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13 Counsel took a look around the court for a moment. Then he said， “Do you mind， Mrs. Salmon， examining again the people in court？ No， not the prisoner. Stand up， please， Mr. Adams，” and there at the back of the court with thick stout body and muscular legs and a pair of bulging eyes， was the exact image of the man in the dock. He was even dressed the same—tight blue suit and striped tie.
14 “Now think very carefully， Mrs. Salmon. Can you still swear that the man you saw drop the hammer in Mrs. Parker’s garden was the prisoner—and not this man， who is his twin brother？”
15 Of course she couldn’t. She looked from one to the other and didn’t say a word. 16 There the big brute sat in the dock with his legs crossed， and there he stood too at the back of the court and they both stared at Mrs. Salmon. She shook her head.
17 What we saw then was the end of the case. There wasn’t a witness prepared to swear that it was the prisoner he’d seen. And the brother？ He had his own alibi too； he was with his wife.
18 And so the man was acquitted for lack of evidence. But whether if he did the murder and not his brother—he was punished or not， I don’t know. That extraordinary day had an extraordinary end. I followed Mrs. Salmon out of court and we got wedged in the crowd who were waiting， of course， for the twins. The police tried to drive the crowd away， but all they could do was keep the roadway clear for traffic. I learned later that they tried to get the twins to leave by a back way， but they wouldn’t. One of them—no one knew which—said， “I’ve been acquitted， haven’t I？” and they walked bang out of the front entrance. Then it happened. I don’t know how， though I was only six feet away. The crowd moved and somehow one of the twins got pushed on to the road right in front of a bus.
19 He gave a squeal like a rabbit and that was all； he was dead， his skull smashed just as Mrs. Parker’s had been. Divine vengeance？ I wish I knew. There was the other Adams getting on his feet from beside the body and looking straight over at Mrs. Salmon. He was crying， but whether he was the murderer or the innocent man nobody will ever be able to tell. But if you were Mrs. Salmon， could you sleep at night？