The Coroner--an elderly doctor with a short temper; caused by the
unrealized ambition of a country practitioner--opened the proceedings by
a snappy speech, in which he set forth the details of the crime in the
same bold fashion in which they had been published by the newspapers.
A plan of the Sailor's Rest was then placed before the jury, and the
Coroner drew the attention of the twelve good and lawful men to the fact
that the bedroom occupied by deceased was on the ground floor, with a
window looking out on to the river, merely a stone-throw away.
"So you will see, gentlemen," said the Coroner, "that the difficulty of
the assassin in leaving the hotel with his plunder was not so great as
has been imagined. He had merely to open the window in the quiet hours
of the night, when no one was about, and pass the mummy through to his
accomplice, who probably waited without. It is also probable that a boat
was waiting by the bank of the river, and the mummy having been placed
in this, the assassin and his friend could row away into the unknown
without the slightest chance of discovery."
Inspector Date--a tall, thin, upright man with an iron jaw and a severe
expression--drew the Coroner's attention to the fact that there was no
evidence to show that the assassin had an accomplice.
"What you have stated, sir, may have occurred," rasped Date in a
military voice, "but we cannot prove the truth of your assumption, since
the evidence at our disposal is merely circumstantial."
"I never suggested that it was anything else," snapped the Coroner. "You
waste time in traversing my statements. Say what you have to say, Mr.
Inspector, and produce your witnesses--if you have any."
"There are no witnesses who can swear to the identity of the murderer,"
said Inspector Date coldly, and determined not to be ruffled by the
apparent antagonism of the Coroner. "The criminal has vanished, and no
one can guess his name or occupation, or even the reason which led him
to slay the deceased."
Coroner: "The reason is plain. He wanted the mummy."
Inspector: "Why should he want the mummy?"
Coroner: "That is what we wish to find out."
Inspector: "Exactly, sir. We wish to learn the reason why the murderer
strangled the deceased."
Coroner: "We know that reason. What we wish to know is why the murderer
stole the mummy. And I would point out to you, Mr. Inspector, that, as
yet, we do not even know the sex of the assassin. It might be a woman
who murdered the deceased."
Professor Braddock, who was seated near the door of the coffee-room,
being even more irascible than usual, rose to contradict.
"There isn't a scrap of evidence to show that the murderer was a woman."