I Spy , page 99 by Natalie Sumner Lincoln
<< Return to Title Details & Download100
to her?" calmly. "Quite true, I am."
Foster drew back. "I--I beg pardon," he stammered in some confusion. "I had no idea affairs had progressed so far--I am sorry I spoke as I did."
"You were but echoing what I hear on all sides," answered Miller bitterly.
"True," Foster nodded. "Kathleen's extraordinary silence, when by a few words she could explain what happened yesterday morning before her screams aroused the household, is causing unfavorable comment and unfortunate conjecture."
"The mystery will be explained this afternoon," and quiet confidence rang in Miller's pleasantly modulated tones. "Hello, I see some members of the Diplomatic Corps are present."
"And the so-called 'four hundred,'" growled Foster. The close atmosphere had started him coughing, and he scowled at Baron Frederic von Fincke who was seated near by. "Where is the jury?" he asked, as soon as the paroxysm of coughing was over.
"Viewing the body in that room." Miller indicated a closed door to his right. "The jury is sworn in there by the morgue master."
As he spoke the door opened and the six men, led by the morgue master, filed into the room and took their places, and the low hum of conversation died away as the coroner, stepping to the platform, stated briefly the reason for the inquest, and summoned Dr. Hall, of the Emergency Hospital, to the witness chair. He was quickly sworn by the morgue master, and in response to the coroner's question, stated that he had reached the Whitney residence shortly after eight o'clock Wednesday morning in answer to a telephone call.
"Tell the jury what you found on your arrival," directed the coroner.
"I was shown upstairs by the butler, whose incoherent remarks led me to suppose that someone was ill in the elevator. On entering it I found Mr. Spencer, whom I knew slightly, lying there dead."
"Did you make a thorough examination?"
"Only enough to prove that life was extinct. The butler informed me that my services were needed by Mis