When Stephens comes back to the cell he jumps to a conclusion and the whole machinery blindly goes by his assumption without even checking the identity of the injured ‘McLeery’. Qoes this show how hasty conjectures can prevent one from seeing the obvious? How is the criminal able to predict such negligence?
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Answer:
This shows that Evans the criminal had enough time to study the behavioral patterns of the jail officers and to plan his strategy well. When Stephens comes back to the cell he jumps to a conclusion and the whole machinery blindly goes by his assumption without even checking the identity of the injured 'McLeery'.
Evans was a smart and perceptive criminal. He had assessed the weaknesses of the jail officers successfully. Stephen was new recruit to the prison set up. When he saw the injured Mcleery in the cell he was so overwhelmed that he did not even check who he really was and neither did anyone else. It did not occur to anyone to question how there could be two persons there one in the cell and the other who had been escorted out by Stephens. It was for this very reason that the friend of Evans, who, posing as the Governor on the phone, had directed Stephens that he himself should escort the parson out, when the exam was finished. The Governor and his officers, in effect actually led Evans out of the prison. The question paper was left behind to mislead the Governor. This shows that Evans the criminal had enough time to study the behavioral patterns of the jail officers and to plan his strategy well.
On his return, Stephens saw McLerry bleeding profusely in the cell. Presuming the man he had escorted to the gate to be Evans and not McLeery, he raised an alarm. None of the official staff tried to verify whether this McLeery was the real one.