I submit to you,
gentlemen, that when Hill went to see Birchill at the Westminster flat on
the night arranged for the burglary Sir Horace Fewbanks was
dead--murdered--and that Hill knew he was murdered. His own story is that
he tried to persuade Birchill to abandon the proposed burglary, but,
according to the witness Fanning, he did all in his power to induce
Birchill to carry out the original plan when he saw that Birchill was
disposed to postpone the burglary in view of the return of the master of
Riversbrook. Why did he want Birchill to carry out the burglary? Because
he knew that his master's murdered body was lying in the house, and he
wanted to be in the position to produce evidence against Birchill as the
murderer if he found himself in a tight corner as the result of the
subsequent investigations of the police. Remember that the body of the
victim was fully dressed when it was discovered by the police, and that
none of the electric lights were burning. Does not that prove
conclusively that the murder was not committed by Birchill, that Sir
Horace Fewbanks was dead when Birchill broke into the house?
"Birchill, an experienced criminal, would not break into the house while
there was anybody moving about.
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