Q. (Knowlton) "You were searching in a box of old stuff in the loft of the barn?"
A. (Lizzie Borden) "Yes, sir; upstairs."
Q. (Knowlton) "That you had never looked at before?"
A. (Lizzie Borden) "I had seen them."
Again:
Q. (Knowlton) "You were then, when you were in that hot loft, looking out of the window and eating three pears, feeling better, were you not, than you were in the morning when you could not eat any breakfast?"
A. (Lizzie Borden) "I never eat any breakfast."
Q. (Knowlton) "You did not answer my question, and you will, if I have to put it all day. Were you then when you were eating those three pears in that hot loft, looking out of that closed window, feeling better than you were in the morning when you ate no breakfast?"
A. (Lizzie Borden) "I was feeling well enough to eat the pears."
At that point, Knowlton wisely changed his approach. Lizzie testified that she last saw her stepmother at about 9 A.M.; Abby was dusting in the dining room. In discussing their conversation, Lizzie introduced her story about the note:
Q. (Knowlton) "Had you any knowledge of [Abby] going out of the house?"
A. (Lizzie Borden) "She told me she had a note, somebody was sick, and said she was going to get the dinner on the way and asked me what I wanted for dinner."
Q. (Knowlton) "Did she tell you where she was going?"
A. (Lizzie Borden) "No, sir."
Q. (Knowlton) "Did she tell you who the note was from?"
A. (Lizzie Borden) "No, sir."
Q. (Knowlton) "Did you ever see the note?"
A. (Lizzie Borden) "No, sir."
Q. (Knowlton) "Do you know where it is now?"
A. (Lizzie Borden) "No, sir."
Q. (Knowlton) "She said she was going out that morning?"
A. (Lizzie Borden) "Yes, sir."
That was what Lizzie had to say about the note under oath. Earlier, she said it was delivered by "a boy".
One fragment of Lizzie's testimony that always baffled me was her statement that any blood spots on her undergarments could have come from flea bites. She went on to say that she told the police officers she had fleas. It turned out that Lizzie was using a Victorian euphemism; a woman going through a menstrual period, like Lizzie, was said to "have fleas".
Lizzie's Arrest
Lizzie completed her inquest testimony at 4 P.M. on Thursday, August 11. Three hours later she was arrested, charged with the murder of her father, Andrew Borden. For some curious reason, the warrant did not mention Abby Borden. It did, however, specify that the murder weapon was a hatchet. This must have disappointed several self-appointed experts who informed the police that Lizzie probably used a flatiron. (She was ironing handkerchiefs that morning and "everyone knows" that blood can be more easily washed off an iron than a hatchet).
There is some disagreement as to how Lizzie reacted to her arrest. A reporter for the New York Times said she took the news with surprising calmness. Yet, according to an account in the New York Herald, she , "fell into a fit of abject and pitiable terror." Take your pick!
At 9 A.M. on Friday, August 12, Lizzie Borden, accompanied by her lawyer, Andrew Jennings, appeared before Judge Blaisdell to answer the charge against her. When the clerk asked how she pleaded, she answered firmly, "not guilty." Blaisdell then scheduled a preliminary hearing for August 22, where he would preside as he had at the inquest. Jennings objected to this arrangement, saying among other things that:
"It is beyond human nature to suppose that Your Honor could have heard all the evidence at the inquest and not be prejudiced. I submit that Your Honor is acting in a double capacity and therefore you cannot be unbiased. This takes away from my client her constitutional right to be heard before a court of unprejudiced opinion."
The objection was overruled.
That same afternoon, Lizzie Borden was taken by train to the Bristol County jail at Taunton, fifteen miles north of Fall River. At Somerset, the train stopped briefly. On the platform there were about a dozen young women, one of whom somehow recognized Lizzie and cried out, "There she is; there's the murderess." All the women ran over to the car where she was sitting and peered in at her. According to a reporter on the train, Lizzie never moved a muscle. As Marshal Hilliard pointed out, "She is a remarkable woman possessed of wonderful power of fortitude." Lizzie's friend, Reverend Buck, put it more positively, "Her calmness is the calmness of innocence."
It was generally supposed that Lizzie would stay at the Taunton jail only until the preliminary hearing which, like the inquest, was to be held in Fall River. In practice, the jail was her "home" for the better part of ten months. Her cell was a small one, furnished with the bare necessities; a bed, a chair and a washbowl. She spent much if not most of her waking hours reading. Included were novels by Charles Dickens, religious tracts, and just about anything she could get her hands on. There was one exception; by her own request she did not receive a daily newspaper and so did not know what the press was saying about her. Lizzie's sister Emma frequently visited as did her minister and other members of the Central Congregational Church of Fall River.
The keeper of the Taunton jail was Sheriff Andrew Wright, who was at one time chief of police in Fall River. When he and his wife lived in Fall River, Lizzie was a little girl; she frequently came to their home to play with their daughter. Perhaps that explains why she was sometimes given special privileges at the jail. In particular, she was allowed to order meals sent in from a local hotel to supplement the meager and unappetizing prison fare. (A typical breakfast served to the inmates consisted of fish hash and bread; all things considered I might have preferred cold mutton and johnny cakes).
When Lizzie Borden was arrested, the predominant reaction in Fall River was one of relief. There was an almost palpable relaxation of the tension that had gripped the city for a week. No longer did people worry about a homicidal maniac invading their homes as he had the Borden house. The double murder was not, after all, a motiveless crime; instead it was an "inside job". In a weird kind of way, people wanted to believe that Lizzie was guilty. District Attorney Knowlton got letters demanding her conviction. Perhaps the most outspoken contained the following admonition:
"Do your Duty without fear. The whole world thinks Elizabeth Borden murdered her poor old Father and Stepmother. Elizabeth Borden chopped up those two poor old people, all for money, and spite, and Hate. She is a Double Murderer and should be hung twice. She committed Two murders and chopped up her poor old Father and his Wife in cold blood. She is a wicked wretch, a vile, cruel murderer. She is a child of the Devil. Do not let her off. She will chop up some one else if you let her off. Do your Duty and Hang her twice."
On the other hand, there were people who believed strongly in Lizzie's innocence. Someone sent Knowlton an abusive handwritten note:
"[You are a] Dirty Coward who attempts to destroy the reputation of an innocent woman. [Your face] should adorn the rogue's gallery instead of holding office in this commonwealth."
Lizzie's
