“‘And Dr. Stapylton,’ said Dr. Earnshaw at last, almost under his breath. “‘You are quite sure?’ asked the coroner. “‘Absolutely positive. I spoke to them both, and they spoke to me.’ “‘What did you say?’ “‘Oh, the usual, “Hello, Stapylton,” to which he replied, “Hello!” I then said “Good-night” to them both, and Miss Elliott also said “Good-night.” I saw her face more clearly then, and thought that she looked very tearful and unhappy, and Stapylton looked ill-tempered. I wondered why they had chosen that unhallowed spot for a midnight walk.’ “‘And you say the hour was——?’ asked the coroner. “‘Ten minutes to twelve. I looked at my watch as I crossed the foot-bridge, and had heard a quarter to twelve strike five minutes before.’ “Then it was that the coroner adjourned the inquest. Dr. Stapylton’s attendance had become absolutely imperative. According to Dr. Earnshaw’s testimony, he had been with deceased certainly a quarter of an hour before she met her terrible death. Fiske had seen them together ten minutes later; she was then crying bitterly. There was as yet no actual charge against the fashionable and rich doctor, but already the ghostly bird of suspicion had touched him with its ugly wing.” Chapter III “As for the next day,” continued the man in the corner after a slight pause, “I can assure you that there was not a square foot of standing room in the coroner’s court for the adjourned inquest. It was timed for eleven a.m., and at six o’clock on that cold winter’s morning the pavement outside the court was already crowded. As for me, I always manage to get a front seat, and I did on that occasion, too. I fancy that I was the first among the general public to note Dr. Stapylton as he entered the room accompanied by his solicitor, and by Dr. Kinnaird, with whom he was chatting very cheerfully and pleasantly. “Mind you, I am a great admirer of the medical profession, and I think a clever and successful doctor usually has a most delightful air about him—the consciousness of great and good work done—with profit to himself—which is quite unique and quite admirable. “Dr. Stapylton had that air even to a greater extent than his colleague, and from the affectionate way in which Dr. Kinnaird finally shook him by the hand, it was quite clear that the respected chief of the Convalescent Home, at any rate, refused to harbour any suspicion of the integrity of its Treasurer. “Well, I must not weary you by dwelling on the unimportant details of this momentous inquest. Constable Fiske, who was asked to identify the gentleman in evening dress whom he had seen with the deceased at a few minutes before twelve, failed to recognise Dr. Stapylton very positively: pressed very closely, he finally refused to swear either way. Against that, Dr. Earnshaw repeated clearly and categorically, looking his colleague straight in the face the while, the damnatory evidence he had given the day before.