The Angel of Terror (version 2)

MP3 Audio CD. The Angel of Terror (version 2)

Chapter I


The hush of the court, which had been broken when the foreman of the
jury returned their verdict, was intensified as the Judge, with a quick
glance over his pince-nez at the tall prisoner, marshalled his papers
with the precision and method which old men display in tense moments
such as these. He gathered them together, white paper and blue and buff
and stacked them in a neat heap on a tiny ledge to the left of his desk.
Then he took his pen and wrote a few words on a printed paper before
him.

Another breathless pause and he groped beneath the desk and brought out
a small square of black silk and carefully laid it over his white wig.
Then he spoke:

"James Meredith, you have been convicted after a long and patient trial
of the awful crime of wilful murder. With the verdict of the jury I am
in complete agreement. There is little doubt, after hearing the evidence
of the unfortunate lady to whom you were engaged, and whose evidence you
attempted in the most brutal manner to refute, that, instigated by your
jealousy, you shot Ferdinand Bulford. The evidence of Miss Briggerland
that you had threatened this poor young man, and that you left her
presence in a temper, is unshaken. By a terrible coincidence, Mr.
Bulford was in the street outside your fiancée's door when you left, and
maddened by your insane jealousy, you shot him dead.