"It's so small and so barred that a child could not get through it." The Coroner scratched his head, and looked at Durban. "You were the confidential servant of the deceased," he said helplessly; "perhaps you can explain?" "I can explain nothing," said Durban promptly, and quite at his ease; "certainly I was Mr. Alpenny's servant, but he made no confidant of me. I took letters to the London office, but what was in them I never knew. I was cook and general servant--that is all." "You were often in the counting-house?" "I was never in the counting-house in my life, sir. Mr. Alpenny would not allow either Miss Hedge or myself to enter." "Humph!" said the Coroner again; "the whole mystery seems to centre round the counting-house. Had Mr. Alpenny enemies?" "The usual sort a money-lender is bound to have," said Durban, with a shrug. "People sometimes came and called him names; and he told me that many borrowers objected to the high interest he charged." "Did the deceased ever give you to understand that his life was in danger?" "Never. He appeared quite happy in his own way." "Was he expecting any one on the night he was murdered?" "I cannot say. He sent me to town with the letter, and I was to come back next morning--which," added the witness pointedly, "I did." "Mr. Alpenny did not expect to be killed?" "No. He would have taken some precautions had he thought that, as he feared death." After this several jurymen asked questions, and the Coroner cross-examined the half-caste. But he could tell nothing likely to lead to a discovery of the assassin. He simply declared that he was not in his late master's confidence, and knew nothing: that he had gone to town on the night of the murder, and had only learned of it through Mrs. Snow. The Coroner and, incidentally, Inspector Jones were annoyed; they had quite counted on a solution of the mystery when Durban was examined. But he could tell nothing, and they saw no reason to doubt his evidence. Beatrice was called as the final witness, and told very much the same story as she had related to the sergeant. Only on this occasion she stated the time when she had returned. The Coroner asked her how she knew that she had entered at nine, whereupon she detailed the episode of the fallen watch. "I am sure that when I knocked it down, it stopped at nine," she said; "at that hour I returned." "Why did you not go in and see Mr. Alpenny?" "In the first place, I was worn out," said the witness; "in the second, there was no light in the window of the counting-house; and in the third, I found the note left by Mr. Alpenny, which I handed to the sergeant. And in the fourth place," added Beatrice, before the Coroner could make an observation, which he seemed inclined to do, "I saw the assassin!" Everyone was startled, and a confused murmur filled the room. "You saw the assassin?" said the Coroner, aghast.