No More Learning

No doubt now remained of the guilt of the nephew, and immediately upon
reaching Rattleborough he was taken before a magistrate for examination.

Here matters again took a most unfavourable turn. The prisoner, being
questioned as to his whereabouts on the morning of Mr. Shuttleworthy's
disappearance, had absolutely the audacity to acknowledge that on
that very morning he had been out with his rifle deer-stalking, in the
immediate neighbourhood of the pool where the blood-stained waistcoat
had been discovered through the sagacity of Mr. Goodfellow.

This latter now came forward, and, with tears in his eyes, asked
permission to be examined. He said that a stern sense of the duty he
owed his Maker, not less than his fellow-men, would permit him no longer
to remain silent. Hitherto, the sincerest affection for the young man
(notwithstanding the latter's ill-treatment of himself, Mr. Goodfellow)
had induced him to make every hypothesis which imagination could
suggest, by way of endeavoring to account for what appeared suspicious
in the circumstances that told so seriously against Mr. Pennifeather,
but these circumstances were now altogether too convincing--too damning,
he would hesitate no longer--he would tell all he knew, although his
heart (Mr. Goodfellow's) should absolutely burst asunder in the effort.
He then went on to state that, on the afternoon of the day previous to
Mr. Shuttleworthy's departure for the city, that worthy old gentleman
had mentioned to his nephew, in his hearing (Mr. Goodfellow's), that
his object in going to town on the morrow was to make a deposit of an
unusually large sum of money in the "Farmers and Mechanics' Bank," and
that, then and there, the said Mr. Shuttleworthy had distinctly avowed
to the said nephew his irrevocable determination of rescinding the
will originally made, and of cutting him off with a shilling.
He (the
witness) now solemnly called upon the accused to state whether what
he (the witness) had just stated was or was not the truth in every
substantial particular. Much to the astonishment of every one present,
Mr. Pennifeather frankly admitted that it was.

The magistrate now considered it his duty to send a couple of constables
to search the chamber of the accused in the house of his uncle. From
this search they almost immediately returned with the well-known
steel-bound, russet leather pocket-book which the old gentleman had been
in the habit of carrying for years. Its valuable contents, however, had
been abstracted, and the magistrate in vain endeavored to extort from
the prisoner the use which had been made of them, or the place of their
concealment. Indeed, he obstinately denied all knowledge of the matter.
The constables, also, discovered, between the bed and sacking of the
unhappy man, a shirt and neck-handkerchief both marked with the initials
of his name, and both hideously besmeared with the blood of the victim.

At this juncture, it was announced that the horse of the murdered man
had just expired in the stable from the effects of the wound he had
received, and it was proposed by Mr. Goodfellow that a post mortem
examination of the beast should be immediately made, with the view, if
possible, of discovering the ball. This was accordingly done; and, as
if to demonstrate beyond a question the guilt of the accused, Mr.
Goodfellow, after considerable searching in the cavity of the chest was
enabled to detect and to pull forth a bullet of very extraordinary size,
which, upon trial, was found to be exactly adapted to the bore of Mr.
Pennifeather's rifle, while it was far too large for that of any other
person in the borough or its vicinity. To render the matter even surer
yet, however, this bullet was discovered to have a flaw or seam at right
angles to the usual suture, and upon examination, this seam corresponded
precisely with an accidental ridge or elevation in a pair of moulds
acknowledged by the accused himself to be his own property. Upon finding
of this bullet, the examining magistrate refused to listen to
any farther testimony, and immediately committed the prisoner for
trial-declining resolutely to take any bail in the case, although
against this severity Mr. Goodfellow very warmly remonstrated, and
offered to become surety in whatever amount might be required.