about three o'clock
While it taxes our reluctant credulity to believe that a crime so hideous could have been committed by a woman 's hand , could have been perpetrated without provocation , within the borders of our peaceful community , nevertheless , the evidence we shall adduce must inevitably force you to the melancholy conclusion that the prisoner at the bar is guilty of the offence , with which she stands charged . The indictment which you are about to try , charges Beryl Brentano with the murder . `` In outlining the evidence which will be presented in support of this indictment , I earnestly desire that you will give me your dispassionate and undivided attention ; and I call God to witness , that disclaiming personal animosity and undue zeal for vengeance , I am sorrowfully indicating as an officer of the law , a path of inquiry , that must lead you to that goal where , before the altar of Truth , Justice swings her divine scales , and bids Nemesis unsheathe her sword . `` On the afternoon of October the twenty-sixth , about three o'clock , a stranger arrived in X -- and inquired of the station agent what road would carry her to ` Elm Bluff ' , the home of General Darrington ; assuring him she would return in time to take the north-bound train at 7.15 , as urgent business necessitated her return . Demanding an interview with Gen ' l Darrington , she was admitted , incognito , and proclaimed herself his granddaughter , sent hither by a sick mother , to procure a certain sum of money required for specified purposes . That the interview was stormy , was characterized by fierce invective on her part , and by bitter denunciation and recrimination on his , is too well established to admit of question ; and they parted implacable foes , as is attested by the fact that he drove her from his room through a rear and unfrequented door , opening into a flower garden , whence she wandered over the grounds until she found the gate . The vital import of this interview lies in the great stress Gen ' l Darrington placed upon the statement he iterated and reiterated ; that he had disinherited his daughter , and drawn up a will bequeathing his entire estate to his step-son Prince .