time."




CHAPTER V

STILLMAN ASKS QUESTIONS


It wanted a few minutes of three o'clock when Ashton-Kirk, still
accompanied by the curious Pendleton, walked into the outer room of
the coroner's suite.

"Mr. Stillman will be here at any moment now," said Curran. Then
lowering his voice and making a short little gesture from the elbow,
he added: "These people are the ones he wanted to see."

As he and Pendleton sat down, Ashton-Kirk looked at the persons
referred to. The first was a thin, wiry little woman, unmistakably
Irish, cleanly dressed and with sharp, inquisitive eyes. Engaged in a
low-pitched conversation with her was a thick-necked German, heavy of
paunch and with a fat, red face. The third was a spectacled young Jew,
poring over a huge volume which he seemed to have brought with him. He
had a tremendous head of curling black hair; his clothing was shabby.
There was a rapt expression upon his face; plainly nothing existed for
him at that moment outside the pages of his book.

After a brief space, the coroner came in,