occupied by deceased was on the ground floor, with a window
looking out on to the river, merely a stone-throw away.

"So you will see, gentlemen," said the Coroner, "that the
difficulty of the assassin in leaving the hotel with his plunder
was not so great as has been imagined. He had merely to open the
window in the quiet hours of the night, when no one was about,
and pass the mummy through to his accomplice, who probably waited
without. It is also probable that a boat was waiting by the bank
of the river, and the mummy having been placed in this, the
assassin and his friend could row away into the unknown without
the slightest chance of discovery."

Inspector Date--a tall, thin, upright man with an iron jaw and a
severe expression--drew the Coroner's attention to the fact that
there was no evidence to show that the assassin had an
accomplice.

"What you have stated, sir, may have occurred," rasped Date in a
military voice, "but we cannot prove the truth of your
assumption, since the evidence at our disposal is merely
circumstantial."

"I never suggested that it was anything else," snapped the
Coroner. "You waste time in traversing my statements. Say what
you have to say, Mr. Inspector, and produce your witnesses--if
you have any."

"There are no witnesses who can swear to the identity of the
murderer," said Inspector Date coldly, and determined not to be