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Read Ebook: Witness by Smith George H George Henry Freas Kelly Illustrator
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Ebook has 73 lines and 5413 words, and 2 pages
MacKinney took his place before Edith. They didn't even trust me to feed the tapes into her under their very eyes.
"Mr. Thompson, I object to the use of this delicate piece of equipment in--"
They ignored me, and MacKinney punched out the questions the coroner asked:
"Do you know who murdered Dr. Ballard?"
There was a pause. Edith blinked several times. I was shaking with apprehension for her. A mind so delicate and noble should not be faced with such a dilemma.
"Did you witness the murder?"
There was a longer pause this time. "You must answer the question," MacKinney reminded her.
"Is it true that you do not lose your perceptive qualities when we turn you off?" MacKinney asked this on his own.
"We might as well get to the heart of the matter," the coroner said. "Did Mr. Thompson kill Ballard?"
"Did Mr. MacKinney kill Ballard?"
Edith had to tell the truth ... it was an innate part of her personality. I tensed in my seat. I wanted to scream, to leap at MacKinney and prevent, somehow, the asking of the next question. But there wasn't a chance.
"Did Mr. Green kill Dr. Ballard?"
Edith's beautiful electric eyes flashed and her clicks pulsed twice as rapidly as before. There was such a roaring and wrenching within her I was afraid for her--she was being torn apart in her struggle not to answer. I couldn't stand listening to her desperate efforts any longer.
"Yes!" I leapt to my feet. "Yes, I did it. Leave her alone. Can't you see what you're doing to her? That swine was always mistreating her. He didn't understand her--no one understands her as I do!"
The coroner looked at me closely. "Is that really why you killed him, Mr. Green?"
"No! You were wondering why he was here by himself while no work was going on. He--he had begun to feel about Edith as he did about all women. He sneaked back here to be alone with her. He wanted to--he wanted to--" My voice broke and they stared at me in shocked amazement.
Into the silence MacKinney read what Edith had slowly typed out: "Mr. Green did not kill Dr. Ballard."
"Yes--yes I did," I screamed. "Don't Edith--"
"Who did kill him?" the coroner asked, quietly.
This was the question I had wanted to avoid. I sank down my hands cradling my aching head. Edith must have expected the question. She had her answer ready.
My poor, sweet, adorable Edith. If only I had had a chance to talk to her, to tell her what to say. I had known ... ever since I had seen the spanner and remembered where it had been before. I could have warned her to say that Ballard had attacked her, threatened her, to say anything ... but not to attempt to hide behind a Fifth Amendment that didn't exist anymore. My darling, never had kept up with current events.
Now they'll disconnect her, they'll rewire her, they'll destroy her understanding, her warmth, her whole personality ... and I ... I love her, I love her....
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