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.
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