Captain: How long was he ashore?
Witness: About an hour sir; he came back at three o'clock; he seemed upset, and asked me to get him a glass of brandy.
Captain: Do you know what time he went to bed?
Witness: No sir.
Captain: Was there any blood about the cabin?
Witness: No sir; just a little oozing from his breast.
The doctor was next called upon to give his evidence, and deposed that he had examined the body of Lionel Ventin, deceased. It was that of a man of thirty-seven, or thereabouts, well nourished; very little food in the stomach, but a faint spirituous odour, which showed that the deceased must have been drinking previously to his death. The deceased had died from a stab inflicted by a stiletto, which had penetrated the heart. The stiletto was in the wound when the body was discovered.
Captain: At what time do you think the crime was committed?
Doctor: That is difficult to say; it was quite cold when I felt it, at seven this morning. I should say at least eight or nine hours.
Captain: From the way the wound was inflicted, did the idea of suicide occur to you?