y before it was removed from the house?"

"Yes, sir; in so important a matter, I wished to have my judgment
confirmed."

"And these physicians were----"

"Dr. Campbell, of 110 East ---- Street, and Dr. Jacobs, of ----
Lexington Avenue."

"Are these gentlemen here?" inquired the Coroner of an officer who stood
near.

"They are, sir."

"Very good; we will now proceed to ask one or two more questions of this
witness. You told us that even had the woman been but a few minutes dead
when she received these contusions, the floor would have been more or
less deluged by her blood. What reason have you for this statement?"

"This; that in a few minutes, let us say ten, since that number has been
used, the body has not had time to cool, nor have the blood-vessels had
sufficient opportunity to stiffen so as to prevent the free effusion of
blood."

"Is a body still warm at ten minutes after death?"

"It is."

"So that your conclusions are logical deductions from well-known facts?"

"Certainly, sir."

A pause of some duration followed.

When the Coroner again proceeded, it was to remark:

"The case is complicated by these discoveries; but we must not allow
ourselves to be daunted by them. Let me ask you, if you found any marks
upon this body which might aid in its identification?"

"One; a slight scar on the left ankle."

"What kind of a scar? Describe it."

"It was such as a burn might leave. In shape it was long and narrow, and
it ran up the limb from the ankle-bone."

"Was it on the right foot?"

"No; on the left."

"Did you call the attention of any one to this mark during or after your
examination?"

"Yes; I showed it to Mr. Gryce the detective, and to my two coadjutors;
and I spoke of it to Mr. Howard Van Burnam, son of the gentleman in
whose house the body was found."

It was the first time this young gentleman's name had been mentioned,
and it made my blood run cold to see how many side-long looks and
expressive shrugs it caused in the motley assemblage. But I had no time
for sentiment; the inquiry was growing too interesting.

"And why," asked the Coroner, "did you mention it to this young man in
preference to others?"

"Because Mr. Gryce requested me to. Because the family as well as the
young man himself had evinced some apprehension lest the deceased might
prove to be his missing wife, and this seemed a likely way to settle the
question."

"And did it? Did he acknowledge it to be a mark