Inspector Tick: "Possibly, sir; but that would have no bearing on the case in hand. We are here, sir, not to search into deceased's private affairs, but to learn why he was killed, and who killed him."
Coroner: "An inquiry into the past life of deceased may reveal why he was murdered."
Again the Inspector disagreed with this, and again the Coroner objected; so there was a wrangle, which lasted for some minutes. Finally, Inspector Tick, being the more obstinate of the two, it was agreed that the inquest should not be postponed, as the Coroner had suggested, for the presence of the lawyer, Barras.
The last witness called was Thomas Sims, a smiling little Jewish-faced man from Scotland Yard, with an olive complexion and a pair of dark, inquisitive eyes. He deposed that the apartments in Rough Lane, Stepney, had been searched by the police, but Osip, having probably taken alarm, had cleared out everything likely to incriminate him. The young man who had died of consumption in Tea Street, Whitechapel (attended by Dr. Jerce, out of kindness), might or might not have been connected with the Purple Fern crimes. The only evidence which connected him with them was that he had accurately described Alfred Osip; and the sole evidence which associated Osip with the young man and with the murders was the gold box, which had been found by Miss Baird. Also, it was probable that as Osip--according to Mrs. Dumps and to Dr. Jerce--had been in Crumel a short time before, he had left the warning of the pictured fern outside the window of the deceased. Every effort had been made to find Osip, but without result. From the time he had searched Dr. Jerce on the terrace of The Laurels, he had disappeared. According to the ticket-collectors and porters and officials at the Crumel railway station, Osip had not even returned to London from that station. It was possible that after searching Dr. Jerce, the man had walked to the next station--Benleigh--to escape any pursuit should Dr. Jerce have given the alarm.
A Juryman: "And why didn't Dr. Jerce give the alarm?"
Dr. Jerce arose to explain, and was permitted to do so by the Coroner, although his rising was out of order. "I ran after the man," he said, calmly, "as soon as I could pull myself together. He had disappeared. Mr. Ferdinand Baird, who came up, suggested that the police should be called in, but when he described the man as having a scar on his left cheek, I then remembered the letter which my dying patient in Whitechapel had given me, with instructions to open it should I be attacked by such a man. I judged it best to return to London and open the letter before taking any action. I went to Scotland Yard as soon as I learned that Osip was connected with the Purple Fern crimes. More I could not do."