ourse I am, my noble Gorgio! He could patter the calo jib with the
best of 'um. He know'd lots wot the Gentiles don' know, an' he had the
eagle beak an' the peaked eye. Oh, tiny Jesus was a Romany chal, or may
I die for it!'

'Do you know who killed him?' asked Tinkler, abruptly.

'No, lovey. 'Tweren't one of us, tho' you puts allays the wust on our
backs. Job! dog do niver eat dog, as I knows, dearie.'

'He left your camp at nine o'clock?'

'Thereabouts, my lamb; jes' arter nine!'

'Was he sober or drunk?'

'Betwix' an' between, lovey; he cud walk straight an' talk straight, an'
look arter his blessed life.'

'Humph! seems as though he couldn't,' said Mr Inspector, dryly.

'Duvel! that's a true sayin',' said Mother Jael, with a nod, 'but I don'
know wot cum to him, dearie.'

At the inquest Mother Jael was called as a witness, and told the jury
much the same story as she had related to Tinkler, with further details
as to the movements of the gipsies on that night. She declared that none
of the tribe had left the camp; that Jentham had gone away alone,
comparatively sober; and that she did not hear of his murder until late
the next day. In spite of examination and cross-examination, Mother Jael
could give no evidence as to Jentham's real name, or about his past, or
why he was lingering at Beorminster. 'He cum'd an' he go'd,' said
Mother Jael, with the air of an oracle, and that was the extent of her
information, delivered in a croaking, shuffling, unconvincing manner.

The carter, Giles Crake, who had found the body, was a stupid yokel
whose knowledge was entirely limited to his immediate surroundings.
Perched on his cart, he had seen the body lying in a ditch half full of
water, on the other side of an earthen mound, which extended along the
side of the main road. The spot where he discovered it, was near
Beorminster, and about five miles from the gipsy camp. The man had been
shot through the heart; his pockets had been emptied and turned inside
out; and evidently after the murder the robber had dragged the body over
the mound into the ditch. Giles had not touched the corpse, being
fearful of getting into trouble, but had come on at once to Beorminster
to inform the police of his discovery.

It was Dr Graham who had examined the body when first discovered, and
according to his evidence the man had been shot through the heart
shortly before ten o'clock on Sunday night. The pistol had been fired so
close that