“No. I examined the water from the stomach very carefully with that question in view, but there was no trace of alcohol--or, indeed, of anything else. It was simple ditch-water. As the point is important I have preserved it, and----” here the witness produced a paper parcel which he unfastened, revealing a large glass jar containing about a quart of water plentifully sprinkled with duck-weed. This he presented to the coroner, who waved it away hastily and indicated the jury; to whom it was then offered and summarily rejected with emphatic head-shakes. Finally it came to rest on the table by the place where I was sitting with my colleague, Dr. Thorndyke, and our client, Mr. Wilfred Pedley. I glanced at it with faint interest, noting how the duck-weed plants had risen to the surface and floated, each with its tassel of roots hanging down into the water, and how a couple of tiny, flat shells, like miniature ammonites, had sunk and lay on the bottom of the jar. Thorndyke also glanced at it; indeed, he did more than glance, for he drew the jar towards him and examined its contents in the systematic way in which it was his habit to examine everything. Meanwhile the coroner asked: “Did you find anything abnormal or unusual, or anything that could throw light on how deceased came to be in the water?” “Nothing whatever,” was the reply. “I found simply that deceased met his death by drowning.” Here, as the witness seemed to have finished his evidence, Thorndyke interposed. “The witness states, sir, there were no definite bruises. Does he mean that there were any marks that might have been bruises?” The coroner glanced at Dr. Parton, who replied: “There was a faint mark on the outside of the right arm, just above the elbow, which had somewhat the appearance of a bruise, as if the deceased had been struck with a stick. But it was very indistinct. I shouldn’t like to swear that it was a bruise at all.” This concluded the doctor’s evidence, and when he had retired, the name of our client, Wilfred Pedley, was called. He rose, and having taken the oath and given his name and address, deposed: “I have viewed the body of deceased. It is that of my brother, Cyrus Pedley, who is forty-three years of age. The last time I saw deceased alive was on Tuesday morning, the day before the body was found.” “Did you notice anything unusual in his manner or state of mind?” The witness hesitated but at length replied: “Yes. He seemed anxious and depressed. He had been in low spirits for some time past, but on this occasion he seemed more so than usual.” “Had you any reason to suspect that he might contemplate taking his life?” “No,” the witness replied, emphatically, “and I do not believe that he would, under any circumstances, have contemplated suicide.” “Have you any special reason for that belief?”