[CHAPTER X]
A CHANCE WHISPER
The Coroner, a stolid old country doctor of sixty, with a ruddy face, shrewd eyes, and a beard which would have done credit to a Christmas card Santa Claus, opened the proceedings after the jury had inspected the corpse. His few brief remarks regarding the nature of the death, and the heinousness of the crime, introduced fussy Inspector Tick, with a sheaf of notes, dealing with up-to-date evidence.
Tick described the appearance of the dead man, described the state of the room, hinted at the open window, and laid before the jury the deadly assegai, with which the death wound had, in all human probability, been inflicted. Then the Inspector reverted to the appearance of the man in grey at the Savoy Hotel, under the name of Alfred Osip, and related what Dr. Jerce had said about the struggle on the terrace. Afterwards he mentioned the finding of the envelope containing the representation of the purple fern, and the discovery by Miss Baird of the gold box. He finished by again drawing the attention of the jury to the fact of the open window, and to the finding of the dead man by Chalks. Not being an orator, Inspector Tick spoke with hesitation, and set forth his facts dryly; but these were so interesting, that the lack of ornamentation was not apparent.
Mrs. Dumps was the first witness called by the Inspector, and she deposed, in a shrill voice and with many words, that Alfred Osip--so the man in grey called himself--came to the Savoy Hotel, and had paid for bed, breakfast, and dinner. After making inquiries about the inhabitants of Crumel, and especially about those in the deceased's house, "The Laurels," on the plea that he thought of settling in the town, Mr. Osip had departed, and had never returned. There was nothing in Osip's talk, declared Mrs. Dumps, which gave her any hint that he contemplated murder. He had not reappeared at the Savoy Hotel.
There was nothing further to be gained from Mrs. Dumps, so she was requested to stand aside, which she did unwillingly enough, as she liked the publicity of her position. Dr. Jerce followed next, and described how the man in grey--presumably Alfred Osip--had searched him on the terrace of The Laurels, and explained that he probably wanted the letter given to witness by the sick man in Tea Street, Whitechapel. Jerce also stated that the letter had been handed by him to the Scotland Yard authorities in London, and they had made inquiries, the result of which would be explained to the jury by Mr. Sims, a detective now present. The Coroner asked a few questions regarding the deceased's illness, and the open window; all of which Jerce answered in detail. He explained the cause of the disease, as gathered from the post-mortem examination, and the reason why the window had been left open by Wentworth and closed by himself. Afterwards, Jerce deposed as to the cause of death, which took place from Horran having been stabbed to the heart--apparently during his sleep, said the witness--by an assegai, which was produced by Inspector Tick. The murder, according to the condition and stiffness of the body, must have taken place between the hours of one and two o'clock in the morning. The doctor finally stated that he had been a life-long friend of the deceased and never knew him to have any enemies.
Dr. Wentworth's evidence was much the same as that of Jerce. He held to fresh air, although Dr. Jerce preferred the patient to have warmth, and so had opened the window just before he left the deceased at eight o'clock in the evening. The deceased was fractious and uneasy on that evening, but had assigned no reason for such uneasiness, which witness took to be connected with his mysterious illness. That illness had now been explained by the post-mortem examination. Samuel Chalks deposed to being the valet of Mr. Henry Horran, and stated that at the request of the deceased he had retired to bed, although instructed to sit up by Dr. Jerce. But that deceased had been so angry, the witness declared that he would have obeyed the doctor's orders; as it was, he judged it best to humour his master, lest worse should happen. The window was certainly open when he left the room, as witness had not touched it, according to his custom, when it was set ajar by Dr. Wentworth at eight o'clock. Witness had not taken any notice of the arms on the walls on that evening, and so could not say if the assegai was in its place. He never saw it about the room, until he found it on the floor, and Mr. Horran dead in bed, with a wound in his breast.
Coroner: "Did deceased notice the open window?"
Witness: "No! Sometimes the window was open and sometimes shut. Mr. Horran never troubled about it in any way."
Coroner: "Had you any suspicion that deceased wished you to leave him that night in order to see someone?"