The Murder of Jim Fisk for the Love of Josie Mansfield by H. W. Brands Page B

and went down toward the main stairs until I got to the third step, when they were bringing back this man whom I first saw.”
    District Attorney Garvin asks, “Who was that man?”
    “The prisoner who sits looking at me now,” Hill answers.
    Under cross-examination by defense counsel McKeon, Hill says he left New York City later on the day of the shooting without speaking to police. “I cannot explain how they knew I had information on the subject. I did not tell it to Mr. Crockett”—of the hotel staff—“because I did not think it best, as I would be detained as a witness.”
    “You had reason to know a homicide was committed,” McKeon demands, “and you did not think it your duty to communicate it to anyone?”
    “I thought there was sufficient evidence without it,” Hill replies. “I have been here three times since January, and have never communicated to anyone a word of what I knew on this subject. I can’t conceive how it leaked out.”
    The audience ponders who the leaker might be as the second witness takes the stand. Francis Curtis of Roxbury, Massachusetts, was also a guest at the hotel. He says he saw Fisk on the stairs after he was shot and was one of those who helped get Fisk into the suite where he was examined by the doctors. He was present when the police brought the prisoner in. Prosecutor Garvin instructs: “State what the officer said to Colonel Fisk, in the presence of the prisoner.”
    The defense objects: “Hearsay and incompetent.”
    Judge Ingraham overrules the objection.
    Curtis answers: “The officer asked Colonel Fisk, ‘Is that the man?’ or ‘Do you recognize the man?’—I could not be certain which. Fisk said, ‘Yes, that is the man; take him out, take him away.’ ”
    Cross-examining, McKeon asks how Curtis recognized Fisk.
    “I had known Fisk for two years,” Curtis says. “I saw him aboard the boat, the Narragansett ”—one of Fisk’s steamers. “I afterward saw him in Boston when he was on parade, saw him on his horse.” Under further questioning, Curtis describes helping undress Fisk after the shooting. “Colonel Fisk had a cloak or a cape on his shoulder, of a dark color. I took his coat off; I then took out my knife and cut off the sleeve of his shirt, clear above the wound, and either myself or someone bound it with a handkerchief. Colonel Fisk was put to bed; his pants were drawn down over his hips so the wound could be got at; the wound was below the navel, a little to the left of the navel.”
    The third witness, Peter Coughlin, born in Ireland, is a coal porter at the Grand Central Hotel. He has been called to confirm Stokes’s identity and to locate him at the time of the shooting. “He had on a white coat with black collar. I saw him at the head of the stairs. His right hand was in his pocket, the other resting at the head of the stairs.” Under cross-examination Coughlin admits he was in the coal closet when the shots were fired; he didn’t see them but came out afterward.
    John Chamberlain is a resident of New York City who was at the Erie office on the afternoon of January 6. “What part of the building were you in?” the district attorney asks.
    “Mr. Fisk’s office.”
    “Did you see the prisoner that afternoon?”
    “Yes, sir.”
    “Where?”
    “Saw him about half past three at the corner of Eighth Avenue and Twenty-third Street, going across Eighth Avenue in a coupé.”
    “Did he have a driver?”
    “Yes, sir.”
    “Did you notice whether he was looking out?”
    “He was looking up at the windows of the Erie Railway office.”
    “State which way they were driving.”
    “He was just crossing Eighth Avenue, going toward North River, down Twenty-third Street.”
    “Did you see him after that on that day?”
    “No, sir.”
    “Was Colonel Fisk in the room with you at that time?”
    “Yes, sir.”
    “How long after that did you leave?”
    “He soon went down to the Opera House, and I went away.”
    “Did you see Colonel