The Holladay Case | Page 5

left the building. I finished
arranging my notes, and then entered Mr. Holladay's office to ask if he
had any further instructions for me, and I found him lying forward on
his desk, with a knife sticking in his neck and the blood spurting out. I
summoned aid, but he died without regaining consciousness--I should
say he was practically dead when I found him."
I felt, rather than heard, the little stir which ran through the room. There
was an indefinable horror in the story and in the conclusion to which it
inevitably led.
"Now, let us go back a moment," said the coroner, as Rogers stopped
and mopped his forehead feverishly. "I want the jury to understand
your story thoroughly. Mr. Holladay had been dictating to you?"
"Yes."
"And was quite well?"

"Yes--as well as usual. He'd been suffering with indigestion for some
time past."
"Still he was able to attend to business?"
"Oh, yes, sir. There was nothing at all serious in his illness."
"You then left his office and returned to your own. How long had you
been there before the outer door opened?"
"Not over five minutes."
"And who was it entered?"
"Miss Frances Holladay--the daughter of my employer."
"You're quite sure? You know her well?"
"Very well. I've known her for many years. She often drove to the
office in the evening to take her father home. I supposed that was what
she came for yesterday."
"You looked at her attentively?"
Rogers hitched impatiently in his chair.
"I glanced at her, as I always do," he said. "I didn't stare."
"But you're quite sure it was Miss Holladay?"
"Absolutely sure, sir. Good God!" he cried, his nerves giving way for
an instant, "do you suppose I'd make an assertion like that if I wasn't
absolutely sure?"
"No," said the coroner soothingly; "no, I don't suppose any such thing,
not for a moment, Mr. Rogers; only I want the jury to see how certain
the identification is. Shall I proceed?"
"Go ahead, sir," said Rogers. "I'll try to hold myself together a little

better, sir."
"I can see what a strain this is for you," said the coroner kindly; "and
I'll spare you as much as I can. Now, after Miss Holladay entered the
inner office, how long did she remain there?"
"About ten minutes, I should say; not longer than that, certainly."
"Did you hear any sound of conversation, or any unusual noise of any
kind?"
"No, sir. It would have been a very unusual noise to be audible. Mr.
Holladay's office has heavy walls and a double door which completely
shut off all sounds from within."
"Miss Holladay then came out?"
"Yes, sir."
"And walked past you?"
"Yes, sir; walked past me rapidly."
"Did you not think that peculiar?"
"Why, sir, she didn't often stop to speak to me. I was busy and so
thought nothing particularly about it."
"Did you notice her face? Did she seem perturbed?"
"No, sir; I didn't notice. I just glanced up and bowed. In fact, I didn't
see her face at all, for she had lowered her veil."
"Her veil!" repeated the coroner. "You hadn't mentioned that she wore
a veil."
"No, sir; when she came into the office she had lifted it up over her
hat-brim--you know how women do."

"Yes--so you saw her face distinctly when she entered?"
"Yes, sir."
"But when she went out, she had lowered her veil. Was it a heavy
one?"
"Why, sir," the witness hesitated, "just an ordinary veil, I should say."
"But still heavy enough to conceal her face?"
"Oh, yes, sir."
The coroner nodded. "Now, Mr. Rogers, how long a time elapsed after
the departure of the woman before you went back into the inner
office?"
"Not more than three or four minutes. I thought perhaps Mr. Holladay
was getting ready to accompany his daughter, and I didn't wish to
detain him."
"And you found him, as you say, lying forward across his desk with a
knife in his throat and the blood spurting out. Did you recognize the
knife?"
"Yes, sir. It was his knife--a knife he kept lying on his desk to sharpen
pencils with and erase and so on."
"Sharp, was it?"
"It had one long blade, very sharp, sir."
The coroner picked up a knife that was lying on the desk before him.
"Is this the knife?" he asked.
Rogers looked at it carefully.
"That's the knife, sir," he said, and it was passed to the jury. When they

had finished with it, Mr. Royce and I examined it. It was an ordinary
one-bladed erasing knife with ivory handle. It was open, the blade
being about two inches and a half in length, and, as I soon convinced
myself, very sharp indeed.
"Will you describe Mr. Holladay's position?" continued