London (England) -- Fiction; Love stories; Mystery fiction
"Then you are quite unable to account for death?"
"Utterly. Several of the circumstances are suspicious of foul play, but
we have found not the slightest trace of it. The marks upon the elbows
are very curious indeed--circular white scars--but they have, of course,
nothing to do with Mr Morgan's sudden death," I recollected the portion
of charred paper which I had picked up, the discovery of the
glove-button, and its connection with the tiny scrap of black chiffon.
Yes, there was no doubt that he had had a visitor between the time that
Ash went out to meet the mysterious woman at King's Cross and the moment
of his death.
"The affair seems enveloped in a certain amount of mystery," observed
the Coroner to the jury after the doctor had signed his depositions.
"You have the whole of the evidence before you--that of the valet, the
friend of deceased who discovered him, the police who have searched the
chambers, and the doctor who made the post-mortem. In summing up the
whole we find that the unfortunate gentleman died mysteriously--very
mysteriously--but to nothing the medical men have discovered could they
assign the cause of death. It would certainly appear, from the fact
that a portion of a woman's dress-trimming was discovered in the dead
man's clenched hand, that he had a secret visitor, and that she desired
to escape while he wished her to remain. Yet there was no sign of a
struggle in the rooms, and no one saw any person enter or leave. Again,
we have it in evidence that deceased, at the hour of his death, sent a
message to some unknown lady whom his valet had instructions to meet on
the railway platform at King's Cross. This meeting had undoubtedly been
pre-arranged, and the lady expected the unfortunate gentleman to keep
it. Perhaps watching from a distance, and not seeing Mr Morgan, she
did not approach the clock, and hence the valet did not give her the
mysterious blank and unaddressed letter. After this, the suggestion
naturally occurs whether or not this same lady visited Mr Morgan in the
absence of his valet. She may have done, or may not. But in this Court
we have nothing to do with theories. It is your duty, gentlemen of the
jury, to say whether this gentleman actually died from natural causes,
or whether by suicide or foul means. We must recollect that the police
have discovered what may eventually throw some light on the affair,
namely, the fact that a cheque is missing from deceased's cheque-book,
leaving the counterfoil blank. By means of that cheque it is just
possible that the identity of the unknown person who visited Mr Morgan
may be established. I think, gentlemen," continued the Coroner, after a
pause, "I think you will agree with me that in these strange
circumstances it would be unwise to go further into the matter. By
exposing all the evidence the police have in their possession we might
possibly defeat our inquiry; therefore I ask you whether you will return
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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