«I confess to my share of ordinary human curiosity, Mr. Coroner.»
Laughter from a medical student at the back of the room.
«On arriving at the flat I found the deceased lying on his back in the bath. I examined him, and came to the conclusion that death had been caused by a blow on the back of the neck, dislocating the fourth and fifth cervical vertebr? bruising the spinal cord and producing internal haemorrhage and partial paralysis of the brain. I judged the deceased to have been dead at least twelve hours, possibly more. I observed no other sign of violence of any kind upon the body. Deceased was a strong, well-nourished man of about fifty to fifty-five years of age.»
«In your opinion, could the blow have been self-inflicted?»
«Certainly not. It had been made with a heavy, blunt instrument from behind, with great force and considerable judgment. It is quite impossible that it was self-inflicted.»
«Could it have been the result of an accident?»
«That is possible, of course.»
«If, for example, the deceased had been looking out of window, and the sash had shut violently down upon him?»
«No; in that case there would have been signs of strangulation and a bruise upon the throat as well.»
«But deceased might have been killed through a heavy weight accidentally falling upon him?»