Part 14 (2/2)
”No,” answered the man.
”And as far as you are aware there was no reason for Mr Morgan taking his life?”
”None. He was exceedingly merry all the morning, whistling to himself, and once or twice joking with me when I waited on him at breakfast.”
The doctor was then called, and having given his name and stated his professional qualifications, said--
”When I saw the deceased he was dead. I should think about half an hour had elapsed since respiration ceased. The room appeared in perfect order, and there was no sign whatever of foul play. On making a cursory examination I found one of the hands contracted, the fingers bent in towards the palm. This morning I made a post-mortem at the mortuary, and on opening the hand I discovered this within it,” and from his vest pocket he took a piece of white tissue paper, which he opened.
Every neck was craned in Court to catch sight of what had been discovered, and I standing near him saw as he handed it to the Coroner that it was a tiny piece of soft black chiffon about half an inch square, evidently torn from a woman's dress.
The Coroner took it, and then remarked--
”This would appear to prove that the deceased had a visitor immediately before his death, and that his visitor was a lady.”
”That is what I surmise,” observed the doctor. ”My examination has proved one or two things.” There was a stir in Court, followed by a dead and eager silence.
”I found no external mark of violence whatsoever,” the doctor continued in a clear tone, ”and the clenched hand with the piece of muslin within did not point to death from any unnatural cause. The only external marks were two very curious ones which are entirely unaccountable. On each elbow I found a strange white scar, the remains of some injury inflicted perhaps a year ago. The eyes, too, were discoloured in a manner altogether unaccountable. On further examination, I found no trace whatever of any organic disease. The deceased was a strong athletic man, and was suffering from no known malady which could have resulted fatally.”
”Did you make an examination of the stomach?” inquired the Coroner.
”I did. Suspecting suicide by poison, I made a most careful a.n.a.lysis, a.s.sisted by Dr Leverton, of King's College Hospital, but we failed to discover any trace of poison whatsoever.”
”Then you cannot a.s.sign any cause for death in this instance?” observed the Coroner, looking up sharply in surprise.
”No,” answered the doctor. ”I cannot.”
”Have you a theory that deceased died from the effects of poison?”
”Certain appearances pointed to such a conclusion,” the doctor responded. ”Personally, before making the post-mortem, I suspected prussic acid; but all tests failed to detect any trace of such deleterious matter.”
”Of course,” said the Coroner, who was also a medical man of wide experience, clearing his throat, as he turned to the jury, ”the presence of poison can be very easily discovered, and the fact that the a.n.a.lyses have failed must necessarily add mystery to this case.”
”Having failed to find poison,” continued the doctor, ”we naturally turned our attention to other causes which might result fatally.”
”And what did you find?” inquired the Coroner eagerly, his pen poised in his hand.
”Nothing!” the witness answered. ”Absolutely nothing.”
”Then you are quite unable to account for death?”
”Utterly. Several of the circ.u.mstances are suspicious of foul play, but we have found not the slightest trace of it. The marks upon the elbows are very curious indeed--circular white scars--but they have, of course, nothing to do with Mr Morgan's sudden death,” I recollected the portion of charred paper which I had picked up, the discovery of the glove-b.u.t.ton, and its connection with the tiny sc.r.a.p of black chiffon.
Yes, there was no doubt that he had had a visitor between the time that Ash went out to meet the mysterious woman at King's Cross and the moment of his death.
”The affair seems enveloped in a certain amount of mystery,” observed the Coroner to the jury after the doctor had signed his depositions.
”You have the whole of the evidence before you--that of the valet, the friend of deceased who discovered him, the police who have searched the chambers, and the doctor who made the post-mortem. In summing up the whole we find that the unfortunate gentleman died mysteriously--very mysteriously--but to nothing the medical men have discovered could they a.s.sign the cause of death. It would certainly appear, from the fact that a portion of a woman's dress-tr.i.m.m.i.n.g was discovered in the dead man's clenched hand, that he had a secret visitor, and that she desired to escape while he wished her to remain. Yet there was no sign of a struggle in the rooms, and no one saw any person enter or leave. Again, we have it in evidence that deceased, at the hour of his death, sent a message to some unknown lady whom his valet had instructions to meet on the railway platform at King's Cross. This meeting had undoubtedly been pre-arranged, and the lady expected the unfortunate gentleman to keep it. Perhaps watching from a distance, and not seeing Mr Morgan, she did not approach the clock, and hence the valet did not give her the mysterious blank and unaddressed letter. After this, the suggestion naturally occurs whether or not this same lady visited Mr Morgan in the absence of his valet. She may have done, or may not. But in this Court we have nothing to do with theories. It is your duty, gentlemen of the jury, to say whether this gentleman actually died from natural causes, or whether by suicide or foul means. We must recollect that the police have discovered what may eventually throw some light on the affair, namely, the fact that a cheque is missing from deceased's cheque-book, leaving the counterfoil blank. By means of that cheque it is just possible that the ident.i.ty of the unknown person who visited Mr Morgan may be established. I think, gentlemen,” continued the Coroner, after a pause, ”I think you will agree with me that in these strange circ.u.mstances it would be unwise to go further into the matter. By exposing all the evidence the police have in their possession we might possibly defeat our inquiry; therefore I ask you whether you will return a verdict that the death of this gentleman has resulted from natural causes, or whether you think it wiser to return an open verdict of `Found dead,' and leave all further inquiries in the hands of the police.”
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