'They then went together to the door on the landing, and prisoner called out loudly: "Miss Lewis! May I come in?"
'There was again no answer. Prisoner then put her hand to the door and turned the handle. The door, however, would not open. It was locked, and the key was inside.
'The only possible access, therefore, was through prisoner's own room.
'It is unnecessary to draw counsel's attention to the gravity of this circumstance.'
('Quite unnecessary,' said Prescott sarcastically to himself. 'Bless my soul, how he piles on the agony!')
'By this time the other servants in the house had taken the alarm. The butler, John Simons, came on the scene, followed by the cook and housemaid. It was he who now addressed prisoner:
'"We must get in through your room, miss," he said.
'It may be well to state here that Simons had lived with the deceased for fifteen years, and was greatly trusted.
'He now went straight into prisoner's bedroom. Prisoner now seemed thoroughly alarmed, and ran in after him, the three women coming next.
'As he was about to take hold of the handle of the door opening into Miss Lewis's room, he suddenly beheld a sight that made him reel back. This was a smear of blood on the china handle. The witness Rebecca caught sight of it at the same time, and uttered a loud scream.
'No one noticed the demeanour of the prisoner at the moment of this discovery. But when they had recovered sufficiently to take notice, she was leaning against a chest of drawers, deathly pale.'
('Confound the man!' exclaimed the reader, as he came to this sentence. 'How he does go on against her! It's enough to make me think her innocent. Poor little Eleanor! It's five years since I saw her. She was a pretty little thing of fifteen then. I wonder what sort of woman she has turned out. Well, well, I must stick to business.')
'Simons quickly recovered his presence of mind. Taking hold of the handle so as to avoid touching the smear, he burst open the door, and rushed in towards the bed.
'It seemed to have been slept in the night before, and the clothes were not much disarranged; but on the lower sheet, close to the bolster, was a large stain of blood.
'The stain was about the size of a cheese-plate, dark in the centre, and fainter round the edge. There was no other trace of violence.