The Juror: "Do you think, Mr. Coroner, that the evidence on the point of time is reliable?"
The Coroner: "As reliable as the evidence of witnesses on other points."
The Juror: "It is uncorroborated."
The Coroner: "So is the evidence of Dr. Pye, as Mr. Reginald Boyd remarked."
The Juror: "So is Mr. Reginald Boyd's evidence."
The Coroner: "Exactly." (To Mrs. Death.) "I have no further questions to ask you."
CHAPTER XLVIII.
[THE CORONER'S SUMMING-UP.]
"We have now," said the Coroner, addressing the jury, "arrived at the end of the inquiry, so far as the examination of witnesses is concerned, and the duty devolves upon you of carefully considering the evidence, and of giving your verdict. At the opening of this inquiry I made a strong appeal to you to keep an open mind, and not to be influenced by the rumours and theories which have been freely broached by press and public. It is in this way that the interests of justice will be best served. The case is one of the gravest import, and your task one of unusual difficulty. For this reason I feel it my duty to address you at greater length than is usual in inquiries of this nature.
"There are leading points in the case which we may take as established beyond dispute. One is that a murder has been committed, a murder of extreme brutality, and distinguished by features of extreme cunning. Another, that the man murdered is Mr. Samuel Boyd. Another, that the murder was committed on the night of the 1st or the 2nd of March.