The story was initially published as "Traitor's Hands" in Flynn's, a weekly pulp magazine, in the edition of 31 January 1925.
[1] In 1933, the story was published for the first time as "The Witness for the Prosecution" in the collection The Hound of Death that appeared only in the United Kingdom.
Unaware that he was a married man, Miss French made him her principal heir, casting suspicion on Leonard.
The original short story ended abruptly with the major twist—Romaine's revelation that Leonard Vole was in fact guilty.
This remained the standard production format until Sarah Phelps' 2016 television version, which restored the original ending but changed the fates of other characters.