"And now, gentlemen of the jury, and you, my lord, I may be told that
these wholesale murders have nothing to do with the indictment, which
simply charges the prisoner at the bar with the wilful murder of Francis
Thornhill; but I reply that it was impossible to make apparent to the
jury the mode by which Francis Thornhill came by his death, without
going into these painful details. Todd's house was found crammed with
property and clothing sufficient for one hundred and sixty people!" A thrill of horror pervaded the court at this announcement. "Yes, gentlemen of the jury; and among that clothing is the sleeve of a
jacket, which will be sworn to as having belonged to Francis Thornhill;
but we have yet more cogent evidence of the fact that Thornhill met his
death at the hands of the prisoner at the bar. His hat, gentlemen, will
be identified by the dog now in court. But, gentlemen, is that enough? No, the law wisely looks for the body of a murdered man; and I do not
call to mind an instance of a conviction following from murder where
there has not been some satisfactory identification of the remains of
the murdered man. We will produce that proof. Among the skeletons found
contiguous to Todd's premises, was one which will be sworn to as being
that of the deceased, Mr. Thornhill. One bone of that skeleton will be
produced in court, and sworn to by a surgeon who had the care of it,
when once fractured on board ship, and who, from repeated examinations
such a surgeon only could make, knows it well." This announcement on the part of the Attorney-General, produced an
enormous amount of excitement in court, for many persons had come,
prepossessed with the idea that the non-production of the dead body of
the alleged murdered man would be a serious hitch in the prosecution. Todd looked up, and in a loud clear voice he cried--

"No! no!" "Yes," added the Attorney-General. "Yes. Gentlemen of the jury, that is
all I have to say for the prosecution. The facts are as clear as light,
and you will hear from the mouths of creditable witnesses the various
particulars which it has been my duty on behalf of the prosecution to
lay before you this day." CHAPTER CXXVIII. TODD'S TRIAL CONTINUES, AND GOES ALL AGAINST HIM. The Attorney-General sat down. It was quite clear now to the most superficial observer, that the case
against Todd had been just picked out for convenience sake, and was one
among many. From the moment that the Attorney-General had mentioned what
facts he could prove, the fate of the murderer was certain to the minds
of all. They looked upon him in every respect as a doomed man. Of course the remarks of the Attorney-General occupied a much greater
space than we have felt that, in justice to the other portion of our
story, we could give to them; but what we have presented to the reader
was the essential portion of what he said. All eyes were turned upon Todd, to note how he took the statement for
the prosecution; but there was little to be gleaned from his face. His
eyes seemed to be wandering over the sea of faces in the court, as if he
were in search of some one whom he was disappointed in not seeing. There
was a pause of some few moments duration, and then the Attorney-General
called his first witness, who was examined by the Junior Counsel for the
prosecution. This witness's deposition was very simple and concise. "I was master of the ship, Star," he said, "and arrived in the Port of
London on the day named in the indictment against the prisoner at the
bar. Mr. Francis Thornhill had mentioned to me and to Colonel Jeffery
that he had a valuable String of Pearls to take to a young lady, named
Johanna Oakley, and he left the ship with his dog, Hector, to deliver
them. I never saw him again from that hour to this. I was anxious about
him, and called at the barber's shop in Fleet Street, kept by the
prisoner at the bar. The prisoner readily admitted that such a person
had been shaved at his shop, and then had left it, but why the dog
remained he could not tell. The dog named Hector was at the door of the
prisoner's house. He had a hat with him. My name is Arthur Rose
Fletcher, and I am forty two years of age." "Is this the hat that you saw with the dog in Fleet Street?" The hat was produced. "Yes, that is the hat. I will swear to it." "Whose hat is it, or was it?" "It belonged to Mr. Thornhill, who wore it on the day he left the ship
to go into the city with the String of Pearls." "That is all then, Mr. Fletcher, that we need trouble you with at
present." The judge now interposed; and in a mild voice addressing Todd, he said--

"It is not too late for you to consent to the appointment of counsel to
watch your case. I dare say some gentleman of the bar will volunteer to
do so." "With the prisoner's consent," said a counsel, who was sitting at the
table below the judge, "I will attend to the case." "Be it so," said Todd, gloomily. Upon this the counsel rose, and addressing the captain of the ship, who
had not yet left the witness-box, he said to him--

"Mr. Fletcher, how is it that you can so positively identify this hat of
the alleged murdered Mr. Thornhill, after such a space of time?" "By a remarkable flaw in the rim of it, sir. An accident occurred on
board the ship, by which Mr. Thornhill's hat was burnt, and this is the
same hat. When he left the ship we joked him about it, and he said that
perhaps he would buy a new one in the City." "Indeed. Then he might have sold this one." "He might, certainly." "And so the dog seeing it left at some place where it was sold or given
away, and not comprehending such transaction, might have taken
possession of it." "Of that I can say nothing." "Very well, Mr. Fletcher. I don't think I need trouble you any further. This affair of the hat seems to fall to the ground most completely." The Attorney-General did not say a word aloud, but he whispered
something to the junior, who nodded in reply. The next witness called,
was John Figgs, the groom at the coach office, who had rescued Hector
from Todd's malevolence. His testimony was as follows:--

"I saw a crowd of people round the door of Todd's shop, and I went over
to see what it was all about. The dog as I calls Pison, but as everybody
else calls Hector, was trying to get into the shop. Some one opened the
door, and then he came out with a hat in his mouth, after rummaging all
over the shop and upsetting no end of things. I tried to coax him away,
but he would not come by no means. At last, the next day I found him
very bad, and that he had been pisoned, and so I calls him Pison, and
took him to the stables and got him over it." "What is it he says he calls the dog?" asked the judge, with a very
perplexed look. "Pison, my lord." "But what is Pison?" "He means Poison." "Oh, is that it; then why don't he say Poison? It's very absurd for
anybody to say Pison, when they mean Poison all the while." "It's all the same," said the groom. "Pison is my way, and the t'other
is yourn, that's all!"