"Then to what do you attribute death?" inquired the coroner.
"Well, I came to the conclusion that the young man had been suddenly asphyxiated, but how, is a perfect mystery," responded the doctor. "It would be difficult to asphyxiate any one in the open air without leaving any mark of strangulation."
"I take it that you discovered no mark?"
"Not the slightest."
"Then you do not think death was due to natural causes?"
"It was due to asphyxiation—a rapid, almost instantaneous death it must have been—but it was not due to natural causes."
"Briefly put, then, you consider that the deceased was the victim of foul play?"
"Yes. The young man was murdered, without a doubt," replied the doctor, slowly. "But so ingeniously was the crime committed, that no trace of the methods by which death was accomplished has been left. The assassin, whoever he was, must have been a perfect artist in crime."
"Why do you think so?" asked the coroner.