"No sir. It might've bin anything. The place was burned out so bad there wasn't enough left to show how it started."
The coroner turned to the jury.
"Have you any questions to ask this witness?"
Hardly giving them any time to answer, he turned again to the sergeant.
"Next witness, please."
"Algernon Sidney Fairweather."
Fairweather went up on to the platform and took the oath. The coroner's manner became less peremptory. He clearly regarded it as a pleasant relief to be able to examine a witness of his own class.
"You are the owner of Whiteways, Mr Fairweather?"
"I am."
"The deceased was a guest in your house on the night of the seventeenth?"