Q. “What do you deduce from that, doctor?”
A. “Nothing definite can be deduced from that except that it was an upward blow.”
Q. “Would a man stabbing himself inflict such a wound?”
A. “Yes, that might be. A man stabbing himself might either strike downward, or, if he knew a little of anatomy, take the more effective way of striking upward.”
Q. “In your opinion, how long after the wound was inflicted did death occur?”
A. “I should say instantaneously, or at the most a matter of five or ten seconds.”
Coroner Holbein beamed.
“That will be all,” he said. “Call Miss Jane Mayfield.”
Dressed in black, the gaunt housekeeper was ushered to the witness chair. She appeared bewildered as the eyes of the crowded room centered on her. Coroner Holbein, clearing his throat, assumed the manner of a friend of the weak and a staff for the unfortunate. After a series of perfunctory questions he arrived at the day of the mystery.
Q. “And now, Jane, tell us simply and in your own way what happened that afternoon and night.”