The After House

"Where were you quartered?"

"In the forecastle, with the crew, until a day or so before the

murders. Then I moved into the after house, and slept in a

storeroom there."

"Why did you make the change?"

"Mrs. Johns, a guest, asked me to do so. She said she was nervous."

"Who slept in the after house?"

"Mr. and Mrs. Turner, Miss Lee, Mrs. Johns, and Mr. Vail. The

stewardess, Mrs. Sloane, and Karen Hansen, a maid, also slept there;

but their room opened from the chartroom."

A diagram of the after house was here submitted to the jury. For

the benefit of the reader, I reproduce it roughly. I have made no

attempt to do more than to indicate the relative positions of rooms

and companionways.

_____

Forward |_____|Compartment

___________________________|_____|_____________________________

bath |_____| / /

___ ___ |_____| /Turner's/

Mrs. /room_ __/

John's /____/ /

room Main Cabin / / /

___ ___ / /_ _/bath

Mrs. / Vail's /room

Turner's ___ /________/

room / ______/linen

____ /__/store/

bath /__ room /

/___/____/

__ /general /

Miss /supplies/

Lee's /________/

room _____________ _____/________/butler's

_maid's Chart Room / pantry

room used as library /

bunk--- ___ and lounge____ /

______________|____|_/

bunk (wheel)|____|

"I slept in the storeroom in the after house. As it was very hot, I

always left the door open. The storeroom itself was a small room,

lined with shelves, and reached by a passageway. The door was at

the end of the passage. I wakened because of the heat, and found the

door locked on the outside. I lit a match, and found I could unscrew

the lock with my knife. I thought I had been locked in as a joke by

the crew. While I was kneeling, some one passed outside the door."

"How did you know that?"

"I felt a board rise under my knee as if the other end had been trod

on. Shortly after, a woman screamed, and I burst open the door."

"How long after you felt the board rise?"

"Perhaps a minute, possibly two."

"Go on."

"Just after, the ship's bell struck six--three o'clock. The main

cabin was dark. There was a light in the chart-room, from the

binnacle light. I felt my way to Mr. Vail's room. I heard him

breathing. His door was open. I struck a match and looked at him.

He had stopped breathing."

"What was the state of his bunk?"

"Disordered--horrible. He was almost hacked to pieces."

"Go on."

"I ran back and got my revolver. I thought there had been a mutiny-"

"Confine yourself to what you saw and did. The court is not

interested in what you thought."

"I am only trying to explain what I did. I ran back to the

storeroom and got my revolver, and ran back through the chart-room

to the after companion, which had a hood. I thought that if any

one was lying in ambush, the hood would protect me until I could

get to the deck. I told the helmsman what had happened, and ran

forward. Mr. Singleton was on the forecastle-head. We went below

together, and found the captain lying at the foot of the forward

companion, also dead."