Sammy bent forward, pushed the paper nearer to this pool of light,
smoothed it and read:
"'Thames-side Mystery
"'A Coroner's jury at C--, a 'village' on the south bank of the
Thames, not a hundred miles below Gravesend--'"
"Seems a lot of mystery about it already," observed Polkinghorne.
"Don't they give the name of the village?"
"No; they just call it 'C--,' and, what's more, they put 'village'
into inverted commas. Don't know why: but there's a hint at the
end."
"Proceed."
Sammy proceeded.
"'--Was engaged yesterday in holding an inquest on the body of an
unknown man, found lying at highwater mark in a creek some way
below the village. A local constable had discovered the body:
but neither the officer who attended nor the river police could
afford any clue to the deceased's identity. Medical evidence
proved that death was due to drowning, although the corpse had
not been long immersed: but a sensation was caused when the
evidence further disclosed that it bore an incised wound over
the left breast, in itself sufficient to cause death had not
suffocation quickly supervened.
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