ctim that he might do so as a mere matter of bluff? A clever
man, a far-seeing man will sometimes do things which a duller man would
not do, and it is for you to decide whether these things might not have
been in the mind of the prisoner when he decided to act in this way.

"You have also to consider this. It is true it has been urged that the
murderous deed was uninterrupted, but we cannot be sure of this. Might
not the one who struck the blow have heard approaching footsteps at the
time, and then in a state of panic have rushed away? These things you
must carefully consider. But the real point at issue, the vital point
which you have to consider is: could anyone else have become possessed
of the knife in the first place? Did anyone else become possessed of
that knife? If not, then the difficulty in your minds is easy to
explain.

"That is the first point. Now for the second. What you urge, and most
rightly urge, too--and I fully appreciate the evident thought and care
which you have bestowed upon it--is the unlikelihood of the prisoner
going out at midnight to commit murder, when he had no knowledge
whatever that the murdered man would not be in his own home. You say
that some of you feel that his going out under such circumstances, and
depending on chance as to whether he should meet him, was altogether
unnatural. I will admit that you have to consider this point
carefully, remembering that a man's life or death depends upon the
decision at which you arrive. But there is another thought which you
must keep clearly before your minds. You have no knowledge that the
prisoner was not aware of the murdered man's whereabouts. They had a
quarrel the previous evening. How do we know that the murdered man did
not tell the prisoner something of his plans, or where he intended to
be? He has not submitted himself to cross-examination, and therefore
we have not been able to hear from him. Consequently, we have no
knowledge that the murdered man did not, during the excited
conversation, say something of his intentions, or let fall some hint
whereby a man with the quick perception of the prisoner, might find out
what he intended to do. If this were the case--and while there is no
proof that it is so, it is not at all improbable--it would remove your
difficulty. If they met, it is probable that another quarrel ensued,
and then in the heat of passion the prisoner might have struck the blow
which resulted in his vi