Part 4
ELIZABETH MILLS, examined by Mr. JAMES--I was chambermaid at the Talbot Arms at Rugeley in November last. I had been there about two years. I knew the prisoner. He was in the habit of coming to the Talbot Arms. I remember on Thursday, the 15th, between nine and ten at night, Mr. Cook, along with Mr. Palmer, came to the Talbot Arms. He retired to rest between ten and eleven. He said he had been poorly, and was feeling poorly then. The next morning he got up about twelve o’clock, and said he felt no worse, but still he was not well. That night he retired to bed about half-past ten. He said he had been to Mr. Palmer’s and had dined there. On Saturday morning about eight, Palmer, who lived opposite to the Talbot Arms, came over. He ordered a cup of coffee for Mr. Cook, which I believe I gave to Mr. Cook in his bedroom. Mr. Palmer was in the room at the time. I did not see Cook drink it, but about half an hour afterwards I returned into the room and found that the coffee had been vomited. On that occasion I observed a jug in the room which did not belong to the Talbot Arms. It was sent down to me by Lavinia Barnes to make some more toast and water. During that Saturday I saw Palmer perhaps four or five times in Cook’s room. I heard him say to Mr. Cook that he would send over some broth. I did not see it brought over, but I saw the broth in the kitchen. The cook told me that it had come over from Mrs. Rowley. The broth had not been made at the Talbot Arms. Later in the day I took up the broth to Mr. Cook. About a quarter of an hour after the broth came over I met Palmer coming up the stairs to Cook’s room. He asked if Cook had had his broth. I told him I did not know that any was come for him. During this conversation Lavinia Barnes came forward and said she had taken up the broth to Mr. Cook as soon as it had come, and he had refused to take it, saying that it would not stay in his stomach. Palmer said that I must go and fetch the broth, which I did, and took it into the room. Mr. Palmer was there, and I left the broth in the room. About an hour and a half afterwards I went up to the room again and found that the broth had been vomited. About six o’clock that evening some barley water was made for Cook. I took that up to him, but I cannot remember whether that stayed in his stomach or not. At eight o’clock that evening I took up some arrowroot to Cook. The first time I saw Mr. Bamford [the doctor at Rugeley] was about three o’clock on the Saturday afternoon. Between seven and eight on the Sunday morning I went into Mr. Cook’s room. During the night Mr. Smith, a friend of Mr. Cook, had slept in the same room. I asked Mr. Cook if he felt worse. He said he felt pretty comfortable, and had slept well since twelve o’clock. Upon the Sunday a large breakfast cup of broth was brought to the Talbot Arms by Charles Hawley. I took some of it up to Mr. Cook’s room in the same cup in which it was brought. I tasted about two tablespoonfuls of the broth before I took it up. It was between twelve and one, before my dinner, that I tasted this broth. About half an hour afterwards it made me very sick, and I vomited violently all the afternoon till about five o’clock. I was obliged to go to bed. Up to that time I had been quite well. I had taken nothing that I am aware of that had disagreed with me. In the evening and on the morning of the Sunday I saw Mr. Cook several times. He appeared to be better during that evening, and to be in good spirits. The last time I saw him on the Sunday night might be about ten or a little after that. I saw him between seven and eight on the Monday morning. I took him up a cup of coffee. He did not vomit that. Palmer was there that morning about a quarter or half-past seven. I saw him coming downstairs as though he had been to see Mr. Cook. Mr. Cook got up at one o’clock on that Monday. He appeared a great deal better, and he washed and dressed and shaved himself. He said he felt exceedingly weak. On the Monday Ashmall, the jockey, and Mr. Saunders, Cook’s trainer, visited him. As soon as Cook got up at one o’clock I gave him some arrowroot, which he retained in his stomach. I believe he had a cup of coffee about four or five. About eight o’clock that night Miss Bond, the housekeeper, gave me a pillbox to take upstairs to Mr. Cook’s room, which I did, and placed it on the dressing-table. It was wrapped up in white paper. I do not know whether the box contained pills or not. After I had placed the pillbox on Cook’s dressing-table Palmer came, and went into Cook’s room. I saw him sitting down by the fire between nine and ten. I retired to rest between ten and eleven. About a quarter or ten minutes before twelve Lavinia Barnes, the waitress, called me up. I heard a noise of violent screaming whilst I was dressing. The screams came from Cook’s room. My room is on the floor above Cook’s room. I heard the screams twice, and went down to Cook’s room. As soon as I entered the room I found him sitting up in bed. He desired me to fetch Mr. Palmer directly. I walked to his bedside, and I found the pillow upon the floor. There was one mould candle burning. I picked up the pillow and asked him would he lay down his head. At that time he was sitting up and was beating the bed-clothes, with both his arms and hands stretched out. He said, “I cannot lie down. I shall suffocate if I do. Oh, fetch Mr. Palmer.” His body, his hands, and neck were moving then--a sort of jumping or jerking. His head was back. Sometimes he would throw back his head upon the pillow, and then he would raise himself up again. This jumping and jerking was all over his body. He appeared to have great difficulty in breathing. The balls of both the eyes were much projected. It was difficult for him to speak, he was so short of breath. He screamed three or four times while I was in the room. He called aloud “Murder” twice. He asked me to rub one hand. I found the left hand stiff. It appeared to be stretched out as though the fingers were something like paralysed. It did not move. It appeared to me to be stiff all the way up his arm. I did not rub him very long. The stiffness did not appear to be gone after I had rubbed him. During the time I was rubbing his hands Palmer was in the room. Cook was conscious while this jerking of the body was going on. He recognised Palmer when he came in, and said, “Oh, Palmer, I shall die,” or “Oh, doctor, I shall die.” Palmer replied, “Oh, my lad, you won’t.” Palmer then left to fetch something, and asked me to stay by the bedside with him. He returned in a few minutes, during which time I merely stood by the bedside. He brought back with him some pills. He gave him something else, but whether he brought it with him or not I do not know. He gave him a drop from a wineglass after giving him the pills. Cook, when he took the pills, said he could not swallow them. At Palmer’s request I gave Cook a teaspoonful of toast and water, which he took. When I gave it him from the spoon his body was then jerking and jumping. He snapped at the spoon like that [describing it] with his head and neck, and the spoon was fast between his teeth. It was difficult to get it away. He seemed to bite it very hard. While this was going on the water went down his throat and washed the pills down. Mr. Palmer then handed him the draught from the wineglass. It was something liquid, and the wineglass was three parts full with a liquid of a dark, heavy-looking nature. Cook drank it. He snapped at the glass just the same as he did at the spoon. He swallowed the liquid, which was vomited up immediately. I supported his forehead with my hand while he vomited. The stuff he vomited smelt, I should think, like opium. Palmer said that he hoped the pills were not returned, and he searched for the pills with a quill. He said, “I cannot find the pills.” After this Cook seemed to be more easy. This second attack lasted about half an hour, or it might be more. He appeared to be conscious during the whole of that time. He asked Palmer to feel his heart after he had got more composed. I do not know whether he did so or not. Palmer made some slight remark as to its being all right, or something of that kind. I left Cook and Palmer about three o’clock in the morning. Cook was dozing when I left him, and Palmer was asleep in the easy-chair.
[Sidenote: E. Mills]
I next saw Cook again about six o’clock on the Tuesday morning. I said, “Has Mr. Palmer gone?” and he said, “Yes; he left a quarter before five.” I asked him how he felt, and he said he had been no worse since I left him in the morning. He asked me if I had ever seen any one suffer such agony as he was in last night, and I said no, I never had. I asked “What do you think was the cause of all that, Mr. Cook?” and he said the pills that Palmer gave him at half-past ten. When I saw Cook on the Tuesday morning I did not observe any of those jerkings or convulsions about him. About twelve o’clock he rang his bell and desired me to send the boots over to ask Palmer whether he might have a cup of coffee. The boots returned and said he might have a cup of coffee, and that Mr. Palmer would be over immediately. I took the coffee up a little after twelve. Palmer was in Mr. Cook’s room at that time. I gave the coffee to Mr. Palmer, who tasted the coffee in my presence. I then left the room. Mr. Jones arrived by the three o’clock train that afternoon. He went and saw Mr. Cook upon his arrival. About four, or it might be between four and five, I took up to Mr. Cook’s room another cup of coffee. At that time I saw Palmer in the room. I left the room, and afterwards I saw Palmer, who told me that Mr. Cook had vomited the coffee. He spoke from the door of Cook’s room, but did not call me in. I saw Cook several times that evening before I retired to rest. He appeared to be in very good spirits, and talked about getting up the next morning. I believe I gave him some arrowroot that evening about half-past ten. Palmer was with him in his bedroom when I left him. I gave Palmer a jug of toast and water for Cook. Mr. Palmer asked Cook if I could do anything more for him that night, and Mr. Cook said he would want nothing more. That was about half-past ten. I did not go to bed that night, but I remained in the kitchen, as I was anxious to see how Mr. Cook went on. While I was in the kitchen the bell of Mr. Cook’s room rang violently a little before twelve [Tuesday night]. Mr. Jones was sleeping in Cook’s bedroom, which was a double-bedded room, and where a bed had been made up for him. I went upstairs to Mr. Cook’s room on hearing the bell. He was sitting up in bed, and Mr. Jones appeared to be supporting him. Mr. Cook said, “Oh, Mary, fetch Mr. Palmer directly.” He was conscious at the time. I went over for Mr. Palmer. I rang the surgery bell at the surgery door. I expected him to come to the window and as soon as I stepped off the step into the road he was at the bedroom window. He did not put up the sash. At that time I could not see whether he was dressed or not. I asked him to come over to Mr. Cook directly, as he was much the same as he was the night before. I then went back to the hotel. Palmer came two or three minutes afterwards. I was in the bedroom when Palmer came, and he remarked that he had never dressed so quickly in his life. That was the first thing he said when he came into Cook’s room. Mr. Cook was sitting up in bed, supported by Mr. Jones. After Mr. Palmer came I remained on the landing, just outside the door. After I had been waiting a short time Palmer came out. I said to him that Mr. Cook was much about the same as last night, and he replied that he was not so ill by the fiftieth part. He then went downstairs as though he was going into his own house, and after a very short time he came back to Cook’s room. After Palmer had returned I heard Cook ask to be turned over on his right side. I was at the door at the time, which was open. I did not go in. I was not in the room when Cook died. I went in, I believe, just before he died, but I came out again. I saw Mr. Jones supporting Cook. Mr. Palmer was then feeling Mr. Cook’s pulse, and he said to Mr. Jones, “His pulse is gone.” Mr. Jones pressed the side of his face to Cook’s heart. Mr. Palmer asked me to fetch Mr. Bamford, and I did so. From the time I was called up, about ten minutes before twelve, till Cook’s death would be about three-quarters of an hour. Mr. Bamford came over, and I saw him when he came downstairs. He said, “He is dead. He was dead when I arrived.” Mr. Jones came out of the room and told me that Mr. Palmer wanted me. I went into the room and saw Mr. Palmer. There was no one with him. I said, “It is not possible Mr. Cook is dead,” and he said, “Oh, yes, he is dead.” He asked me to arrange about laying out Cook. I had seen a book in Mr. Cook’s room, a dark book with a gold band round the edge. It had a pencil going into it on one side. Cook stopped at the Talbot Arms perhaps two or three months before this time. I saw the book on the Monday night before Mr. Cook’s death. He wrote something in it, and took from a pocket in the book a postage stamp. I placed the book back at the looking-glass on the dressing-table. I have never seen that book since Cook’s death. I have searched everywhere for it. When I went into the room where Cook’s body was lying Palmer was there. I noticed that Cook’s clothes were placed on a chair. I saw Palmer searching the pocket. That was on the Tuesday night about ten minutes after Cook’s death. He also searched under the pillow and bolster. After Cook’s death I saw some letters on the mantelpiece which were not there before.
The Court then adjourned.
Second Day, Thursday, 15th May, 1856.
The Court met at ten o’clock.
[Sidenote: E. Mills]
ELIZABETH MILLS, cross-examined by Mr. SERJEANT SHEE--I had been at the Talbot Arms about three years at the date of Mr. Cook’s death. He first came to the Talbot Arms about three months before he died, and up to the time of his death he was constantly coming back and forward. During the time he was there I never heard him complain of anything except a sore throat or something of that kind through cold. I never noticed that he had any soreness about his mouth or that he had difficulty at all in swallowing. I have seen him with a foul tongue about once or so. He never complained in my hearing of the tongue being sore so as to render it difficult to swallow. I do not know of caustic having been applied to it while he was there. Before he went to Shrewsbury he had not been ailing at all to my knowledge. When he came back he said he was poorly. After Cook’s death I stayed at the Talbot Inn till the day after Christmas. I then went to my home in the Potteries, Shelton. Since then I have been in service in Dolly’s Hotel, Paternoster Row, London. I stayed six weeks there as chambermaid. About a week after I came to London I saw Mr. Stevens (the stepfather of Cook) about six or seven times. Two or three times I saw him alone; at other times perhaps Mrs. Dewhurst, the landlady of the inn, or Miss Dewhurst was there. It was not always about Mr. Cook’s death that he spoke to me. He would merely call to see how I liked London, and whether I was well in health, and all that.
[Sidenote: E. Mills]
Mr. Stevens is a man not in your station. He is a gentleman. Do you mean to say he called to see how you liked London?--Just to see whether I liked the place. I had some conversation with him at the Talbot Inn just before the funeral. I really cannot remember what he spoke about beyond Mr. Cook’s death. During the time I was at Dolly’s Hotel I never received a farthing from him, and he never made me any promise to get a place. The last time I saw him out of Court was on Tuesday last at Dolly’s Hotel. He never spoke to me about Mr. Cook’s death. When I saw him at that time there were other people present, including Lavinia Barnes, Mr. Gardner, and Mr. Hatton, the chief officer of police in Staffordshire. Mr. Gardner is an attorney at Rugeley. I cannot say what all the talk was about. Mr. Cook’s death might be mentioned. I daresay it was. I will undertake to say that there were other subjects of conversation between us besides the subject of Cook’s death. I do not wish to mention what they were. They did not, so far as I heard, talk about the evidence I was to give. They did not ask me what I could prove, nor did they read my depositions before the coroner to me. There was nothing read to me from a newspaper or anything else. Mr. Stevens never at any previous interview read anything from a newspaper to me. He never talked to me about the symptoms which Mr. Cook exhibited before his death. Before last Tuesday I had seen Mr. Hatton about twice. I saw him once at Dolly’s, when he dined there. I did not wait upon him. I merely saw him there. He might have talked about Mr. Cook’s death, but I cannot remember. I have seen Mr. Gardner there three or four times since Mr. Cook’s death. I have seen him at Dolly’s, and have met him in the street. I have merely said, “How do you do,” or “Good morning.” I have had no other talk with him. I do not remember to have read the case of a Mrs. Dove in the newspapers, but I may have done so. I have heard spoken of a case that lately occurred at Leeds of a lady who was said to have been poisoned by her husband, but I did not read it. It was not mentioned to me by Mr. Stevens, nor by Mr. Gardner, nor by Mr. Hatton.
Were you told when you heard of it what the symptoms of Mrs. Dove were?--I think not. I merely heard there had been strychnine used at Leeds, another strychnine case.
Were the symptoms of strychnine ever mentioned to you by any one?--No, never.
When, and to whom, did you first use the expression “twitching,” which you mentioned so repeatedly yesterday?--To the coroner, I did. If I did not mention twitching, I mentioned something to the same effect. I will not swear I used that word at the coroner’s. I cannot remember when I first used the word “twitching.” I cannot remember when I first used the word “jerking” to anybody. I will undertake to swear it has never been used to me by anybody.
You stated yesterday that on the Sunday some broth was brought in a breakfastcup between twelve and one o’clock; that you took it up to Cook’s bedroom; that you drank about two tablespoonfuls; that you were sick the whole afternoon, and vomited till five o’clock. Did you state one word about that in your deposition before the coroner?--It never occurred to me until three days afterwards.
Did you state before the coroner that there was nothing peculiar in the taste of the broth?--I believe I was examined three times before the coroner. My attention had been called to the fact of broth having been sent over on one occasion, but I do not remember whether it was the first. I was asked if I had tasted it, and I stated I had tasted it, and thought it was very good. It never occurred to me to mention that I was sick and vomited frequently in the course of the afternoon.
You went to bed in consequence of the vomiting?--Yes.
[Sidenote: E. Mills]
I suppose sickness of that kind repeated frequently in the course of an afternoon is not a very common occurrence with you?--No, I have a bilious attack sometimes, but not such violent vomiting as I had that afternoon. I could not at all account for it at the time. I only took two tablespoonfuls. The vomiting came on from half an hour to an hour after I took them.
On the Saturday morning did Cook express a wish to have coffee for breakfast, or was it from Palmer the first you heard that his breakfast was to be coffee?--I do not know whether Palmer told me to bring coffee or whether it was Cook. I never knew Mr. Cook to take coffee in bed before. He generally took tea.
I understood you to say yesterday Palmer came over at eight o’clock and ordered a cup of coffee for Cook. Do you adhere to that?--I cannot remember whether Palmer ordered it or not. If I said it yesterday it is correct, but I cannot remember whether Palmer ordered the coffee or not now. I will swear now that Palmer ordered the coffee, and I took it and gave it into Cook’s hands, and Palmer was there.
You swear to it now?--Yes.
You doubted it a moment ago?--If that was stated yesterday I do not doubt it was correct.
Is that your only reason for stating it to be correct?--I believe it to be correct.
Will you swear that it is correct?--Yes; it is no doubt correct if I said so.
Why should that make it more correct if you cannot say it now from your own recollection?--I cannot remember as well to-day as I did yesterday. I cannot remember that I stated before the coroner that Cook had coffee for breakfast at eight o’clock, that he ate nothing, and that he vomited directly he had swallowed it, and that up to the time I had given him the coffee I had not seen Palmer. I cannot remember whether I stated before the coroner anything about the pillbox on Monday night. It was sent over wrapped up in paper. I will swear that Palmer was there between nine and ten o’clock. He brought a jar of jelly to the Talbot, and I opened it. I should say he was there nearer to ten than nine. I do not recollect whether he was there when I left Cook at half-past ten.
You stated yesterday that you asked Cook on the Tuesday afternoon what he thought the cause of his illness was, and he said, “The pills which Palmer gave me at half-past ten”?--Yes.
Did you say that before the coroner?--No.
[Sidenote: E. Mills]
Have you been questioned by any one since Mr. Cook’s death respecting what you did say before the coroner as to when these pills might have been given or respecting anything you have said about these pills before the coroner?--Yes; I was questioned by Dr. Collier at Hitchingly. I did not tell him that the gentleman in London had altered my evidence on that point, and that my evidence was now to be that “Cook said the pills which Palmer gave him at half-past ten made him ill.”
Did he state anything about your evidence being altered since?--Yes; he said he had not got that down in what I had given to the coroner in the coroner’s papers. I said “No, I thought it was down in some of the papers. I had given it to a gentleman in London.” The evidence has been altered by myself since. I do not remember who the gentleman was that I had given it to. I gave it to him at Dolly’s. The gentleman came to me at Dolly’s and asked if I would answer him a few questions. I said I would, and I saw him in a sitting-room. I was with him about half an hour. He asked me not very many questions, and during the time I was answering the questions he was writing. He did not tell me who he was or whom he came from, but he mentioned Mr. Stevens’ name.
What did he say about Mr. Stevens?--Mr. Stevens was with him. He called Mr. Stevens by name.
Why did you not tell us that before?--You did not ask me.
Then, although you did not know who he was, you knew he was an acquaintance of Mr. Stevens because he came with him?--He did. All that I said then was taken down. I do not remember saying before the coroner that when Cook was ill on Monday night and sitting up in bed beating the bed-clothes he said, “I cannot lie down; I shall suffocate if I do.” I do not remember whether I mentioned the word “jerking” before the coroner.
Did you say before the coroner, “He would throw his head back and raise himself up again”?--Yes.