New Britain herald., 1927-05-09
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matter of questioning the willin
 witnesses. they kept a supervisio Of the affair in their own hand and made list Of the ones whon they wanted to talk with later. ]
 1t pleased the sister of the deat i man to feel that she was in charg
 of the solution of the mystesy o ! her brothers death, they wer' I willing 1t should he so. especial. 1 as 1t seemed to them that hell
 might come through just that ar rangement.
 1 And so the procedure continued
 One after another the voluble wit /, nesses were weighed and more ofteJ than not found wanting. ThCil stories were vague and uncertain their impressions were imaginative 1 and sometimes fictitious. thei1 i statements were contra dictory anG unverified.
 So. after mornings work 2 mere handful of witnesses had | been instructed to present them. selves that afternoon at the in. quest.
 It would not have been held that afternoon. but that Miss For som's peremptory orders could not he disregarded without ex- ceeding difficulty.
 Have the inquest she or dained. ''Then, if you don't get anywhere, you can always adjourn for further investigation"
 So 1t was set for two o'clock, and at that time the coroner's of- flee was filled to overflowing and many disappointed would-be audi tors were turned away.
 CHAPTER KY
 The first witness called was. of course, Doctor Manning.
 He testified that he was in the ocean for his daily saltwater bath. That he heard a commotion near him.
 Just what was the commo- tion?" the coroner asked. De scribe 1t, please
 "It's not easy to describe" Doc tor Manning said, thinking deeply. For the roar of the surf drowned most other noises or distorted them beyond discernment. But, as nearly as 1 can rccollect. ] heard two or three people scream in what seemed to me different way from the hilarious shouts Of the bathers. Then. as I looked toward the noise I heard. l saw two of the life guards swimming vigorously that way. They seemed to be intent on some errand, so l watched them. They went direct- ly toward the rope and diving be- meath the surf came up immedi- ately. bearing what seemed to be the unconscious body of a man. Though naturally somewhat inter- ested, I paid little attention to it.. But moment later one of the guards came down to the edge of the water and called out:
 
 herec'
 Realizing the need for imme- diate medical service. ] hurried to the beach and found the man who had been carried there wrapped in a blanket and lying on the sand. I saw at glance that he was dead. felt his heart and his pulse and then, assured that Hfe was entire ly extinct, I told them so.- and. as there was no further request for my services, l went back into the ocean. Then. after my bath, as l had a luncheon engagement, ] went away and did not return un- til late in the afternoon.
 Then the management of the hotel asked me for a certificate of death. This, of course, neccssi- tated more thorough examina- tion. and then I discovered that death had followed stab in the abdomen of the deceased man."
 With what sort of q weapon. Doctor Manning"" asked the coro- ner.
 ''So far as can judge it was a long sharp knife or dag ger. I should say knife because the incision that it made is wider at one end than nt the other. This incision is rather more than an inch, proving sharp instrument. whose blade was 8 little over an inch wide. The incision is a clean. straight cut, but one end of it IS perhaps an eighth of an inch and the other of no width at all. This shows apparently, blade like q knife blade. with only one cutting edge. Not like a dagger blade, u:hioh haS t,ro Sharn 1idnS V