"Had your Uncle any enemies that you know of?"
"I do not know exactly what you mean by enemies," replied Miss Pembroke; "owing to his unfortunate disposition, my uncle had no friends, but I do not know of anyone whom I would consider an aggressive enemy.
"Your uncle went to his room, you say, at about ten o'clock?"
"Yes, that was his usual hour for retiring."
"And after you yourself retired, did you hear anything in the night—any noise, that might have seemed unusual?"
"N—n—no," came a hesitating answer, after a considerable pause. Surely, no one could doubt that this girl was not telling all she knew! The evidence that she gave was fairly forced from her; it came hesitatingly, and her statements were unconvincing. She needed help, she needed counsel; she was too young and inexperienced to cope with the situation in which she found herself. But though I judged her thus leniently, the Coroner did not, and speaking almost sharply, he said:
"Consider carefully, Miss Pembroke. Are you sure you heard no noise in the night?"
Her calm seemed to have returned. "In an apartment house," she said, "there are always unexplainable noises. It is impossible to tell whether they come from the halls, the other apartments or the elevator. But I heard no noise that I considered suspicious or of evil import. Nothing to indicate what,—what must have taken place." She shuddered and buried her face in her hands as if to shut out an awful, imaginary sight.
"Then when you last saw or heard your uncle he was leaving you in a fit of rage?"
"Yes."