er
cases which they mismanage from time to time.

"I said there were three persons who understood the gravity of the two
doctors' statements--the other two were, firstly, the detective who had
originally examined the railway carriage, a young man of energy and
plenty of misguided intelligence, the other was Mr. Hazeldene.

"At this point the interesting element of the whole story was first
introduced into the proceedings, and this was done through the humble
channel of Emma Funnel, Mrs. Hazeldene's maid, who, as far as was known
then, was the last person who had seen the unfortunate lady alive and
had spoken to her.

"'Mrs. Hazeldene lunched at home,' explained Emma, who was shy, and
spoke almost in a whisper; 'she seemed well and cheerful. She went out
at about half-past three, and told me she was going to Spence's, in St.
Paul's Churchyard, to try on her new tailor-made gown. Mrs. Hazeldene
had meant to go there in the morning, but was prevented as Mr. Errington
called.'

"'Mr. Errington?' asked the coroner casually. 'Who is Mr. Errington?'

"But this Emma found difficult to explain. Mr. Errington was--Mr.
Errington, that's all.

"'Mr. Errington was a friend of the family. He lived in a flat in the
Albert Mansions. He very often came to Addison Row, and generally stayed
late.'

"Pressed still further with questions, Emma at last stated that latterly
Mrs. Hazeldene had been to the theatre several times with Mr. Errington,
and that on those nights the master looked very gloomy, and was very
cross.

"Recalled, the young widower was strangely reticent. He gave forth his
answers very grudgingly, and the coroner was evidently absolutely
satisfied with himself at the marvellous way in which, after a quarter
of an hour of firm yet very kind questionings, he had elicited from the
witness what information he wanted.

"Mr. Errington was a friend of his wife. He was a gentleman of means,
and seemed to have a great deal of time at his command. He himself did
not particularly care about Mr. Errington, but he certainly had never
made any observations to his wife on the subject.

"'But who is Mr. Errington?' repeated the coroner once more. 'What does
he do? What is his business or profession?'

"'He has no business or profession.

"'What is his occupation, then?

"He has no special occupation. He has ample private means. But he has a
great and very absorbing hobby.'

"'What is that?'

"'He spends all his time in