“What time elapsed between the hour when you heard the noise and the discovery of the tragic occurrence?” the Coroner asked.
“About half an hour.”
A dozen other questions upon points of detail were put to me, but they were of no importance. Neither was the evidence given by Warr or any other of the witnesses, except perhaps that of Dr Pink, who, in his sharp way and using many medical terms which conveyed no meaning to the majority of those in the room, explained that the result of the post-mortem was that the man had been fatally stabbed.
“The instrument used was not an ordinary knife,” the doctor continued. “From the appearance of the wound it must have been inflicted by a long thin triangular instrument almost like a skewer. With a sharp point this would penetrate the man’s clothing much more easily than a knife or dagger, which requires considerable force to drive to the heart. My colleague, Doctor Newman, agrees with me that such an instrument as was used could be used fatally with very little force. It was, at the point, almost as sharp as a needle, and each of the three sides were keen-edged as razors—a terrible weapon. I don’t think it was much more than a quarter of an inch across at its widest part.”
The public heard this and sat mystified.
“Then it would appear very much as though the crime were a premeditated one,” remarked the Coroner, looking up when he had finished laboriously writing down the depositions with his scratchy quill.
“Undoubtedly,” replied the doctor. “The man is a complete stranger, and no doubt kept an appointment at that spot and was done to death. The steel inflicted a mortal wound, and he must have expired in a few moments.”
“Any questions to ask the doctor?” inquired the Coroner turning to the twelve villagers who sat in a row in their Sunday clothes.
There was no response, therefore Redway was called, and the public, to whom he was well-known, were instantly on the alert.
“Philip Redway, inspector, Northamptonshire Constabulary,” he commenced, giving his evidence with the business-like air of police officials. “I was called by Constable Knight of Sibberton at five AM on the 18th of August and drove back with him to a spot in Sibberton Park where the deceased had been discovered. I examined the ground carefully and found certain marks of footprints, casts of which I have taken. I afterwards saw the body of the deceased, but do not identify him. His description has been circulated throughout the Kingdom, but up to the present no one has recognised him. I have also had the body photographed.”