As I entered
the house by the front door, one of the firemen came running out of the
bedroom, crying that he had found a dead woman. I ran into the room, and
saw Miss Mowbray lying on her face on the floor, at the foot of the
bed."
"She was dead then, I suppose?"
"I thought so. I placed my hand on her bare shoulder, and it was cold."
"She had been dead several hours, then?"
"Two or three hours, perhaps, but maybe less, for the room in which she
lay was cold, there being no fire in it or in the adjoining rooms."
"What did you do when you found that she was dead?"
"I turned the body over, and saw by the discoloration of her face and
the protruding tongue that she had been strangled. Then I discovered the
cord, which was sunken deeply into the flesh of her throat, and so
hidden that I would not have discovered it had I not seen the end of
it."
"What did you do with it?"
"In the hope that she might not be dead, and that something might be
done to revive her, I managed, with great difficulty, to get the cord
untied and off her neck."
"What authority did you have for that? I suppose you know that it is the
coroner's duty to do things of that sort?"
"Yes; but, besides being a deputy marshal, I am also deputy coroner."
"I see. What did you do with the cord?"
"I don't remember.
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