EXAMINATION OF EUSTACIA LINUX BY MR JESSOP, continued

A. Some weeks after she first arrived, I noticed that the prisoner had fallen into the habit of going to the mistress’s bedchamber late at night. It was just after she started as her abigail; I observed it myself, several times, starting with that very first night. She was crossing the landing which led away from the mistress’s bedchamber, the very same place I saw her the night of the murders.

Mr Jessop: What time was this?

A. Just gone midnight.

Q. Where were you when you observed her?

A. Downstairs, in the front hall. From there I could see clearly up to the landing on the third floor. I called out.

Q. Did she show any signs of distress?

A. No.

Q. Did she seem startled?

A. No.

Q. Did she appear to be asleep?

A. No. In fact, she leaned over the balcony, and spoke with me.

Q. What did she say?

A. She’d heard a noise from the mistress’s rooms and gone to check, but finding her door locked was going upstairs again. I warned her that she should be in bed and I’d better not find her out of bed again at night. Nevertheless, a few weeks later, the same thing happened again.

Q. And she gave you the same excuse?

Mr Pettigrew: My Lord –

Court: Yes, yes. Mr Jessop, need I remind you to refrain from leading the witness?

Mr Jessop: How did she respond, Mrs Linux, on that occasion?

A. Same as before, sir. Said she’d heard a noise, only that time she said it was a scream. I remember that because it gave me a chill down my spine.