Old Spicer glanced at the dead body on the sofa.
"She was a very stout woman," he remarked, "but, I believe, was not in good health."
"No," answered the coroner, "she has been troubled of late years with a severe asthmatic attack. She was rarely seen outside of this basement, for a flight of stairs was a terror to her."
"She suffered from rheumatism, I have been told."
"Yes, fearfully; it settled in her limbs, and caused a lameness, which was relieved somewhat by the assistance of the black walking-stick you see by her side."
"But she did go out sometimes?"
"Only at rare intervals, and then always in a carriage."
"She was quite well off—rich, in fact?"
"Of late years she has been increasing her wealth pretty fast. She owns this house, and the large brick block directly back of it, which fronts on York Street."
"She was mighty close-fisted," observed Stricket.