“You have, I believe,” said the coroner when the I preliminary questions had been answered, “made an examination of the body which is now lying in the mortuary?”

“Yes, I examined that body very thoroughly. It appears to be that of a strongly-built man about five feet ten inches in height. His age was rather difficult to judge, and I cannot say more than that he was apparently between forty and fifty, but even that is not a very reliable estimate. The body had been exposed to such intense heat that the soft tissues were completely carbonized, and, in some parts, entirely burned away. Of the feet, for instance, there was nothing left but white incinerated bone.”

“The jury, when viewing the body, were greatly impressed by the strange posture in which it lay. Do you attach any significance to that?”

“No. The distortion of the trunk and limbs was due to the shrinkage of the soft parts under the effects of intense heat. Such distortion is not unusual in bodies which have been burned.”

“Can you make any statement as to the cause of death?”

“My examination disclosed nothing on which an opinion could be based. The condition of the body was such as to obliterate any signs that there might have been. I assume that deceased died from the effects of the poisonous fumes given off by the burning celluloid — that he was, in fact, suffocated. But that is not properly a medical opinion. There is, however, one point which I ought to mention. The neck was dislocated and the little bone called the odontoid process was broken.”

“You mean, in effect,” said the coroner, “that the neck was broken. But surely a broken neck would seem to be a sufficient cause of death.”

“It would be in ordinary circumstances; but in this case I think it is to be explained by the shrinkage. My view is that the contraction of the muscles and the soft structures generally displaced the bones and broke off the odontoid process.”

“Can you say, positively, that the dislocation was produced in that way?”

“No. That is my opinion, but I may be wrong. Dr. Thorndyke, who examined the body at the same time as I did, took a different view.”

“We shall hear Dr. Thorndyke’s views presently. But doesn’t it seem to you a rather important point?”

“No. There doesn’t seem to me to be much in it. The man was alone in the house and must, in any case, have met his death by accident. In the circumstances, it doesn’t seem to matter much what the exact, immediate cause of death may have been.”

The coroner looked a little dissatisfied with this answer, but he made no comment, proceeding at once to the next point.

“You have given us a general description of the man. Did you discover anything that would assist in establishing his identity?”

“Nothing beyond the measurements and the fact that he had a fairly good set of natural teeth. The measurements and the general description would be useful for identification if there were any known person with whom they could be compared. They are not very specific characters, but if there is any missing person who might be the deceased, they might settle definitely whether this body could, or could not, be that of the missing person.”

“Yes,” said the coroner, “but that is of more interest to the police than to us. Is there anything further that you have to tell us?”

“No,” replied the witness, “I think that is all that I have to say.”

Thereupon, when the depositions had been read and signed the witness retired and his place was taken by Thorndyke.

“You examined this body at the same time as Dr. Robertson, I think?” the coroner suggested.

“Yes, we made the examination together, and we compared the results so far as the measurements were concerned.”

“You were, of course, unable to make any suggestion as to the identity of deceased?”

“Yes. Identity is a matter of comparison, and there was no known person with whom to compare the body. But I secured, and made notes of, all available data for identification if they should be needed at any future time.”

“It was stated by the last witness that there was a dislocation of the neck with a fracture of the odontoid process. Will you explain that to the jury and give us your views as to its significance in this case?”

“The odontoid process is a small peg of bone which rises from the second vertebra, or neck-bone, and forms a pivot on which the head turns. When the neck is dislocated, the displacement usually occurs between the first and the second vertebra, and then, in most cases, the odontoid process is broken. In the case of deceased, the first and second vertebrae were separated and the odontoid process was broken. That is to say that deceased had a dislocated neck, or, as it is commonly expressed, a broken neck.”

“In your opinion, was the neck broken before or after death?”

“I should say that it was broken before death; that, in fact, the dislocation of the neck was the immediate cause of death.”

“Do you say positively that it was so?”

“No. I merely formed that opinion from con sideration of the appearances of the structures. The broken surfaces of the odontoid process had been exposed to the fire for some appreciable time, which suggested that the fracture had occurred before the shrinkage. And then it appeared to me that the force required to break the process was greater than the shrinkage would account for. Still, it is only an opinion. Dr. Robertson attributed the fracture to the shrinkage, and he is as likely to be right as I am.”

“Supposing death to have been caused by the dislocation, what significance would you attach to that circumstance?”

“None at all, if the facts are as stated. If the man was alone in the house when the fire broke out, the exact cause of death would be a matter of no importance.”

“Can you suggest any way in which the neck might have been broken in the circumstances which are believed to have existed?”

“There are many possible ways. For instance, if the man was asleep and was suddenly aroused by the fire, he might have scrambled out of bed, entangled the bedclothes, and fallen on his head. Or again, he might have escaped from the bedroom and fallen down the stairs. The body was found in the cellar. There is no evidence as to where the man was when death took place.”

“At any rate, you do not consider the broken neck in any way incompatible with accidental death?”

“Not in the least; and, as I said before, Dr. Robertson’s explanation may be the correct one, after all.”

“Would you agree that, for the purposes of this inquiry, the question as to which of you is right is of no importance?”

“According to my present knowledge and belief, I should say that it is of no importance at all.”

This was the sum of Thorndyke’s evidence, and, when he had signed the depositions and returned to his seat, the name of Inspector Blandy was called; where upon that officer advanced to the table and greeted the coroner and the jury with his habitual benevolent smile. He polished off the preliminaries with the readiness born of long experience and then, having, by the coroner’s invitation, seated himself, he awaited the interrogation.

“I believe, Inspector,” the coroner began, “that the police are making certain investigations regarding the death of the man who is the subject of this inquiry. Having heard the evidence of the other witnesses, can you give us any additional facts?”

“Nothing very material,” Blandy replied. “The inquiries which we are making are simply precautionary. A dead man has been found in the ruins of a burnt house, and we want to know who that man was and how he came to be in that house, since he was admittedly not the tenant of the premises. As far as our inquiries have gone, they have seemed to confirm the statement of Mr. Green that the man was the one referred to by Mr. Haire as Cecil Moxdale. But our inquiries are not yet complete.”

“That,” said the coroner, “is a ge............