But he did nothing of the kind,
for the simple reason that the plan to rob Riversbrook was his own, and
not Birchill's.
"Now, gentlemen, you have all seen the plan which this tainted witness
declares was drawn by him because Birchill terrorised him and stood over
him while he drew it. Is there anything in that plan to suggest that it
was drawn by a man in a state of nervous terror? Why, the lines are as
firmly drawn as if they had been made by an architect working at his
leisure in his office. Was this plan drawn by a man in a state of nervous
terror with his tormentor standing threateningly over him, or was it
drawn up by a man working at leisure, free not only from terror but from
interruption? The answer to that question is supplied in the evidence
given by three witnesses as to the paper used. Hill says the plan was
drawn at the flat. Two other witnesses swore that it was paper supplied
exclusively for Government Departments, and another witness swore that he
had taken such paper to Riversbrook for the use of Sir Horace Fewbanks,
who, like every one of His Majesty's judges, found it necessary to do
some of his judicial work at home. What is the inevitable inference? I
ask you if you can have any doubt, after looking at that plan and after
hearing the evidence given to-day about the paper, that the proposal to
rob Riversbrook was Hill's own proposal, that Hill drew a plan of the
house on paper he abstracted from his master's desk--paper which this
confidential servant was apparently in the habit of using for private
purposes--and that he gave it to Birchill when he asked Birchill to join
him in the crime?
"When one of the main features of Hill's story is proved to be false, how
can you believe any of the rest? In the light in which we now see him,
with his cunning exposed, what significance is to be attached to his
statement that Birchill in his presence threatened to shoot Sir Horace
Fewbanks if the master of Riversbrook interfered with him? Such a threat
was not made, but why should Hill say it was made? For the same reason
that he lied about the plan--to save his own skin.
Pages:
267
268
269
270
271
272
273
274
275
276
277
278
279
280
281
282
283
284
285
286
287
288
289
290
291