ector.

"It is."

"And you occupy premises in St. Mary Axe?"

"Yes. I am a dealer in precious metals, but my business consists
principally in the assaying of samples of ore and quartz and bars of
silver and gold."

"Do you remember what happened on the ninth of March last?"

"Perfectly. My nephew Reuben--the prisoner--delivered to me a parcel of
diamonds which he had received from the purser of the _Elmina Castle_,
to whom I had sent him as my confidential agent. I had intended to
deposit the diamonds with my banker, but when the prisoner arrived at my
office, the banks were already closed, so I had to put the parcel, for
the night, in my own safe. I may say that the prisoner was not in any
way responsible for the delay."

"You are not here to defend the prisoner," said Sir Hector. "Answer my
questions and make no comments, if you please. Was anyone present when
you placed the diamonds in the safe?"

"No one was present but myself."

"I did not ask if you were present when you put them in," said Sir
Hector (whereupon the spectators sniggered and the judge smiled
indulgently). "What else did you do?"

"I wrote in pencil on a leaf of my pocket memorandum block, 'Handed in
by Reuben at 7.3 p.m., 9.3.01,' and initialled it. Then I tore the leaf
from the block and laid it on the parcel, after which I closed the safe
and locked it."

"How soon did you leave the premises after this?"

"Almost immediately. The prisoner was waiting for me in the outer
office--"

"Never mind where the prisoner was; confine your answers to what is
asked. Did you take the keys with you?"

"Yes."

"When did you next open the safe?"

"On the following morning at ten o'clock."

"Was the safe locked or unlocked when you arrived?"

"It was locked. I unlocked it."

"Did you notice anything unusual about the safe?"

"No."

"Had the keys left your custody in the interval?"

"No. They were attached to a key-chain, which I always wear."

"Are there any duplicates of those keys?--the keys of the safe, I mean."

"No, there are no duplicates."

"Have the keys ever gone out of your possession?"

"Yes. If I have had to be absent from the office for a considerable
time, it has been my custom to hand the keys to one of my nephews,
whichever has happened to be in charge at the time."

"And never to any other person?"

"Never to any other person."

"What did you observe when you opened the safe?"

"I observed that the parcel