Dr. Burrows received this statement with a grunt of dissent, but the arrival of his dogcart put a stop to further discussion.

Thorndyke was not subpoenaed for the inquest.  Dr. Burrows and the sergeant having been present immediately after the finding of the body, his evidence was not considered necessary, and, moreover, he was known to be watching the case in the interests of the accused.  Like myself, therefore, he was present as a spectator, but as a highly interested one, for he took very complete shorthand notes of the whole of the evidence and the coroner’s comments.

I shall not describe the proceedings in detail.  The jury, having been taken to view the body, trooped into the room on tiptoe, looking pale and awe-stricken, and took their seats; and thereafter, from time to time, directed glances of furtive curiosity at Draper as he stood, pallid and haggard, confronting the court, with a burly rural constable on either side.

The medical evidence was taken first.  Dr. Burrows, having been sworn, began, with sarcastic emphasis, to describe the condition of the lungs and liver, until he was interrupted by the coroner.

“Is all this necessary?” the latter inquired.  “I mean, is it material to the subject of the inquiry?”

“I should say not,” replied Dr. Burrows.  “It appears to me to be quite irrelevant, but Dr. Thorndyke, who is watching the case for the defence, thought it necessary.”

“I think,” said the coroner, “you had better give us only the facts that are material.  The jury want you to tell them what you consider to have been the cause of death.  They don’t want a lecture on pathology.”

“The cause of death,” said Dr. Burrows, “was a penetrating wound of the chest, apparently inflicted with a large knife.  The weapon entered between the second and third ribs on the left side close to the sternum or breast-bone.  It wounded the left lung, and partially divided both the pulmonary artery and the aorta—­the two principal arteries of the body.”

“Was this injury alone sufficient to cause death?” the coroner asked.

“Yes,” was the reply; “and death from injury to these great vessels would be practically instantaneous.”

“Could the injury have been self-inflicted?”

“So far as the position and nature of the wound are concerned,” replied the witness, “self-infliction would be quite possible.  But since death would follow in a few seconds at the most, the weapon would be found either in the wound, or grasped in the hand, or, at least, quite close to the body.  But in this case no weapon was found at all, and the wound must therefore certainly have been homicidal.”

“Did you see the body before it was moved?”

“Yes.  It was lying on its back, with the arms extended and the legs nearly straight; and the sand in the neighbourhood of the body was trampled as if a furious struggle had taken place.”