The Holladay Case | Page 6

planning for a trip abroad with his daughter."
"Let us suppose for a moment," continued Goldberg, "that he did actually stab himself in his daughter's presence; what would you naturally expect her to do?"
"I should expect her to give the alarm--to summon aid," replied Rogers.
"Certainly--unquestionably," and Goldberg nodded to my chief. "I turn the witness over to you, Mr. Royce," he said.
"Now, Mr. Rogers," began our junior impressively, "you know, of course, that this whole case hinges, at present, on your identification of the woman who, presumably, was in Mr. Holladay's office when he was stabbed. I want to be very sure of that identification. Will you tell me how she was dressed?"
The witness paused for a moment's thought.
"She wore a dress of very dark red," he said at last, "with some sort of narrow dark trimming--black, possibly. That's all I can tell you about it."
"And the hat?"
"I didn't notice the hat, sir. I only glanced at her."
"But in that glance, Mr. Rogers, did you see nothing unusual--nothing which suggested to your mind that possibly it might not be Miss Holladay?"
"Nothing, sir."
"Some change of demeanor, perhaps; of expression?"
The witness hesitated.
"I thought she was looking not quite so well as usual," he said slowly. "She seemed a little pale and worried."
"Ah! It was dark in the office, was it not, at five o'clock yesterday afternoon?"
"We had turned on the lights half an hour before, sir."
"Is your office well lighted?"
"I have a light over my desk, sir, and there's another on the wall."
"So you could not see your visitor's face with absolute clearness?"
"No, sir; but quite clearly enough to recognize her," he added doggedly.
"Yet you thought her looking pale and worried."
"Yes, sir; that was my impression."
"And when she asked for Mr. Holladay, did she use the words 'my father,' as your evidence would suggest?"
Again the witness hesitated in the effort at recollection.
"No, sir," he answered finally. "Her words, I think, were, 'Is Mr. Holladay engaged at present?'"
"It was Miss Holladay's voice?"
"I could not say, sir," answered the witness, again mopping the perspiration from his forehead. "I have no wish to incriminate Miss Holladay unnecessarily. I'm not sufficiently well acquainted with her voice to swear to it."
"Well, when you answered her question in the negative, did she hesitate before entering the private office?"
"No, sir; she went straight to it."
"Is there any lettering on the door?"
"Oh, yes, the usual lettering, 'Private Office.'"
"So that, even if she were not acquainted with the place, she might still have seen where to go?"
"Yes, sir; I suppose so."
"And you stated, too, I believe, that you could have heard no sound of an altercation in the private office, had one occurred?"
"No, sir; I could have heard nothing."
"You have been with Mr. Holladay a long time, I believe, Mr. Rogers?"
"Over thirty years, sir."
"And you are intimately acquainted with his affairs?"
"Yes, sir."
"Now, Mr. Rogers, have you ever, in all these years, ran across anything--any item of expenditure, any correspondence, anything whatever--which would lead you to think that Mr. Holladay was a victim of blackmail, or that he had ever had a liaison with a woman?"
"No, sir!" cried the witness. "No, sir! I'm willing to swear that such a thing is not possible. I should inevitably have found it out had it existed."
"That will do for the present," said Mr. Royce. "I shall want to recall the witness, however, sir."
The coroner nodded, and Rogers stepped down, still trembling from the effects of his last outburst. I confess that, for my part, I thought we were very deep in the mire.
The office-boy was called next, but added nothing to the story. He had gone to the chute to mail some letters; the woman must have entered the office while he was away. He saw her come out again, but, of course, did not see her face. He had been employed recently, and did not know Miss Holladay.
Then the physicians who had attended the dead man were called, and testified that the knife-blade had penetrated the left carotid artery, and that he had bled to death--was dead, indeed, before they reached him. It would take, perhaps, ten minutes to produce such an effusion of blood as Rogers had noticed--certainly more than five, so that the blow must have been struck before the woman left the inner office.
The policeman who had responded to the alarm testified that he had examined the windows, and that they were both bolted on the inside, precluding the possibility of anyone swinging down from above or clambering up from below. Nothing in the office had been disturbed. There was other evidence of an immaterial nature, and then Miss Holladay's maid was called.
"Was your mistress away from home yesterday afternoon?" asked the coroner.
"Yes, sir; she had the carriage ordered for three o'clock. She was driven away shortly after that."
"And what time did