"There y'are," said the mortuary-keeper. "There's a fresh 'un, just in from the river, unknown. You dunno 'im either, I expect."
But Mr. Cripps was quite sure that he did. Curious and eager, he walked up between the two dead men, his grimy little body being all that divided them in this their grisly reunion. "I do know 'im," he insisted, thoughtfully. "Leastways I've seen 'im somewheres, I'm sure." The little man gazed at the dreadful head, and then at the rafters: then shut his eyes with a squeeze that drove his nose into amazing lumps and wrinkles; then looked at the head again, and squeezed his eyelids8 together once more; and at last started back, his eyes rivalling his very nose itself for prominence9. "Why!" he gasped10, "it is! It is, s'elp me!... It's Mr. Marr, as is pardners with Mr. Viney! I on'y see 'im once in my life, but I'll swear it's 'im!... Lord, what a phenomenal go!"
And with that Mr. Cripps rushed off incontinent to spread the news wherever anybody would listen. He told the police, he told the loafers, he told Captain Nat and everybody in his bar; he told the watermen at the stairs, he shouted it to the purlmen in their boats, and he wriggled11 into conversation with perfect strangers to tell them too. So that it came to pass that Viney, being called upon by the coroner's officer, was fain to swallow his reluctance12 and come forward at the inquest.
That was held at the Hole in the Wall twenty-four hours after the body had been hauled ashore13. The two inquests were held together, in fact, Marr's and that of the broken-nosed man, stabbed in the passage. Two inquests, or even three, in a day, made no uncommon14 event in those parts, where perhaps a dozen might be held in a week, mostly ending with the same doubtful verdict—Found Drowned. But here one of the inquiries15 related to an open and witnessed murder, and that fact gave some touch of added interest to the proceedings16.
Accordingly a drifting group hung about the doors of the Hole in the Wall at the appointed time,—just such an idle, changing group as had hung there all the evening after the man had been stabbed; and in the midst stood Blind George with his fiddle18, his vacant white eye rolling upward, his mouth full of noisy ribaldry, and his fiddle playing punctuation19 and chorus to all he said or sang. He turned his ear at the sound of many footsteps leaving the door near him.
"There they go!" he sang out; "there they go, twelve on 'em!" And indeed it was the jury going off to view the bodies. "There they go, twelve good men an' true, an' bloomin' proud they are to fancy it! Got a copper20 for Blind George, gentlemen? Not a brown for pore George?... Not them; not a brass21 farden among the 'ole dam good an' lawful22 lot.... Ahoy! ain't Gubbins there,—the good an' lawful pork-butcher as 'ad to pay forty bob for shovin' a lump o' fat under the scales? Tell the crowner to mind 'is pockets!"
The idlers laughed, and one flung a copper, which Blind George snatched almost before it had fallen. "Ha! ha!" he cried, "there's a toff somewhere near, I can tell by the sound of his money! Here goes for a stave!" And straightway be broke into:—
O they call me Hanging Johnny,
With my hang, boys, hang!
The mortuary stood at no great distance and soon the jury were back in the club-room over the bar, and at work on the first case. The police had had some difficulty as to identification of the stabbed man. The difficulty arose not only because there were no relations in the neighbourhood to feel the loss, but as much because the persons able to make the identification kept the most distant possible terms with the police, and withheld23 information from them as a matter of principle. Albeit24 a reluctant ruffian was laid hold of who was induced sulkily to admit that he had known the deceased to speak to, and lodged25 near him in Blue Gate; that the deceased was called Bob Kipps; that he was quite lately come into the neighbourhood; and that he had no particular occupation, as far as witness knew. It needed some pressure to extract the information that Kipps, during the short time he was in Blue Gate, chiefly consorted26 with one Dan Ogle27, and that witness had seen nothing of Ogle that day, nor the day before.
There was also a woman called to identify—a woman more reluctant than the man; a woman of coarse features, dull eyes, tousled hair, and thick voice, sluttish with rusty28 finery. Name, Margaret Flynn; though at the back of the little crowd that had squeezed into the court she was called Musky Mag. It was said there, too, that Mag, in no degree one of the fainting sort, had nevertheless swooned when taken into the mortuary—gone clean off with a flop29; true, she explained it, afterward30, by saying that she had only expected to see one body, but found herself brought face to face with two; and of course there was the other there—Marr's. But it was held no such odds31 between one corpse and two that an outer-and-outer like Mag should go on the faint over it. This was reasonable enough, for the crowd. But not for a woman who had sat to drink with three men, and in a short hour or so had fallen over the battered32 corpse of one of them, in the dark of her room; who had been forced, now, to view the rent body of a second, and in doing it to meet once again the other, resurrected, bruised33, sodden34 and horrible; and who knew that all was the work of the last of the three, and that man in peril35 of the rope: the man, too, of all the world, in her eye....
Her evidence, given with plain anxiety and a nervous unsteadiness of the mouth, added nothing to the tale. The man was Bob Kipps; he was a stranger till lately—came, she had heard tell, from Shoreditch or Hoxton; saw him last a day or two ago: knew nothing of his death beyond what she had heard; did not know where Dan Ogle was (this very vehemently36, with much shaking of the head); had not seen him with deceased—but here the police inspector37 handed the coroner a scribbled38 note, and the coroner having read it and passed it back, said no more. Musky Mag stood aside; while the inspector tore the note into small pieces and put the pieces in his pocket.
Nathaniel Kemp, landlord of the house, told the story of the murder as he saw it, and of his chase of the murderer. Did not know deceased, and should be unable to identify the murderer if he met him again, having seen no more than his figure in the dark.
All this time Mr. Cripps had been standing39, in eager trepidation40, foremost among the little crowd, nodding and lifting his hand anxiously, strenuous41 to catch the coroner's officer's attention at the dismissal of each witness, and fearful lest his offer of evidence, made a dozen times before the coroner came, should be forgotten. Now at last the coroner's officer condescended42 to notice him, and being beckoned43, Mr. Cripps swaggered forward, his greasy44 widewake crushed under his arm, and his face radiant with delighted importance. He bowed to the coroner, kissed the book with a flourish, and glanced round the court to judge how much of the due impression was yet visible.
The coroner signified that he was ready to hear whatever Mr. Cripps knew of this matter.
Mr. Cripps "threw a chest," stuck an arm akimbo, and raised the other with an oratorical45 sweep so large that his small voice, when it came, seemed all the smaller. "Hi was in the bar, sir," he piped, "the bar, sir, of this 'ouse, bein' long acquainted with an' much respectin' Cap'en Kemp, an' in the 'abit of visitin' 'ere in the intervals46 of the pursoot of my hart. Hem6! Hi was in the bar, sir, when my attention was attracted by a sudden noise be'hind, or as I may say, in the rear of, the bar-parlour. Hi was able to distinguish, gentlemen of the jury, what might be called, in a common way o' speakin', a bump or a bang, sich as would be occasioned by an unknown murderer criminally shoving his un'appy victim's 'ed agin the back-door of a public-'ouse. Hi was able to distinguish it, sir, from a 'uman cry which follered: a 'uman cry, or as it might be, a holler, sich as would be occasioned by the un'appy victim 'avin' 'is 'ed shoved agin the back-door aforesaid. Genelmen, I 'esitated not a moment. I rushed forward."
Mr. Cripps paused so long to give the statement effect that the coroner lost patience. "Yes," he said, "you rushed forward. Do you mean you jumped over the bar?"
For a moment Mr. Cripps's countenance47 fell; truly it would have been more imposing48 to have jumped over the bar. But he was on his oath, and he must do his best with the facts. "No, sir," he explained, a little tamely, "not over the bar, but reether the opposite way, so to speak, towards the door. I rushed forward, genelmen, in a sort of rearwards direction, through the door, an' round into the alley49. Immediate50 as I turned the corner, genelmen, I be'eld with my own eyes the unknown murderer; I see 'im a-risin' from over 'is un'appy victim, an' I see as the criminal tragedy had transpired51. I—I rushed forward."
The sensation he looked for being slow in coming, another rush seemed expedient52; but it fell flat as the first, and Mr. Cripps struggled on, desperately53 conscious that he had nothing else to say.
"I rushed forward, sir; seein' which the miscreant54 absconded—absconded, no doubt with—with the proceeds; an' seein' Cap'en Kemp abscondin' after him, I turned an' be'eld the un'appy victim—the corpse now in custody55, sir—a-layin' in the bar-parlour, 'elpless an'—an' decimated.... I—rushed forward."
It was sad to see how little the coroner was impressed; there was even something in his face not unlike a smile; and Mr. Cripps was at the end of his resources. But if he could have seen the face of Musky Mag, in the little crowd behind him, he might have been consoled. She alone, of all who heard, had followed his rhetoric56 with an agony of attention, word by word: even as she had followed the earlier evidence. Now her strained face was the easier merely by contrast with itself when Mr. Cripps was in full cry; and a moment later it was tenser than ever.
"Yes, yes, Mr. Cripps," the coroner said; "no doubt you were very active, but we don't seem to have increased the evidence. You say you saw the man who stabbed the deceased in the passage. Did you know him at all? Ever see him before?"
Here, mayhap, was some chance of an effect after all. Mr. Cripps could scarce have distinguished57 the murderer from one of the posts in the alley; but he said, with all the significance he could give the words: "Well, sir, I won't go so far as to swear to 'is name, sir; no, sir, not to 'is name, certainly not." And therewith he made his sensation at last, bringing upon himself the twenty-four eyes of the jury all together.
The coroner looked up sharply. "Oh," he said, "you know him by sight then? Does he belong to the neighbourhood?"
Now it was not Mr. Cripps who had said he knew the murderer by sight, but the coroner. Far be it from him, thought the aspirant58 for fame, to contradict the coroner, and so baulk himself of the credit thus thrust upon him. So he answered with the same cautious significance and a succession of portentous59 nods. "Your judgment60, sir, is correct; quite correct."
"Come then, this is important. You would be able to recognise him again, of course?"
There was no retreat—Mr. Cripps was in for it. It was an unforeseen consequence of the quibble, but since plunge61 he must he plunged62 neck and crop. "I'd know 'im anywhere," he said triumphantly63.
There was an odd sound in the crowd behind, and a fall. Captain Nat strode across, and the crowd wondered; for Musky Mag had fainted again.
The landlord lifted her, and carried her to the stairs. When the door had closed behind them, and the coroner's officer had shouted the little crowd into silence, the inquest took a short course to its end.
Mr. Cripps, in the height of his consequence, began to feel serious misgivings64 as to the issue of his stumble beyond the verities65; and the coroner's next words were a relief.
"I think that will be enough, Mr. Cripps," the coroner said; "no doubt the police will be glad of your assistance." And with that he gave the jury the little summing up that the case needed. There was the medical evidence, and the evidence of the stabbing, and that evidence pointed17 to an unmistakable conclusion. Nobody was in custody, nor had the murderer been positively66 identified, and such evidence as there was in this respect was for the consideration of the police. He thought the jury would have no difficulty in arriving at a verdict. The jury had none; and the verdict was Murder by some Person or Persons unknown.
The other inquest gave even less trouble. Mr. Henry Viney, shipowner, had seen the body, and identified it as that of his partner Lewis Marr. Marr had suddenly disappeared a week ago, and an examination of his accounts showed serious defalcations, in consequence of which witness had filed his petition in bankruptcy67. Whether or not Marr had taken money with him witness could not say, as deceased had entire charge of the accounts; but it seemed more likely that embezzlement68 had been going on for some time past, and Marr had fled when detection could no longer be averted69. This might account for his dressing70, and presumably seeking work, as a sailor.
The divisional surgeon of police had examined the body, and found a large wound on the head, fully7 sufficient to have caused death, inflicted71 either by some heavy, blunt instrument, or by a fall from a height on a hard substance. One thigh72 was fractured, and there were other wounds and contusions, but these, as well as the broken thigh, were clearly caused after death. The blow on the head might have been caused by an accident on the riverside, or it might have been inflicted wilfully73 by an assailant.
Then there was the evidence of the man who had found the body foul74 of a rudder and a hawser75, and of the police who had found nothing on the body. And there was no more evidence at all. The coroner having sympathised deeply with Mr. Viney, gave the jury the proper lead, and the jury with perfect propriety76 returned the open verdict that the doctor's evidence and the coroner's lead suggested. The case, except for the circumstances of Marr's flight, was like a hundred others inquired upon thereabout in the course of a few weeks, and in an hour it was in a fair way to be forgotten, even by the little crowd that clumped77 downstairs to try both cases all over again in the bar of the Hole in the Wall.
To the coroner, the jury, and the little crowd, these were two inquests with nothing to connect them but the accident of time and the convenience of the Hole in the Wall club-room. But Blind George, standing in the street with his fiddle, and getting the news from the club-room in scraps78 between song and patter, knew more and guessed better.
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1
persistent
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| adj.坚持不懈的，执意的；持续的 | |
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2
prying
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| adj.爱打听的v.打听，刺探（他人的私事）( pry的现在分词 )；撬开 | |
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3
contingency
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| n.意外事件，可能性 | |
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elevation
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| n.高度；海拔；高地；上升；提高 | |
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corpse
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| n.尸体，死尸 | |
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hem
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| n.贴边，镶边；vt.缝贴边；(in)包围，限制 | |
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fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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eyelids
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| n.眼睑( eyelid的名词复数 )；眼睛也不眨一下；不露声色；面不改色 | |
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prominence
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| n.突出；显著；杰出；重要 | |
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gasped
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| v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要 | |
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11
wriggled
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| v.扭动，蠕动，蜿蜒行进( wriggle的过去式和过去分词 )；（使身体某一部位）扭动；耍滑不做，逃避（应做的事等） | |
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12
reluctance
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| n.厌恶，讨厌，勉强，不情愿 | |
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13
ashore
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| adv.在(向)岸上，上岸 | |
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14
uncommon
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| adj.罕见的，非凡的，不平常的 | |
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15
inquiries
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| n.调查( inquiry的名词复数 )；疑问；探究；打听 | |
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proceedings
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| n.进程，过程，议程；诉讼(程序)；公报 | |
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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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fiddle
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| n.小提琴；vi.拉提琴；不停拨弄，乱动 | |
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punctuation
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| n.标点符号，标点法 | |
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copper
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| n.铜；铜币；铜器；adj.铜(制)的；(紫)铜色的 | |
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brass
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| n.黄铜；黄铜器，铜管乐器 | |
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lawful
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| adj.法律许可的，守法的，合法的 | |
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23
withheld
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| withhold过去式及过去分词 | |
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albeit
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| conj.即使；纵使；虽然 | |
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25
lodged
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| v.存放( lodge的过去式和过去分词 )；暂住；埋入；（权利、权威等）归属 | |
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consorted
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| v.结伴( consort的过去式和过去分词 )；交往；相称；调和 | |
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27
ogle
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| v.看；送秋波；n.秋波，媚眼 | |
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28
rusty
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| adj.生锈的；锈色的；荒废了的 | |
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29
flop
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| n.失败(者)，扑通一声；vi.笨重地行动，沉重地落下 | |
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afterward
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| adv.后来；以后 | |
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odds
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| n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别 | |
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battered
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| adj.磨损的；v.连续猛击；磨损 | |
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33
bruised
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| [医]青肿的，瘀紫的 | |
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sodden
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| adj.浑身湿透的；v.使浸透；使呆头呆脑 | |
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35
peril
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| n.(严重的)危险；危险的事物 | |
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vehemently
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| adv. 热烈地 | |
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inspector
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| n.检查员，监察员，视察员 | |
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38
scribbled
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| v.潦草的书写( scribble的过去式和过去分词 )；乱画；草草地写；匆匆记下 | |
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standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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trepidation
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| n.惊恐，惶恐 | |
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strenuous
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| adj.奋发的，使劲的；紧张的；热烈的，狂热的 | |
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condescended
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| 屈尊，俯就( condescend的过去式和过去分词 )； 故意表示和蔼可亲 | |
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beckoned
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| v.（用头或手的动作）示意，召唤( beckon的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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greasy
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| adj. 多脂的，油脂的 | |
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oratorical
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| adj.演说的，雄辩的 | |
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intervals
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| n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 )；间隔时间；[数学]区间；（戏剧、电影或音乐会的）幕间休息 | |
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47
countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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imposing
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| adj.使人难忘的，壮丽的，堂皇的，雄伟的 | |
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49
alley
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| n.小巷，胡同；小径，小路 | |
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50
immediate
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| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
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51
transpired
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| （事实，秘密等）被人知道( transpire的过去式和过去分词 )； 泄露； 显露； 发生 | |
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52
expedient
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| adj.有用的，有利的；n.紧急的办法，权宜之计 | |
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53
desperately
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| adv.极度渴望地，绝望地，孤注一掷地 | |
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54
miscreant
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| n.恶棍 | |
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55
custody
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| n.监护，照看，羁押，拘留 | |
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56
rhetoric
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| n.修辞学，浮夸之言语 | |
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57
distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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58
aspirant
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| n.热望者；adj.渴望的 | |
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59
portentous
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| adj.不祥的，可怕的，装腔作势的 | |
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60
judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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61
plunge
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| v.跳入，(使)投入，(使)陷入；猛冲 | |
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62
plunged
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| v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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63
triumphantly
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| ad.得意洋洋地；得胜地；成功地 | |
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64
misgivings
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| n.疑虑，担忧，害怕；疑虑，担心，恐惧( misgiving的名词复数 )；疑惧 | |
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65
verities
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| n.真实( verity的名词复数 )；事实；真理；真实的陈述 | |
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66
positively
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| adv.明确地，断然，坚决地；实在，确实 | |
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67
bankruptcy
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| n.破产；无偿付能力 | |
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68
embezzlement
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| n.盗用，贪污 | |
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averted
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| 防止，避免( avert的过去式和过去分词 )； 转移 | |
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70
dressing
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| n.(食物)调料；包扎伤口的用品，敷料 | |
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71
inflicted
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| 把…强加给，使承受，遭受( inflict的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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72
thigh
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| n.大腿；股骨 | |
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73
wilfully
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| adv.任性固执地；蓄意地 | |
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74
foul
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| adj.污秽的；邪恶的；v.弄脏；妨害；犯规；n.犯规 | |
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75
hawser
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| n.大缆；大索 | |
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76
propriety
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| n.正当行为；正当；适当 | |
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77
clumped
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| adj.[医]成群的v.（树、灌木、植物等的）丛、簇( clump的过去式和过去分词 )；（土、泥等）团；块；笨重的脚步声 | |
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78
scraps
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| 油渣 | |
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