“We have, sir,” answered the foreman.
Then the coroner in a few words briefly stated the occasion for the hearing. The first witness summoned was Doctor Davis. After being duly sworn, he seated himself in the witness chair facing the jury. In a few clear words he stated that he had been telephoned for by Wilkins, and had come at once. On his arrival he had been shown into the private office.
“Please state to the jury the exact position in which you found Mrs. Trevor.”
“Mrs. Trevor was crouching on one knee directly inside the safe, with her left hand pressing against the door-jamb, so—” and he illustrated his statement. “From the condition of her body I judged she had been dead about eight or nine hours. The pupils of her open eyes were very much dilated.”
One of the jurymen leaned forward and opened his lips as if to speak, then drew back. The coroner noticed his hesitancy.
“Do you wish to question the witness?” he asked.
“I—I,” he was obviously confused by the attention drawn to him. “Doctor, I always thought that when people died their eyes shut up.”
“On the contrary,” answered Doctor Davis, dryly. “Their eyes usually have to be closed by the undertaker.”
“Did you order the body removed, Doctor?” asked the coroner, resuming the examination.
“Yes. I thought that Mrs. Trevor had been asphyxiated in the air-tight safe. It was not until her clothes had been removed that I discovered the small wound a little to one side under her left breast. At the post-mortem we found no other cause for death, Mrs. Trevor having been perfectly sound physically and mentally.”