Coroner: "Did you leave deceased in a bad temper?"
Witness: "So bad that I was sorry--in the interests of peace--that I had paid my visit."
Coroner: "Did Mr. Horran express any fear of being killed?"
Witness: "Not a word."
Coroner: "Did he touch on the fact of the Purple Fern murders?"
Witness: "No, sir. He never mentioned them. I only conversed with him for twenty minutes, and then it was about my own business."
The Coroner suggested that Mr. Barras should be called, but the lawyer had not come down from town, as he was away on a holiday and would not return for a few days. He had been telegraphed for to Paris, where he was spending his holiday. The Inspector pointed out that any evidence given by Mr. Barras would not bear on the crime, but with this the Coroner disagreed. "Mr. Barras," said the Coroner, "might be able to explain why he lent Mr. Clarke money without the leave of the deceased."
Inspector Tick: "Possibly, sir; but that would have no bearing on the case in hand. We are here, sir, not to search into deceased's private affairs, but to learn why he was killed, and who killed him."
Coroner: "An inquiry into the past life of deceased may reveal why he was murdered."
Again the Inspector disagreed with this, and again the Coroner objected; so there was a wrangle, which lasted for some minutes. Finally, Inspector Tick, being the more obstinate of the two, it was agreed that the inquest should not be postponed, as the Coroner had suggested, for the presence of the lawyer, Barras.