“You know him, then?” said the master of the workhouse.
“I did know him years ago, but never dreamed it would end thus.”
“There will be an inquest,” said the workhouse official.
Peace nodded.
“If my attendance is required you know where to find me—at the ‘Carved Lion.’”
And, with these words, he left the chamber of death.
An inquest was held on the body, and the conclusion arrived at was that the unfortunate man had stumbled, and fallen head foremost on a heap of granite. Blood was found on one of the pieces of granite.
He had evidently afterwards crawled to the end of the lane, where it was assumed that he had sunk from exhaustion and loss of blood. He must have remained in a helpless and senseless condition for some hours.
Death resulted from injuries to the head and exposure, joined to a shattered constitution, the effects of drinking to excess.
The jury returned a verdict of “Accidental death.”