"It seems evident," said the Coroner, thoughtfully, "that some intruder entered Miss Carrington's room, at or near one o'clock. That this intruder in some manner induced Miss Carrington to swallow the poison, whether conscious of her act or not. That the intruder subsequently, and for some reason, placed the snake round the neck of the victim, and, later still, brutally gave her a stunning blow with the black-jack which was found, and thereby fractured her skull. Granting these assumptions, can you, Miss Stuart, give us any information that would lead to discovery of the hand that wrought this havoc?" "Not any," and Pauline raised her great eyes a moment to Scofield's face and slowly dropped them again. "Then can you not express an opinion or suggest a theory that might account for such strange happenings, at least, in part?" "No," said Pauline, slowly; "I have no idea, nor can I imagine why my aunt should be so elaborately arrayed and seated in an easy chair in front of her mirror. It is contrary to all her customs or habits." "Could she have been killed first and could the jewels and adornments have been added afterward?" asked the Coroner of the doctors. "No," replied Dr. Moore; "the whole condition of the body and clothing make such a theory practically impossible." "Quite impossible," added Dr. Stanton; "and, too, what would be the sense of such a proceeding?" "We are establishing the facts of the proceedings, not the sense of them," returned the Coroner, a little testily, for he was at his wits' end even to make a beginning in this strange case. "At least," he went on, "we have the facts and the approximate time of the crime; have you, Miss Stuart, any suspicion of who the murderer can be?" The question was shot out suddenly. If its intent was to startle the witness, it certainly succeeded. Pauline Stuart turned even whiter than she had been, and she caught her breath quickly and audibly as she flashed a frightened glance at Gray Haviland. It was by no means an accusing glance, though many who saw it, eager for a direction in which to cast their suspicions, took it for such. But Pauline controlled herself immediately. "Certainly not," she said coldly. "That is, I can have no suspicion of the murderer's identity. It was, of course, a midnight intruder, of the criminal class. I have no individual acquaintances who use or possess the weapon that was employed in this crime." "The black-jack is an auxiliary only. The poison may have been administered by one not versed in the ways of professional criminals. You admit that, I suppose?" "It is no doubt true," said Pauline, icily, "that poison may be given by a person not belonging to the criminal classes. I fail to see, however, how that fact affects the matter in hand."