was providing a motive based on rejected love. While they were pondering on this and wondering what else Juby would dredge up, there was a diversion in the form of the prisoner suddenly rising to his feet. At the mention of other females, Arthur, flushed and excited called out: ‘I don’t think you need talk of that matter very much, if I may be allowed to speak.’ Is this a clue that Harriet Louisa had interfered in some romantic attachment that Arthur had formed? His outburst, however, gave the spectators the drama they had wanted.

The calm demeanour, even hauteur, the widow had kept up was now shattered. It appeared to the onlookers that until this point she had been unaware of his presence in the room. When she saw him, she screamed out, ‘Oh poor boy!’ and became hysterical. Alas, the reporter failed to give more details of this, what happened or who calmed her down. The poor coroner attempted to smooth things over by saying it was hardly necessary to pursue the question but Juby was adamant. How, he enquired, were they were to arrive at the climax if they had not thoroughly examined the antecedents to the case?