The witness's answer

An original fiction passage set in the nineteenth century.

Mercy had been told that one word would be sufficient. “Yes,” Mrs Calder had said on the previous evening, pressing each finger carefully into a white glove. “Nothing beyond it.”

Now, in the magistrate’s room, the clerk asked whether Mercy had seen Daniel take the sealed packet from the writing desk. Mercy looked towards Mrs Calder. The same white glove rested upon the rail, smooth and still as folded paper.

“Well?” said the magistrate.

Mercy’s fingers worried at the seam of her sleeve. “I saw him carry it,” she said.

Daniel raised his head. A movement passed through the room, and the clerk lowered his pen to the page.

“From the writing desk?” the magistrate asked.

“No, sir. From the hall table. Mrs Calder had put it there.” Mercy released her sleeve. “She called Daniel back and instructed him to deliver it to her brother at the inn. I heard the instruction.”

Mrs Calder’s gloved hand closed around the rail. “The girl is confused.”

The clerk paused. Mercy repeated the instruction, word for word and without looking aside. The pen drew a line through what had already been written. By the time the clerk began again, Mrs Calder’s glove was deeply creased, while Mercy’s hands lay open and motionless before her.

Analyse how the writer uses language and structure to present Mercy’s answer, including how its significance changes as the passage develops. Support your answer with references to the passage.