Plainly, the task before him was
far from an agreeable one.
"Well, sir," he began, "we had a very busy day yesterday, and were at
the office considerably later than usual; but by five o'clock we had
closed up work for the day, and all the other clerks, with the
exception of the office-boy, had gone home. I had made some notes from
Mr. Holladay's dictation, and had returned to my desk to arrange them,
when the outer door opened and Mr. Holladay's daughter came in. She
asked me whether her father was engaged, and upon my saying no, opened
the inner door and entered his office. She remained, I should think,
about ten minutes; then she came out again, walked rapidly past
without looking at me, and, I suppose, left the building. I finished
arranging my notes, and then entered Mr. Holladay's office to ask if
he had any further instructions for me, and I found him lying forward
on his desk, with a knife sticking in his neck and the blood spurting
out. I summoned aid, but he died without regaining consciousness--I
should say he was practically dead when I found him."
I felt, rather than heard, the little stir which ran through the room.
There was an indefinable horror in the story and in the conclusion to
which it inevitably led.
"Now, let us go back a moment," said the coroner, as Rogers stopped
and mopped his forehead feverishly.
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