Four THE INQUEST
The inquest on the body of Alex Pritchard was held on the following day.
Dr. Thomas gave evidence as to the finding of the body.
“Life was not then extinct?” asked the coroner.
“No, deceased was still breathing. There was, however, no hope of re-covery. The—”
Here the doctor became highly technical. The coroner came to the res-cue of the jury:
“In ordinary everyday language, the man’s back was broken?”
“If you like to put it that way,” said Dr. Thomas sadly.
He described how he had gone off to get help, leaving the dying man inBobby’s charge.
“Now as to the cause of this disaster, what is your opinion, Dr. Thomas?”
“I should say that in all probability (failing any evidence as to his stateof mind, that is to say) the deceased stepped inadvertently over the edge ofthe cliff. There was a mist rising from the sea, and at that particular pointthe path turns abruptly¹ inland. Owing to the mist the deceased may nothave noticed the danger and walked straight on—in which case two stepswould take him over the edge.”
“There were no signs of violence? Such as might have been admin-istered by a third party?”
“I can only say that all the injuries present are fully² explained by thebody striking the rocks fifty or sixty feet below.”
“There remains³ the question of suicide?”
“That is, of course, perfectly⁴ possible. Whether the deceased walkedover the edge or threw himself over is a matter on which I can say noth-ing.”
Robert Jones was called next.
Bobby explained that he had been playing golf with the doctor and hadsliced his ball towards the sea. A mist was rising at the time and it was dif-ficult to see. He thought he heard a cry, and for a moment wondered if hisball could have hit anybody coming along the footpath⁵. He had decided,however, that it could not possibly have travelled so far.
“Did you find the ball?”
“Yes, it was about a hundred yards short of the footpath.”
He then described how they had driven from the next tee and how hehimself had driven into the

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