"Well, I won't insist on that at this point. But I would like to understand whether, if I require it, you will furnish this information?"
"Certainly. Only I would rather not disturb them unnecessarily."
Her manner not only profoundly affected the coroner; it soon softened the prejudices of the jury, although four of them were immediate friends and neighbors of Kitsong. They all were manifestly astonished at the candor of her replies.
The coroner himself rose and solemnly disclosed the corpse. "Do you recognize this man?" he asked.
She paled and shrank from the face, which was brutal even in death, but answered, quietly, "I do."
"Did you know him when alive?"
"I did not."
This answer surprised both the coroner and his jury.
"Your stepfather testified that he came to your home."
"So he did. But I refused to see him. My stepfather met him outside the door. I never spoke to him in my life."