"Have you ever seen Mark Ablett?"

"Once or twice, sir."

"Was it he?"

"I never really got a good look at him, sir, what with his collar
turned up and the scarf and all. But directly I heard of the sad
affair, and that Mr. Ablett was missing, I said to Mrs. Borden,
'Now I wonder if that was Mr. Ablett I saw at the station?' So
then we talked it over and decided that I ought to come and tell
Inspector Birch. It was just Mr. Ablett's height, sir."

Antony went on with his thoughts ....

The Coroner was summing up. The jury, he said, had now heard all
the evidence and would have to decide what had happened in that
room between the two brothers. How had the deceased met his
death? The medical evidence would probably satisfy them that
Robert Ablett had died from the effects of a bullet-wound in the
head. Who had fired that bullet? If Robert Ablett had fired it
himself, no doubt they would bring in a verdict of suicide, but
if this had been so, where was the revolver which had fired it,
and what had become of Mark Ablett? If they disbelieved in this
possibility of suicide, what remained? Accidental death,
justifiable homicide, and murder. Could the deceased have been
killed accidentally? It was possible, but then would Mark Ablett
have run away? The evidence that he had run away from the scene
of the crime was strong. His cousin had seen him go into the