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Di
“It can’t, it shan’t come to that. Besides, how could you get Hubert? He’d be under arrest.”
“I don’t know, but I shall know all right if and when the time comes. What’s certain is that if they once get him over there, he’ll have a damned thin chance.”
“Have you spoken to Hubert?”
“No. It’s all perfectly vague as yet.”
“I’m sure he wouldn’t consent.”
“Jean will see to that.”
Di
Alan gri
“Does Professor Hallorsen know?”
“No, and he won’t, unless it’s absolutely necessary. But he’s a good egg, I admit.”
She smiled faintly. “Yes, he’s a good egg; but an outsize.”
“Di
“No, my dear.”
“Well, thank God for that! You see,” he went on, “they’re not likely to treat Hubert as an ordinary criminal. That will make things easier perhaps.”
Di
“No buts, and buck up! That boat arrives the day after tomorrow, and then the case will be on again. I shall see you in Court, Di
Di
CHAPTER 32
Over any impending issue, whether test match, ultimatum, the Cambridgeshire, or the hanging of a man, excitement beats up in the last few hours, and the feeling of suspense in the Cherrell family became painful when the day of Hubert’s remand was reached. As some Highland clan of old, without summons issued, assembled when one of its number was threatened, so were Hubert’s relatives collected in the Police Court. Except Lionel, who was in session, and his and Hilary’s children, who were at school, they were all there. It might have been a wedding or a funeral, but for the grimness of their faces, and the sense of unmerited persecution at the back of every mind. Di
Coming in with his lawyer, Hubert gave them a clansman’s smile.
Now that she was actually in Court, Di
The evidence from the first hearing having been read over, the new evidence—Manuel’s affidavit—was produced by Hubert’s lawyer. But then Di
That was a moment of real horror.
Four half-castes against one!
Di
“Who procured this second affidavit, Mr. Buttall?”
“The lawyer in charge of the case in La Paz, Your Honour. It became known to him that the boy Manuel was being asked to give evidence.”
“I see. What do you say now on the question of the scar shown us by the accused?”
“Beyond the accused’s own statement there is no evidence whatever before you, Sir, or before me, as to how or when that scar was inflicted.”
“That is so. You are not suggesting that this scar could have been inflicted by the dead man after he was shot?”
“If Castro, having drawn a knife, had fallen forward after he was shot, it is conceivable, I suppose.”
“Not likely, I think, Mr. Buttall.”
“No. But my evidence, of course, is that the shooting was deliberate, cold-blooded, and at a distance of some yards. I know nothing of Castro’s having drawn a knife.”
“It comes to this, then: Either your six witnesses are lying, or the accused and the boy Manuel are.”
“That would appear to be the position, Your Honour. It is for you to judge whether the sworn words of six citizens are to be taken, or the sworn words of two.”
Di
“I am perfectly aware of that, Mr. Buttall. What do you say, Captain Cherrell, to this affidavit that has been put in as to the absence of the boy Manuel?”
Di
“Nothing, Sir. I don’t know where Manuel was. I was too occupied in saving my life. All I know is that he came up to me almost immediately afterwards.”
“Almost? How long afterwards?”
“I really don’t know, Sir—perhaps a minute. I was trying to stop the bleeding; I fainted just as he came.”
During the speeches of the two lawyers which followed, Di
“In this case,” he said, “I have to ask myself not whether a crime has been committed, or whether the accused has committed it; I have only to ask myself whether the evidence brought before me is such as to satisfy me that the alleged crime is an extraditable offence, that the foreign warrant is duly authenticated, and that such evidence has been produced as would in this country justify me in committing the accused to take his trial.” He paused a moment and then added: “There is no question but that the crime alleged is an extraditable offence, and that the foreign warrant is duly authenticated.” He paused again, and in the dead silence Di