[Pride and Prejudice] Mary's Pride and Prejudice

Alfred laughed and said to Inspector Owen: "Your words are very interesting. Please let me think about the problem according to your logic. According to what you said, anyone who knows that the two deceased have money, as long as he is greedy in nature , then he might be the murderer? Is my logic okay?"

"Yes." Inspector Owen hesitated.

"Then why couldn't the murderer be another strong man on the scene, that Calvin Baker, who, as far as I know, is an idle drunkard, gambler and pimp, and isn't such a man more suspect than a weak woman Is it? And you really doubted him at the beginning, didn't you?"

Inspector Owen said impatiently: "Mr. Lawyer, as I said before, the sharp knife and rope used to kill people were bought by Lily O'Deno. She even asked the doctor to prescribe a tranquilizer for her for two weeks in a row. in the wine glass, so she must be the murderer."

Alfred also showed impatience: "Inspector Owen, it's very common for a weak woman to ask the doctor to prescribe some medicine. I believe that the doctor will encounter more than one such patient. And my family's meal My servant bought the knife and the rope in the grocery store, if I kill Prosecutor Cummings with these things, can you arrest my servant and call him a murderer?"

Prosecutor Cummings stood up and said angrily, "It's different, Mr. Alfred. Lily O'Deno had a motive for the murder and there were witnesses. We found the witness who bought the murder weapon. Of course there is a reason." Convict her."

Alfred looked straight at Detective Owen, and asked seriously: "But ropes and knives are not used as murder weapons. I think people buy them more often as daily necessities! Detective Owen, I beg you to be fair. Answer me justly, do you admit that it is reasonable for Lily O'Dnor to buy some knives and rope for her father's daily use? After all, Calvin Baker's place is so simple, there are few knives in the kitchen, and rope, for Isn't it more practical than many things for the poor? So, tell me, if it is reasonable for a woman to buy such things for a family, answer me yes or no?"

Inspector Owen hesitated, then replied: "Perhaps it is reasonable, but..."

Alfred interrupted him: "Since this is the case, we cannot conclude that Lily O'Deno is preparing for a murder by buying the sharp knife and rope!"

Detective Owen shouted angrily: "She did buy the murder weapon, and the owner of the grocery store can confirm that she was very hesitant at that time!"

Alfred's face suddenly became cold, he looked directly at Detective Owen, his eyes were as sharp as ice arrows: "I think there is another thing that will make us feel better than who brought the murder weapon into the room." Confirm the murderer, that is the stolen money!"

Detective Owen's face froze, and Alfred asked word by word: "Have you found any money on Lily O'Deno that doesn't belong to her? Answer me!"

Inspector Owen stammered and said, "No, sir...but I think the current evidence is enough to tell us who the murderer is!"

Alfred smiled sarcastically: "You mean just because we know that Lily O'Deno brought a sharp knife for her father, and then someone killed two people with this knife, so it can be concluded that Lily Is Odno the murderer?"

Detective Owen wanted to say yes, but looking at Alfred's ironic gaze, he couldn't say it anyway. He was full of confidence before the trial, but for some reason now he began to feel that Lily Ord No may not be found guilty.But how is this possible, Lily O'Deno is indeed the murderer, he should firmly believe in his own judgment.

"Yes, is us……"

"You are dereliction of duty, Detective Owen! If you have been using this to arrest the murderer, then I must wonder how many innocent people have been wronged by you!"

Inspector Owen's face turned red and filled with anger.

The prosecutor stood up and said: "Lawyer Alfred, we are discussing the murder of Lily O'Donoghue again, and you are wasting your time suspecting a famous detective?"

Alfred continued to question the inspector: "Let me ask you again, what about the stolen money? You didn't find the stolen money at all, did you?"

"Yes!" Inspector Owen went all out, "But it's nothing, maybe Grant and Sean didn't bring any money that day."

"Ha, that's a good excuse!" Alfred couldn't help applauding, he squinted at Inspector Owen, and said to the jury: "The murderer described by Inspector Owen is a cunning and cruel woman , She had been planning for this big deal for at least two weeks, but when things came to an end, she couldn't wait to do it without confirming whether the dead had what she wanted? Inspector Owen's statement is really contradictory! Don't you guys Do you shut the priest out when you go to church?"

His words elicited roars of laughter, and the jurors sitting in the front all turned their heads away and joined the people behind them in a circle to mutter in a low voice.

"Also, I asked Grant and Sean's family members and servants, and they did go out with their purses that day, and there should be a lot of money in them! But both of their purses disappeared at the same time! "Alfred continued to increase his chips.

Inspector Owen's face turned red. Although he was very angry and believed that Alfred was helping the evil, he also had to admit that Alfred's question was indeed worth thinking about, and there were not many crimes worthy of people's crimes found at the scene. Coins, Grant's and Sean's pockets were empty, Lily Ordnor's had only a few pennies in her purse, and Calvin Baker was even more empty.

Then the fact that Lily O'Deno killed people based on the desire to see money is a bit unreasonable.

The prosecutor was a little helpless, and the role that Inspector Owen could play was minimized by Alfred, but it didn't matter, he still had more witnesses.Prosecutors asked the judge to allow witnesses to testify, including Calvin Baker and the grocer and the doctor who prescribed Lily's medication.

When Calvin Baker appeared in court, both Jane and Mrs. Bennet exclaimed—this Calvin Baker was Lily’s father—Robert O’Deno.But he was older than everyone thought, and even more downcast than the last time Mary saw him.His hair is already gray, which is not a big deal at his age, but his face is as wrinkled as a Shar Pei, and the big bags under his eyes hang deflatedly like a leaking hot water bottle.Under the messy and dirty hair, his eyes are very sleepy, his nose is red, and there are some disgusting little bumps on it.Standing in the witness column with this wretched face, many people frowned subconsciously.

Elizabeth's breath also became quicker, and she whispered to Mary: "If you do evil things, you will never escape punishment. Even if he escapes for a while, he will be judged by time after all. I believe God must have taken care of all this." in the eyes."

When prosecutors asked Calvin what his name was, he hesitated and said his name was Calvin Baker, though his previous name was Robert O'Denore.

At this time, screams suddenly came from the dock, and Lily held her head and shouted at Robert O'Deno: "Liar—liar—"

The judge tapped the gavel to silence her, but Lily couldn't seem to hear anything, and she let out a miserable scream: "Ah——!"

Then he passed out inside, and his head hit the fence, making a loud "bang——" sound.

The accident interrupted the trial, and the judge had to suspend the trial.Dr. Crews immediately rushed to Lily's side. Because he identified himself as a doctor, instead of stopping him, the judge asked him and the bailiff to carry Lily to the nearby lounge to check the situation. Alice and Keira showed anxiety They stood up and wanted to go out, but Albert stopped them. They couldn't rush out in a swarm. Someone needs to stay here in the courtroom.In the end, Alice followed out, while Keira and Albert stayed.

However, the judge did not terminate the trial. He tapped the gavel and said: "Although we cannot convict her in the absence of the defendant, this does not affect our continuation of the trial."

Alfred objected, frowning: "Your Honor, I'm afraid that by doing so the defendant will lose her opportunity to defend herself."

The judge laughed and said: "Alfred, my friend, your client has lost her memory. I don't think she can defend herself even if she stands here. Besides, we have to speed up the trial. I hope we can get it before lunch." Announce a death sentence, there are a lot of cases today." After a pause, he added: "I welcome the defendant to come back and stand here to defend himself at any time."

Alfred frowned, and the judge's tone revealed a lot. He seemed inclined to convict Lily. Although it was the jury that decided whether she was guilty, the judge could exert influence on the jury.

The trial had to go on anyway, and Robert O'Donoghue stood in the witness box and told what he had seen.

"I drank a lot of wine with David Grant and Louis Sean. We were so drunk, but they didn't drink as much as I did. I fell asleep on the table. Then I heard a sound in a daze. I thought It was Lily who was clearing the table and I wanted her to put the rest of the wine in my bedroom, then I called her name and her answer was so flustered that I opened my eyes to find that she was holding a bottle of wine in her hand. The knife killed both David and Louie and I was so scared and started yelling and then she came to kill me with the knife and I pushed her to the ground and ran out for help."

The prosecutor raised his eyebrows and looked at Alfred when he heard such words. He believed that the murder case witnessed by such witnesses could be regarded as conclusive evidence, and the defendant had no hope of escape at all. He even saw the jury members Whispering has begun.

However, when Alfred questioned the witnesses, he did not directly inquire about the case. He held a newspaper in his hand and asked Robert: "I have a newspaper reporting this case, and the reporter in it claims to have interviewed you."

Robert was very surprised, he stammered and said: "If you take the "Times" and "Mail Today", then yes, the reporters of these two newspapers have interviewed me."

"Did they give you money?"

"what?"

"I mean are they paying you to speak about topics of public interest, like your daughter's career and her history?"

The prosecutor objected: "This topic is irrelevant to the case and Attorney Edwards is wasting all of our time."

Alfred said: "This matter is related to the character of Robert O'Donoghue, that is, Calvin Baker. I can prove that his testimony is not credible."

The judge pointed at Alfred: "The objection is invalid, you can continue, Lawyer Edwards."

Alfred continued to question Robert: "Did you collect money from them? If you don't remember, I can remind you that Mr. Henry, the reporter of The Times, is there," he pointed to the top of the auditorium , a young man was sitting there, his hands kept writing and drawing on a small drawing board, when he saw Alfred pointing to him, he stopped, and smiled slightly at the audience watching him. Salute, very calm.

Robert nodded, and said, "Yes, the gentleman gave fivepence," and licking his lips, said, "He said it was my due."

Alfred turned to the jury: "Gentlemen, I can't imagine such a thing. Many of you here are fathers, and if something like this happened to our family, most of us would just pay our hearts out." Bribes out of pounds to try to cover up the scandal, and this gentleman," he said loudly, pointing at Robert, "he goes around telling people his daughter has done sex for 5 pence, is the testimony of such a mercenary admissible? letter?"

There was an uproar at the scene, and many people began to discuss in low voices. Most of the people who came to observe were from the wealthy class, at least they had no worries about food and clothing.

If you have enough granary, you know honor and disgrace, and if you have enough food and clothing, you know etiquette. This sentence applies to all over the world. Most of the wealthy class pay more attention to reputation than the poor class. This does not mean that they have a higher moral standard, but they are more willing to flaunt it.

Therefore, many observers thought deeply when they heard Alfred's words. If they encountered something that would affect the family's reputation, they would only try to eliminate the impact and maintain the reputation of the women in the family.However, Robert O'Deno gave up his sense of shame for a mere 5 pence. Regardless of whether his daughter had committed sex or not, Robert's behavior was despised by people first.