"Yes."
She waited a second before continuing her remarks. "I have asked
the coroner to make an investigation." She paused again, then added
with more animation, "He is the one to tell us if a crime has been
committed."
"He can tell if death has been accelerated by a weapon, or a drug,"
responded Kent; he was weighing his words carefully so that she
might understand him fully. "But to constitute a crime, it has to
be proved first, that the act has been committed, and second, that
a guilty mind or malice prompted it. Can you furnish a clew to
establish either of the last mentioned facts in connection with
Jimmie's death?"
Kent wondered if she had heard him, she was so long in replying,
and he was about to repeat his question when she addressed him.
"Have you heard from Coroner Penfield?"
"No. I tried several times to get him on the telephone, but without
success," replied Kent; his disappointment at not receiving an
answer to his question showed in his manner. "I went to Penfield's
house last night, but he had been called away on a case and,
although I waited until nearly ten o'clock, he had not returned when
I left.
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