The second session of the inquest into the death of Ethel Kinrade had been highly anticipated as it was understood that several members of the Kinrade family would be asked to testify.
Mrs. Kinrade, mother of the deceased first called by the Crown Counsel:
“She went on the stand at 8:10 and her examination lasted over an hour. Mrs. Kinrade’s face bore signs of the terrible ordeal through which has passed during the last two weeks. She walked to the witness box assisted by the trained nurse Miss Walker.
“ ‘May I stay?’ whispered the nurse to the coroner, after Mrs. Kinrade was seatred.
“ ‘No,’ said the coroner and the nurse left.
“You are not in very good health, Mrs. Kinrade,’ inquired Mr. Blackstock. ‘I shall take as little time as possible and if at any time you feel tired or weak, you shall a rest.’
“She gave the ages of the members of her family to Mr. Blackstock, who went over them carefully, questioning the witness the witness in a sympathetic manner. The ages of all, from Ernest, 27 years down to Gertrude, 16 years, was carefully enquired into.
“Mrs. KInrade declared that the relationship in the house was always of the best and a loving affection always existed between every member of the family and between herself and her husband.
At this point, Blackstock intensified the style and substance of his questioning, posing very detailed questions re a wide range of matters related to the case. He kept repeatedly calling forth the most precise answers.
At times, Mrs. Kinrade appeared to be about to collapse but at other times, her consciousness and attitude was sharp. She occasionally did push back against the Crown Attorney, notably trying to ascertain when Mrs. Kinrade left the family home and supposedly Florence and Ethel were left at home:
“ ‘The next question I desire to ask you is, when did you go? At what time?’
“ ‘I did not look at the time. Really, I could not tell you.’
“You say you went to the police office at 4 o’clock. What I want to know is how long from the time you left the house until you got to the police office?’
“ ‘Well, I went to the lodging house.’
“ ‘Well, that does not answer my question. How long from the time you left the house until you got to the police office? I don’t ask the minute.’
“ ‘I judge I must have left home after 3 o’clock.’
“ ‘What places did you go to?’
“The Workingmen’s Home was given as one by the witness , who said she not remember what street she went from the house to King street on, but she thought it was MacNab. She certainly crossed King street at MacNab.
“ ‘Is there anything else about this journey to police station and the places before that you went to which you want to add?’
“Mrs. Kinrade added several trifling visits, which brought her to the police station. She saw the clock as she came out, and it was four o’clock.
“She said she was only there a few minutes; less than ten, and spoke to the officer about the way the tramps were running on them. She went to the Bethel Mission after leaving the police office.
“ ‘After visiting the Bethel, did you go straight home?
“ ‘ I went up to King and James streets, and took the car.’
Crown attorney Blackstock, in trying to put all the times which agreed up between himself and Mrs. Kinrade felt that there was a problem:
“ ‘ You think it must have been three o’clock when you left home, judging from the times of your trip.?’
“ ‘Yes.’
“Well, what we you doing from 1:10 until 3 o’clock?’
“ ‘I was sewing.’
“ ‘You remember that?
“ ‘Yes, I remember that.’
“ ‘Were you doing anything else?’
“ ‘Getting ready to go out.’
“ ‘How long would that take?’
“ ‘Half an hour’
“ ‘Well, how were you sewing?’
“ ‘Possibly half an hour.’
“ ‘In that time between 1:10 and 3 o’clock, then, you only remember doing half an hour’s sewing and half an hour it took you to get ready?
“ ‘Yes, but I looked up the police telephone in the book.
“ ‘That would not take long!’
“ ‘No, but you asked me what I did.’
“ ‘To be fair with you, I put you in mind that the time, half an hour for sewing, half an hour for dressing, brings us to ten or fifteen minutes before 2 o’clock. Now there is a gap in there of three-quarters of an hour before you went downstairs, unaccounted for , and an hour or two later you heard of the occurrence, and of course the events of that day you would remember with much greater particularity than any other ordinary day?’
“ ‘I think so.’
“ ‘I am pointing out a gap in there if you can give any light on it.’
“Mrs. KInrade rambled off into an explanation that did not satisfy the lawyer for an answer.
“ ‘You are giving evidence,’ he said. ‘I asked you how long you were sewing and you say half an hour. Those are your words, not mine. Am I right in saying you would like to extend the half hour of sweing and make it longer?’
“ ‘Why, yes.’
“ ‘Very well now, I give you a chance. How much do you want to put on it?’
“It was some time before this question was answered.
“ ‘I don’t want to be hard on you, and don’t want to misrepresent you, so don’t take up the time like that. Give me how much time you want to put in the sewing?’
“No answer was heard.
“ ‘Give us how much time you want; you gave us half an hour before; what now?’
“Again there was a pause and no answer.
“ ‘You are an intelligent woman; now I want to know without anymore of this trifling, how much do you want put onto it? Make it three-quarters of an hour?’
“It might have been three-quarters of an hour.’
“ ‘You now want to put three-quarters of an hour down to it?’
“ ‘Yes.’
“ ‘How much do you want to extend the dressing?’
“Silence.
“ ‘One half hour?’
“ ‘About three quarters,’ came the reply.
“ ‘That would just nicely fill up the time till three o’clock – that’s the way you fix it up now?’
Another major focus for Blackstock’s grilling of Mrs. Kinrade concerned the issue of Florence and her trips to Virginia:
“ ‘You were opposed to her going to Richmond?’
“ ‘Yes.’
“ ‘And your daughter Ethel also did not like her going?’
“Mrs. Kinrade explained that the girls were very attached to each other, and they were reluctant to part with her.
“ ‘Outside of that circumstance, you had no objection to her going?’
“ ‘Not to the church.’
“ ‘I am talking about going to Richmond now,’ said Mr. Blackstock, who closely questioned the witness as to the dates when Florence went to Virginia, when she returned, and when she made her second trip to Richmond to resume her place in the theatre at Porstmouth.
“ ‘You and your daughter Ethel were much opposed to that and attempted to dissuade her?”
“ ‘Yes.’
“ ‘And yet while she did not succeed in getting your consent or that of your daughter Ethel, your husband gave his assent?’
“ ‘Yes.’
“While Mrs. Kinrade was being questioned about the time her daughter returned last December from Virginia, she asked for a glass of water.
“ ‘I have a cold.’ She explained.
“ ‘That is right, when you feel any discomfort, let us know,’ said Mr. Blackstock.
“ ‘When Florence returned there was no unpleasantness manifested by Ethel,’ said the mother She added that she wrote to her daughter to come home.
“ ‘Why was that?’
“ ‘I didn’t like her to be connected with a theatre.’
“Mrs. Kinrade insisted very emphatically that the pleasant relations among members of the family continued after Florence returned from the South. ‘The girls were always together and out every day,’ she said.
Hard-hitting Blackstock questioning continued for some additional time until, even he had had it with the witness
“ ‘Your representation is you are not able to give us any assistance as to whom the guilty party is?
“ ‘I wish I could.’
“Mrs. Kinrade collapsed at this stage, and the trained nurse, Miss Walker had to be summoned from an ante-room to assist her
(To Be continued.)
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