"You should have given the man in charge for assault," insisted the juryman.
"Doubtless," replied Jerce, ironically, "but I did not wish to make a scandal in my friend's house. Moreover, since the deceased's health was extremely delicate, it would have been injurious to him to be disturbed by an account of the struggle on the terrace. And that he would have learned, had I called the police to The Laurels."
No one could deny but what Jerce had acted sensibly, and the juryman--still holding to his opinion--was crushed. "If this Osip had been arrested at the time of the assault," muttered the juryman, "we should not have had the murder."
"And how was I to know, my good sir, that the man Osip contemplated murder?"
"The letter you received from the Tea Street man----"
"Was not opened by me until I returned to town after the assault. And then I went at once to Scotland Yard," retorted Jerce.
The juryman retired from the contest, and the Coroner then summed up the evidence as clearly and concisely as he could. Bearing in mind, he observed, the Purple Fern murders and the presence of Osip, who was clearly connected with the same, and above all, remembering the fatal mark on the forehead of the deceased, there could be no doubt that this crime was the eighth of the fatal series. One of the criminals who had perpetrated these terrible assassinations had been hanged, another had died from consumption, but the third--Alfred Osip--was still alive and had undoubtedly stabbed Henry Horran. It was proved by the fact that the usual warning had been given by means of the pictured fern. The window--according to Mr. Clarke--could be seen from the lane, so without doubt Osip, lurking therein, had seen that the window was open--as a light was in the room--and, waiting until the small hours of the morning, when his victim would presumably be asleep, he had entered and killed the unfortunate gentleman. The Coroner ended his speech with a request that the jurymen would bring in a verdict in accordance with the weight of evidence, which plainly pointed to Alfred Osip as the criminal.
The jury did so very promptly, as not one of them, and not one of the listeners to the evidence, had any doubt but that Osip was the guilty person. Therefore, after bringing in a verdict of "Wilful murder against Alfred Osip," the inquest was brought to an end, and the jurymen, very well satisfied with themselves, went home. But although the verdict had been given, the criminal was still at large; and now that he had commenced operations in Crumel, it was doubtful when he would stop. The locksmiths of Crumel did a fine trade during the next few days, as everyone wanted bolts and bars, patent locks, and ingenious alarms. The quiet little Essex town was terribly scared by the presence of this unseen beast of prey.