He once
or twice observed to me that he thought Dorcas must have made an
error in fixing the time of the quarrel. He suggested to her
repeatedly that it was 4.30, and not 4 o'clock when she had heard
the voices.
But Dorcas was unshaken. Quite an hour, or even more, had
elapsed between the time when she had heard the voices and 5
o'clock, when she had taken tea to her mistress.
The inquest was held on Friday at the Stylites Arms in the
village. Poirot and I sat together, not being required to give
evidence.
The preliminaries were gone through. The jury viewed the body,
and John Cavendish gave evidence of identification.
Further questioned, he described his awakening in the early hours
of the morning, and the circumstances of his mother's death.
The medical evidence was next taken. There was a breathless
hush, and every eye was fixed on the famous London specialist,
who was known to be one of the greatest authorities of the day on
the subject of toxicology.
In a few brief words, he summed up the result of the post-mortem.
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