"Orczy, Baroness - The Regent's Park Murder" - читать интересную книгу автора (Orczy Baroness)

very sensational character.
"He deposed that on the night in question his master came home at about ten
minutes to two. Chipps had then not yet gone to bed. Five minutes later Mr.
Ashley went out again, telling the valet not to sit up for him. Chipps could not
say at what time either of the young gentlemen had come home.
"That short visit home Ч presumably to fetch the revolver Ч was thought to be
very important, and Mr. John Ashley's friends felt that his case was practically
hopeless.
"The valet's evidence and that of James Funnell, the constable, who had
overheard the conversation near the park railings, were certainly the two most
damning proofs against the accused. I assure you I was having a rare old time
that day. There were two faces in court to watch which was the greatest treat I
had had for many a day. One of these was Mr. John Ashley's.
"Here's his photo Ч short, dark, dapper, a little 'racy' in style, but otherwise
he looks a son of a well-to-do farmer. He was very quiet and placid in court,
and addressed a few words now and again to his solicitor. He listened gravely,
and with an occasional shrug of the shoulders, to the recital of the crime, such
as the police had reconstructed it, before an excited and horrified audience.
"Mr. John Ashley, driven to madness and frenzy by terrible financial
difficulties, had first of all gone home in search of a weapon, then waylaid Mr.
Aaron Cohen somewhere on that gentleman's way home. The young man had begged for
delay. Mr. Cohen perhaps was obdurate; but Ashley followed him with his
importunities almost to his door.
"There, seeing his creditor determined at last to cut short the painful
interview, he had seized the unfortunate man at an unguarded moment from behind,
and strangled him; then, fearing that his dastardly work was not fully
accomplished, he had shot twice at the already dead body, missing it both times
from sheer nervous excitement. The murderer then must have emptied his victim's
pockets, and, finding the key of the pardon, thought that it would be a safe way
of evading capture by cutting across the squares, under the tunnel, and so
through the more distant gate which faced Portland Place.
"The loss of the revolver was one of those unforeseen accidents which a
retributive Providence places in the path of the miscreant, delivering him by
his own act of folly into the hands of human justice.
"Mr. John Ashley, however, did not appear the least bit impressed by the recital
of his crime. He had not engaged the services of one of the most eminent
lawyers, expert at extracting contradictions from witnesses by skilful
cross-examinations Ч oh, dear me, no! he had been contented with those of a
dull, prosy, very second-rate limb of the law, who, as he called his witnesses,
was completely innocent of any desire to create a sensation.
"He rose quietly from his seat, and, amidst breathless silence, called the first
of three witnesses on behalf of his client. He called three Ч but he could have
produced twelve Ч gentlemen, members of the Ashton Club in Great Portland
Street, all of whom swore that at three o'clock on the morning of February 6th,
that is to say, at the very moment when the cries of 'Murder' roused the
inhabitants of Park Square West, and the crime was being committed, Mr. John
Ashley was sitting quietly in the clubrooms of the Ashton playing bridge with
the three witnesses. He had come in a few minutes before three Ч as the hall
porter of the Club testified Ч and stayed for about an hour and a half.
"I need not tell you that this undoubted, this fully proved, alibi was a