“Was there any reason why he should call for you at the Foreign Office and ask you to lunch with him? Was he in the habit of doing this?” inquired the Coroner.
“No; there seemed no reason, beyond the fact that he was compelled to come to town, and merely wanted to pass an idle hour away,” I said.
“Why did he go to London?”
“I have no idea what business took him there.”
“He never told you that he had any enemy, I suppose?” the official asked, with an air of mystery.
“Never. He was, on the contrary, most popular.”
“And no incident other than what you have related occurred at the Foreign Office? You are quite certain of this?”
For a moment I hesitated, half inclined to relate the whole story of the mysterious theft of the secret convention; but risking perjury rather than an exposure of facts that I saw must remain hidden, I answered as calmly as I could,—
“No other incident occurred.”
“Have you any reason to suspect that he was a victim of foul play?” the Coroner continued, looking at me rather suspiciously, I thought.