Chapter 17 Section 17

My name is Samuel P. P. Fee, a Probate Judge for the District of Middlesex.I have lived in Cambridge for more than 40 years, and I have known John West since he became a professor.For the past 15 to 20 years, we have become very close friends and neighbors. Professor West's kindness and easy going are well-known in the neighborhood.Not only has he never been violent, he has never even been emotionally impulsive.He is kind and charitable, and he is respected by everyone.I've never heard anything to the contrary. I remember that on the day of Dr. Peckman's disappearance, when I went to the party at Professor Treadwell's house at 9 o'clock on Friday evening, Professor West and his wife were there, and Dr. Murray Wyman and his wife were there.In my memory, there was nothing unusual about the professor's speech and behavior that night.As usual, he chatted with everyone about the news of the day and topics about science.

In the following week, I met with the professor several times.In fact, I went to his house on Sunday and Tuesday nights.I was going to tell him some news about Dr. Peckman on Sunday night.The other night, Monday or Tuesday, I played poker with his family.On the side of the professor and his daughter, and on the side of the professor's wife, we played for two or three hours.I am sure that out of the three days of Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday, I was at the professor's house two evenings. My name is Kidder, Joseph, a pharmacist.I know Professor West, and I remember the day Dr. Peckman disappeared.It was Friday, the 23rd. Around 5 o'clock, or a quarter to five, the professor came to my shop to buy some perfume.I'm pretty sure it was that day, because he bought a case of perfume and asked me to send the bill to his house.I have bills to prove it.

My name is Marion West, and I am the second daughter of Professor West.Since my father's arrest, I've been trying to recall every detail of the week that followed Dr. Peckman's disappearance. On the 23rd, Friday, when my father came home in the afternoon, it was just in time for tea, which should be before 6 o'clock.Then he stayed in his room until 8 o'clock, sent me and my sisters to the neighbor's house for a party, and drove us all the way to the neighbor's door before leaving with my mother.We came home at 12:30 at night, and it was my father who opened the door for us.We chatted for about half an hour, and he went back to bed at 1 o'clock, and we went upstairs together.

After 1 o'clock on Saturday afternoon, after we had lunch together, my father went into his study and didn't come out until it was getting dark.It was Miss Hawkins coming to my house for tea that day, and I remember my father coming out of the study to drink tea.We were all at home that night, my father read to us, and we played cards with my sisters.He goes to bed at ten o'clock. On Sunday morning, we went to church first.Afterwards, he went for a walk with his mother and my sister, and came home for dinner at 12:30.We usually dine at one o'clock on Sundays, but that day was brought forward because my father was going to Father Frances Peckman's in Boston after dinner and told him he had seen Dr. George Peckman on Friday.

On Monday, my father eats lunch at home.He gets home at 2 o'clock, which is when we eat on Sunday or weekdays.Father went out again after lunch. I saw him at tea at 4.30, but I don't think he was at home that afternoon.In the evening, Judge Fei came to visit and we played cards together.I go back to bed at 10 o'clock. On Tuesday, my father also had lunch at home, and stayed for a while after the meal.I can't recall that afternoon, but he must have been at home both at tea time and in the evening. I saw him between 10 and 11.We played cards by ourselves that night.There was fire in the direction of the Porter Hotel.I remember my father being at home when the fire alarm rang.

On Wednesday, at 11 a.m., my father came in from outside.I was reading in the dining room, and my father talked to me about the book for a while, and then went to cut the vines in the garden until two o'clock.He stayed home after lunch and took us to a party at Mr. Cunningham's house in Boston at 6:20.We left Mr. Cunningham's house at 10:30 and took the 11:00 bus back to Cambridge.When I went to bed that night he hadn't changed yet and was sitting there reading the newspaper. Thursday was Thanksgiving, and my father was home all the time, not in Boston.As far as I can remember, he was in the garden all morning and at home in the evening.He was home when I went to bed at 10 o'clock.

I see my father at lunch at two o'clock on Fridays.He went out about half an hour after dinner, returned in the evening, and stayed at home until his arrest. I have a married sister who lives in Faial, Azores, and we correspond frequently.A correspondence record was kept at home, and every time a letter was mailed, we noted the date and so on.It was this correspondence record that helped me recall many things. Professor West's other two daughters, Heliyet and Catherine, gave broadly similar testimony to the jury. Catherine, 17, remembers: "While we left Mr. Cunningham's house on Wednesday night, waiting for the shuttle bus at the coach station, I saw a notice posted on the wall offering a reward for Dr. Peckman. My sister pointed it out to my father. Father then read it aloud to us."

As for the human remains found in Professor West's laboratory, that is the next issue that the defendant is going to discuss. My name is Ebin N. Horsford, a lecturer in chemistry at Harvard University.Since Professor West's arrest, I have taken over the professor's chemistry class at the medical school, as well as his laboratory. It is very common to use human blood samples in chemical experiments.At the request of the police, I returned to his home in Cambridge Professor West's various linen items which he had left in his laboratory, including a blanket - perhaps more than one; two pairs of trousers, I recall; a coat or two ; a coverall; a light summer hat; I think it was delivered on January 1st.I was very curious and looked at the overalls very carefully, but I didn't find any blood...

There are about four or five bottles of nitric acid in the entire laboratory, which add up to no more than 1 to 1.5 gallons, or 13 to 16 pounds.If you want to use nitric acid to dissolve or corrode the human body, I estimate that the amount of nitric acid should be more than the weight of the human body.Moreover, a large iron container is also required.There are no iron utensils in his laboratory.