Daniel Multenius was
a well-known and much respected tradesman of the neighbourhood, that they
were all sorry to hear of his sudden death, and that there were
circumstances about it which necessitated a careful investigation, the
business began--and Lauriston, who, for professional purposes, had heard a
good many legal cases, saw, almost at once, that the police, through the
redoubtable Mr. Parminter, now seated with his clerk at the table, had
carefully arranged the presenting of evidence on a plan and system of
their own, all of which, so it became apparent to him, was intended to
either incriminate himself, or throw considerable suspicion upon him. His
interest began to assume a personal complexion.
The story of the circumstances of Daniel Multenius's death, as unfolded in
the witness-box into which one person went after another, appeared to be
the fairly plain one--looked at from one point of view: there was a
certain fascination in its unfolding. It began with Melky, who was first
called--to identify the deceased, to answer a few general questions about
him, and to state that when he last saw him, a few hours before his death,
he was in his usual good health: as good, at any rate, as a man of his
years--seventy-five--who was certainly growing feeble, could expect to be
in.
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