"Gentlemen" said he "are there any more witnesses that you would wish me to call?"
"No sir," was Foreman Critchell's emphatic reply.
"That is all the testimony that we have at present," resumed the coroner, "I can furnish you with a good deal of corroborative testimony if you wish me to."
"I think the jury has heard enough corroborative testimony. If there are no witnesses on any new points we would like to retire."
It was five o'clock when Foreman Critchell led the little procession down stairs to the coroner's office. A Deputy Sheriff and Deputy Coroner went along as a body guard. The silence that had prevailed in the court room was broken by a loud hum; while everybody commenced at once to speculate on the probable verdict and the people it would implicate. Six o'clock came, seven, eight, nine, and still no word from the jury room. But the crowd kept its seats or its standing room with examplary patience. Shortly after nine supper was sent in to the jurors, and the rumor went out that they were unable to reach a conclusion. This, however, as was to be developed an hour later, was wide of the mark.
THE VERDICT.
One hour later, just as the hands of the clock were pointing to ten, Coroner Hertz was summoned to the jury-room. He was absent but a few minutes, and when he returned Foreman Critchell and his associates filed in after him. A death-like stillness prevailed as Critchell commenced to read the verdict. When he reached that point which recommended that
Alexander Sullivan, the lawyer,
P. O'Sullivan, the Lake View iceman,
Daniel Coughlin, the detective, and
Frank Woodruff, alias Black,
be held to the grand jury as principals in or accessories to the foul crime, there was considerable stir, coupled with exclamations of satisfaction, and no little confusion was caused by a number of those present scampering from the room to spread the news around the city. The verdict, as taken from the official document, was word for word as follows:
We, the undersigned, a jury appointed to make inquiry according to law as to how the body viewed by us came to his death, state from the evidence: