When Kitty had ended her evidence and was stepping down, she caught
the eye of Vandeloup, who was looking at her keenly. She met his gaze
defiantly, and he smiled meaningly at her. At this moment, however,
Kilsip bent forward and whispered something to the Coroner, whereupon
Kitty was recalled.
Q. You were an actress, Miss Marchurst?
A. Yes. I was on tour with Mr Theodore Wopples for some time.
Q. Do you know a drama called ‘The Hidden Hand’?
A. Yes--I have played in it once or twice.
Q. Is there not a strong resemblance between your story of this crime
and the drama?
A. Yes, it is very much the same.
Kilsip then gave his evidence, and deposed that he had examined the
ground between the window, where the hand was alleged to have appeared,
and the garden wall. There were no footmarks on the flower-bed under the
window, which was the only place where footmarks would show, as the lawn
itself was hard and dry. He also examined the wall, but could find no
evidence that anyone had climbed over it, as it was defended by broken
bottles, and the bushes at its foot were not crushed or disturbed in any
way.
Dr Chinston was then called, and deposed that he had made a post-mortem
examination of the body of the deceased. The body was that of a woman of
apparently fifty or fifty-five years of age, and of medium height; the
body was well nourished. There were no ulcers or other signs of disease,
and no marks of violence on the body. The brain was congested and soft,
and there was an abnormal amount of fluid in the spaces known as the
ventricles of the brain; the lungs were gorged with dark fluid blood;
the heart appeared healthy, its left side was contracted and empty, but
the right was dilated and filled with dark fluid blood; the stomach was
somewhat congested, and contained a little partially digested food; the
intestines here and there were congested, and throughout the body the
blood was dark and fluid.
Q. What then, in your opinion, was the cause of death?
A. In my opinion death resulted from serous effusion on the brain,
commonly known as serous apoplexy.
Q. Then you found no appearances in the stomach, or elsewhere, which
would lead you to believe poison had been taken?
A. No, none.
Q. From the post-mortem examination could you say the death of the
deceased was not due to some narcotic poison?
A. No: the post-mortem appearances of the body are quite consistent with
those of poisoning by certain poisons, but there is no reason to suppose
that any poison has been administered in this case, as I, of course,
go by what I see; and the presence of poisons, especially vegetable
poisons, can only be detected by chemical analysis.
Q. Did you analyse the contents of the stomach chemically?
A. No; it was not my duty to do so; I handed over the stomach to the
police, seeing that there is suspicion of poison, and thence it will go
to the Government analyst.