Читать книгу The Riddle of the Rail - Fred M. White - Страница 5

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The local superintendent regarded Trumble with a puzzled expression. It was quite evident that he did not know what the latter had in the back of his mind.

"I am afraid I don't follow you, sir," he said.

"Well, it's this way," Trumble explained. "Let us take it for granted, for the moment, that this is a case of murder. Mind you, I am not going so far as to say definitely that it is, but permit me to assume it. If I am right, then the murderer, whoever he is, has committed something quite novel in the way of a crime. He has drugged his victim first and suffocated him afterwards with a view to deceiving the doctor who handles the case. It is hardly probable that the criminal knows anything about medical jurisprudence; indeed, it would be a very strange coincidence if he did. He is probably miles away now, hugging himself with the delusion that the verdict will be one of 'found dead.' He will naturally jump to the conclusion that he has deceived the doctors, and that though the case is mysterious enough there is no evidence of first-hand crime about it. But if it comes out at the inquest that the man was drugged and then suffocated and that my evidence proved such a contention up to the hilt, then the man for whom we are looking will be put upon his guard. But why should we go out of our way to do so?"

"Meaning that the inquest is to be a sort of blind?" the superintendent asked. "Deceiving the public."

"Well, you can call it that if you like. But I don't think we can work this little scheme without the aid of the coroner. You see, what I want at the first hearing is that there should be nothing but formal evidence tendered. Then you, Mr. Superintendent, can formally apply for a fortnight's adjournment in the interests of justice. Perhaps you will be good enough to attend to that."

"Yes, that's the idea," Norcliff interpolated. "You see the coroner and tell him all that we have discovered. Explain to him exactly what Mr. Trumble has in the back of his mind, and ask him to see that nothing beyond the mere formalities crops up. You never know what questions some fool of a juryman is likely to ask. Nothing more for the moment, is there, Trumble?"

Dr. Trumble, having said his say, intimated that he was perfectly satisfied with the position of affairs as far as it had gone, and with that the conference broke up. The two men from London went back to their hotel to dine, leaving local matters in the hands of the superintendent. There was nothing to do now but wait for the inquest, which was held, in due course, two days later in the Town Hall, and, as Norcliff predicted, caused a great sensation. Long before the proceedings commenced the building was packed and the press table full to overflowing.

"What did I tell you?" Norcliff muttered, as he and his companion made their way to the place allotted to them. "I told you we should have all the reporters in the country down here, and you can see for yourself that I am correct."

It was even as Norcliff had said. The railway mystery had gripped the public imagination and the cheap press was making the most of it. There was not much to go upon so far, but it was wonderful what they had done with the small amount of material at their disposal. They had gathered here now, from all over England, looking forward eagerly to sensational details in which they were going to be disappointed. It was not for any of them to know that Superintendent Grierson had seen the coroner and explained to him the exact position of affairs. And he, of course, had been only too willing to fall in with the suggestion that had emanated from Scotland Yard.

He took his seat, after the jury was sworn, and immediately got to business. First came the two railwaymen who had found the body, who had very little to say that was not already public property, and after them came the police surgeon, who had officially made a post-mortem. Even he had very little to disclose.

"I was called in, in the course of my duty," he said glibly, "to examine the body of deceased. So far as I can ascertain, the dead man came to a natural end. I am not saying I am right, sir, because the case presents peculiar features. I should say the dead man was about 50 years of age and there was nothing about the organs of the body to point to any particular cause of death."

"They were normal and healthy?" the coroner asked,

"Exactly, sir. The heart was sound and so were the arteries. In fact, quite a healthy subject, and, moreover, a man who has taken great care of himself, which was proved by the state in which I found both kidneys and liver."

'"Then you think it is a case of natural death?" the coroner asked.

"On the face of things, I should say yes, sir. But there are peculiar features of the case which I should prefer not to go into for the moment. If you will allow me to say so—"

"Oh, quite, quite," the coroner said a little anxiously. "You found no symptoms of poisoning, for instance?"

"Not the slightest trace. I may say that I had assistance in making my post-mortem from a distinguished colleague who happens to be here at the present moment, but whose name I need not mention, because he has nothing whatever to do with the case. Neither of us could find the slightest trace of poison, but, at the same time, we came to the conclusion that though the deceased seemed to be normal in every way he was not unacquainted with drugs."

"Which suggests an overdose," the coroner put in.

"It may be that," the witness said. "The deceased might have taken more than he was accustomed to, and if he had turned over on his face, as indeed he was discovered, with his head half buried in a basket of produce, then he might have suffocated. But, of course, all this is mere surmise on my part."

"Then you don't think it is a case of murder?" a juryman asked.

"I decline to express a definite opinion at the moment," the witness said cautiously. "But it is just possible that deceased was alive when he found his way into the railway waggon. I have had no time to apply certain tests which were suggested to me by my colleague, but perhaps, as the inquest is pretty sure to be adjourned, I shall be in a position to speak more freely at the next hearing."

The last few words were a plain hint to the coroner, and he promptly took them as such.

"Thank you, doctor," he said. "I don't think we shall want to trouble you any further. Call the superintendent."

The superintendent stepped up to the table and gabbled off his evidence in a professional manner. But nothing that he could say served to throw further light on the mystery.

"It is all very strange," the coroner murmured. "There has been a good deal of publicity given to this case; in fact, it seems to have attracted attention all over the country. This being so, it is remarkable that nobody has come forward to identify deceased. Here is a man who is apparently of the professional or prosperous business type, well dressed and bearing on his body certain valuables, who, apparently, seems to have no one who knows him and is without relatives. Of course, a good many people don't read the papers, but still, considering that the man had evidently travelled by the train between Brendham and Westport—"

"Interrupting you for the moment, sir," Norcliff said, "I would respectfully remind you that that has yet to be proved. To begin with, I have ascertained that the fruit train, or, at any fate, that particular fruit waggon, was made up at Brendham in the broad daylight. Therefore, the subject of this inquiry could not have started from that town. Moreover, those particular waggons were shunted on more than one occasion between Brendham and Westport, and twice, if not more, they were side-tracked during the hours of the night. That being the case—"

"Yes, yes, I quite see your point," the coroner said. "The mistake is mine. But still I cannot understand why it is that no one has come forward to identify the body. Am I to understand that no papers were found on it?"

"So the superintendent tells me," Norcliff said. "There was not a single scrap of writing of any sort. Moreover, there was no name or initial on the man's handkerchief or on any of his underclothing. I have looked in vain for the tab at the back of the coat collar, where the tailor usually has his name and place of business. That may have been carefully removed, but again I am speaking entirely without book."

"But the buttons on the clothing?" the coroner hinted.

"They were all plain buttons. And so were the buttons on the dead man's trousers, which very often bear the tailor's imprint."

"From all of which it would appear that deceased was taking special steps to preserve his anonymity."

"Possible," Norcliff agreed, "But so far I have seen nothing to lead me to believe so. What we have to do now is to trace the various stopping places of the train, so as to narrow down the two or three spots in which the dead man could have entered the train, or his body was carried there. You have had the medical evidence, sir, which does not throw much light upon the mystery, and, if I may say so, I fail to see the object of carrying this inquiry any further until I have had an opportunity for closer investigation."

"Which means that you apply for an adjournment?"

"That is right, sir," Norcliff said. "Would you be good enough to put it off till, say, this day fortnight?"

The coroner rose from his seat with alacrity.

"Very well," he said. "I quite agree with you, Inspector Norcliff. The case is adjourned till this day fortnight, at half-past ten in the morning, when all witnesses will be present."

With that, the disappointed audience filed out and the small army of press reporters turned disconsolately away. For a minute or two Norcliff and the rest of them lingered behind after the coroner had gone, and talked the situation over together, though there was very little in what had happened to take hold of.

"I suppose it's up to you now, sir," Superintendent Grierson said. "I don't see how I can do anything more for the present."