Tick described the appearance of the dead man, described the state of the room, hinted at the open window, and laid before the jury the deadly assegai, with which the death wound had, in all human probability, been inflicted8. Then the Inspector reverted9 to the appearance of the man in grey at the Savoy Hotel, under the name of Alfred Osip, and related what Dr. Jerce had said about the struggle on the terrace. Afterwards he mentioned the finding of the envelope containing the representation of the purple fern, and the discovery by Miss Baird of the gold box. He finished by again drawing the attention of the jury to the fact of the open window, and to the finding of the dead man by Chalks. Not being an orator11, Inspector Tick spoke12 with hesitation13, and set forth14 his facts dryly; but these were so interesting, that the lack of ornamentation was not apparent.
Mrs. Dumps was the first witness called by the Inspector, and she deposed15, in a shrill16 voice and with many words, that Alfred Osip--so the man in grey called himself--came to the Savoy Hotel, and had paid for bed, breakfast, and dinner. After making inquiries17 about the inhabitants of Crumel, and especially about those in the deceased's house, "The Laurels18," on the plea that he thought of settling in the town, Mr. Osip had departed, and had never returned. There was nothing in Osip's talk, declared Mrs. Dumps, which gave her any hint that he contemplated19 murder. He had not reappeared at the Savoy Hotel.
There was nothing further to be gained from Mrs. Dumps, so she was requested to stand aside, which she did unwillingly20 enough, as she liked the publicity21 of her position. Dr. Jerce followed next, and described how the man in grey--presumably Alfred Osip--had searched him on the terrace of The Laurels, and explained that he probably wanted the letter given to witness by the sick man in Tea Street, Whitechapel. Jerce also stated that the letter had been handed by him to the Scotland Yard authorities in London, and they had made inquiries, the result of which would be explained to the jury by Mr. Sims, a detective now present. The Coroner asked a few questions regarding the deceased's illness, and the open window; all of which Jerce answered in detail. He explained the cause of the disease, as gathered from the post-mortem examination, and the reason why the window had been left open by Wentworth and closed by himself. Afterwards, Jerce deposed as to the cause of death, which took place from Horran having been stabbed to the heart--apparently during his sleep, said the witness--by an assegai, which was produced by Inspector Tick. The murder, according to the condition and stiffness of the body, must have taken place between the hours of one and two o'clock in the morning. The doctor finally stated that he had been a life-long friend of the deceased and never knew him to have any enemies.
Dr. Wentworth's evidence was much the same as that of Jerce. He held to fresh air, although Dr. Jerce preferred the patient to have warmth, and so had opened the window just before he left the deceased at eight o'clock in the evening. The deceased was fractious and uneasy on that evening, but had assigned no reason for such uneasiness, which witness took to be connected with his mysterious illness. That illness had now been explained by the post-mortem examination. Samuel Chalks deposed to being the valet of Mr. Henry Horran, and stated that at the request of the deceased he had retired22 to bed, although instructed to sit up by Dr. Jerce. But that deceased had been so angry, the witness declared that he would have obeyed the doctor's orders; as it was, he judged it best to humour his master, lest worse should happen. The window was certainly open when he left the room, as witness had not touched it, according to his custom, when it was set ajar by Dr. Wentworth at eight o'clock. Witness had not taken any notice of the arms on the walls on that evening, and so could not say if the assegai was in its place. He never saw it about the room, until he found it on the floor, and Mr. Horran dead in bed, with a wound in his breast.
Coroner: "Did deceased notice the open window?"
Witness: "No! Sometimes the window was open and sometimes shut. Mr. Horran never troubled about it in any way."
Coroner: "Had you any suspicion that deceased wished you to leave him that night in order to see someone?"
Witness: "No! He was swearing in bed when I left him."
Coroner: "Did you lock the door of the bedroom?"
Witness: "No! The door of the bedroom was never locked."
A Juryman: "Did you hear any noise outside, which led you to believe that someone might be lurking23 about?"
Witness: "No, sir!"
Coroner: "And you knew nothing of this purple fern business?"
Witness: "No! Miss Baird never told me, nor did Dr. Jerce. If I had known I should have stopped in the room, notwithstanding master's bad temper."
Coroner: "Mr. Horran was not alarmed, or apprehensive24?"
Witness: "Not in the least. He was in a bad temper, and wished me to leave him, so I did."
Coroner: "Do you know why the deceased was in a bad temper?"
Witness: "The Rev10. Mr. Clarke had called in the afternoon, and after he left, Mr. Horran was very cross. As he was good-tempered up till Mr. Clarke's visit, I suppose Mr. Clarke put him out in some way."
The Coroner gave instructions that Mr. Clarke should be called as a witness, since this had not been done. Meanwhile, Clarice Baird deposed that the deceased was her guardian25, and had been ill with some mysterious disease for ten years, more or less. Usually, he was good tempered. She did not see him on the evening of the crime, as he refused to receive her, being out of temper. Dr. Jerce had told her that Mr. Clarke had seen deceased, and Dr. Jerce was vexed26, as he did not wish deceased, in his bad state of health, to be worried with business. Witness also stated how she had found the gold box, and had handed it to Dr. Jerce, who had taken it, along with the picture of the Purple Fern and the letter given to him by the sick man of Tea Street, Whitechapel, to Scotland Yard. Deceased had seemed much agitated27 when he found the picture of the Purple Fern in the unaddressed envelope outside his window, but had never gone into details about the matter, and she had not found an opportunity of speaking to him on the subject. As a matter of fact, deceased had fallen asleep while talking of the picture of the fern, and witness had picked it up. Beyond that he was agitated, witness had no reason to believe that Mr. Horran expected to be murdered. Still, since the other seven deaths, connected with the Purple Fern, had always been preceded by the same warning, it was possible that Mr. Horran was in dread28 of a violent death. Witness also stated, that she had heard no noise or cry during the night, and, indeed, had known nothing of the crime, until Chalks, the valet, came up to lead her down to the scene of the tragedy. From the disposition29 of the bedclothes, she fancied that deceased must have been stabbed in his sleep, before he had time to wake or call out. Witness had told the valet to leave the room exactly as it was, when found by him, and had then sent for the police.
Coroner: "When you found the box, did you see deceased about it?"
Witness: "No, sir! Mr. Horran was asleep for hours and hours, and I had no opportunity."
Coroner: "Would you have done so had deceased been awake?"
Witness: "Certainly!"
Dr. Jerce, re-called, said that he had not related the finding of the gold box to deceased, since he was already in a state of nervous excitement, owing to the visit of Mr. Clarke. Witness intended to wait until Mr. Horran was more composed, and then it was his intention to tell him about the golden box, and about Osip--that is, such details as were in the letter given to him by the young man who died in Tea Street. Dr. Jerce stated that he had placed all evidence in the hands of the Scotland Yard authorities on the same night that he went up, and that he had intended to come down next day and relate everything to deceased, whom he hoped to find more composed. "But when I arrived at the Crumel railway station," ended witness, "I found that my poor friend had been murdered."
Mr. Clarke, hastily summoned from the vicarage, then put in an appearance, and stated that he had received money from Mr. Horran, through his
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