"Had you locked the door into the main hall?"
"No, sir; that door wasn't usually locked in the evening. I don't know who locked it, but I opened it for her and then locked it again."
"Are you positive there was no one else in those rooms at that time?"
"Yes, sir, pretty sure," replied Hardy, with a smile, "for I looked them over uncommon thorough last night. I thought at first that I smelled smoke, like something burning, but I looked around careful and everything was all right."
At this point Mr. Whitney held a whispered consultation with the coroner for a moment.
"You say," continued the latter, "you thought you smelled something burning; could you state what the material seemed to be?"
"Well, sir, I thought it was like paper burning; but I must have been mistaken, for the papers on the table was all right and there was nothing in the fireplace."
"Did you see or hear anything unusual about the place at any time last night?"
"No, sir."
For a moment the coroner was occupied with a slip of paper which had been passed to him through a number of hands; then he said,—