"
"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.
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