Was this so in the case of the man before them?
They were faced by a curious situation.

So far as the trial was concerned, the prisoner himself was the only person who could tell them who he was, what was his past, and, if he committed the crime, what was--the motive of it: out of what spirit--of revenge, or hatred--the dead man had been sent to his account.

Probably in the whole history of crime there never was a more peculiar case.

Even himself the prisoner's counsel was dealing with one whose life was hid from him previous to the day the murdered man was discovered by the roadside.
The prisoner had not sought to prove an alibi; he had done no more than formally plead not guilty.

There was no material for defence save that offered by the prosecution.