“Yes.”
“Very well then, gentlemen, the inquest is adjourned and I am sorry to have to ask you to attend here again next Tuesday at the same time. A formal reminder will be posted to you. I understand that there have been rumors in the city with regard to this unfortunate affair, and there have been one or two most improper references in the press. It is your plain duty to shut both your ears and your eyes until we meet again, and to take care that you come to the adjourned inquest with your minds a blank. There has been talk of foul play. We shall know nothing of that. The unfortunate girl met her death in circumstances that require further investigation. That is the sum of our knowledge at present. We shall meet again on Tuesday to consider the full evidence that will be put before us, and, under my guidance, you will then decide together what was the cause of her death. Thank you.”
A tall, gray-haired, full-faced man whom I hadn’t noticed before came and stood at the end of the table, facing the coroner. “I have a statement, sir, that I think it is my duty to make. It’s with regard to——”
“Excuse me,” the coroner interrupted, “but whoever you are I can allow no statement whatever to be made.”
“My name is Crawford and I am uncle to the deceased, and what I have to say may, I think, ha——”
“I am sorry, Mr. Crawford, but I really can not allow any statement whatever to be made. The jury must hear all the evidence in proper order and at the proper time. If you have any information you feel you ought to impart immediately, then it is your duty to report it to the police.”
“Can’t I——?”
“No, really you can’t.”
The florid-faced uncle retired. I liked the look of the man, jolly I thought, and I wondered what it was that he wanted to say. Then to my surprise, just as the coroner was gathering up his papers, and the jurors were pushing back their chairs, Kenneth jumped to his feet.
“May I ask, sir, how much longer we are to be detained?”