The position of the wound suggested that the murderer was neither very much taller nor very much shorter than the victim, who was five feet, nine inches in height. A woman might have done it, but Collin doubted that. The single swift stab showed both courage and resolution; he thought a woman would have been more hesitant, less firm.

Ratty, who had given his name to the coroner’s officer as Mr Jonsmith, was called to give his testimony, and Dr Thomas, seeing that underneath his smart exterior the young witness was trembling with fright, spoke to him gently and guided him through the events with careful questions.

‘Can you tell the court where you were at about eight o’clock on the evening of Wednesday the 22nd of June?’’

‘Yes, yer ’ighness, sir, I was near Pembridge Mews up by the deaf school.’ The wry smiles of the scribbling pressmen were tempered by close interest when Ratty explained that he had been doing some secret work for ‘Miss Doughtery, wot is the best ’tective in Lunnon.’

‘And what did you see there?’

‘Well there was the dead gent, only ’e weren’t dead yet, ’n ’e wen’ inter the mews walkin’ all smart like, not jus’ loafin’ about. So I knows summink is goin’ on, cos yer don’ ’urry inter a mews ter do summink less’n it’s ter be kep’ secret.’

‘Did you follow him?’

‘Yes, yer ’ighness sir, ’cos I thort well wot’s ’e a doin’ of, so I creeps arter ’im all quiet like, wot I am very good at ’cos I’m a ’tective, ’n proper ’tectives are very good at that, sir.’

‘Tell me what you saw next.’

‘Mr Ecklerley ’e wen’ roun’ the corner, and I stayed back.’

‘No one else came into the mews as you stood there?’

‘No sir.’

‘Were you able to hear any conversation?’

‘No sir, nuthin’ I dint even know there was another person there, I thort ’e was waitin’ to meet a doxy.’

Sniggers in court.

Dr Thomas ordered silence before continuing the questioning. ‘What happened next?’

‘Then there was a gaspin’ noise like what gents make when they are wiv a doxy sir, an’ I ’eard ’im fall over, which they don’t usually do, ’n I thort ’e might ’ave been took bad, ’n I wen’ to see if I could ’elp but this person came out runnin’ and knocked me down an’ I banged me ’ead. ’N when I woke up I went ter see if the gent wuz ill, ’n ’e wuz lyin’ there with blood all over ’is front. ’N I ran out in the street an’ shouted “murder”, ’n then the coppers came ’n took me down the nick.’

‘Did you see the face of the man who knocked you over?’

‘No, yer ’ighness, sir, I din’t see nothin’ it were all black, not even eyes.’

It was with enormous relief that Ratty was finally able to take a seat beside Frances, and she and Cedric both reassured him that he had done very well.

The next witness was the young man who acted as secretary to the school. On the day of the murder there had been several items of post, three of which had been marked for the personal attention of Mr Eckley, which he had passed to the headmaster unopened, as was usual. Two of the envelopes were addressed in handwriting he recognised, a governor of the school and the parent of a pupil. The writing on the third he had never to his knowledge seen before. When he tidied Mr Eckley’s papers, he had found only the first two letters. Shown the fragment of paper found in the dead man’s hand, he said that it looked very like part of the envelope of the third letter. Mr Eckley would usually have gone to his home by eight o’clock, but on that occasion he had intimated that he would work a little later than usual.

The implication was very clear. Mr Eckley had received a letter arranging a meeting in the quiet dusk and had been asked to bring the letter with him. Once he lay helpless on the ground, the killer had removed the evidence. Neither the meeting nor the murder was chance.

Once all the testimony was heard the jury returned the verdict that Mr Eckley had been murdered by a person or persons unknown. The pressmen did not scamper away as usual but sent messages via runners and waited for the next inquest.

‘I think the coroner was pleased with you,’ Frances reassured Ratty.

He grinned with relief and puffed out his thin chest. ‘Mr Jonsmif, ’tective! That’s me!’

‘Now I had meant to tell you something about the signs you saw when you observed the conversation between Mr Isaac Goodwin and the schoolboys,’ Frances went on. ‘This one,’ she made the gesture as if drawing a closed mouth, ‘means silence.’

Ratty nodded. ‘Yes, ’e did that ’n then the boys did it too. It was like —’ he thought hard. ‘Like he wuz askin’ ’em to be quiet and they wuz saying “yes”.’

‘But what about, I wonder? And then there was the sign like this —’ she did the clawing movement at her shoulders. ‘That means a monkey or, more likely, a scamp or scallywag. Perhaps someone has misbehaved.’

Ratty shook his head. ‘It weren’t like that, it were like this.’ He did the movement but this time Frances saw that the clawed fingers were not at his shoulders but met at his chest and were drawn outwards. ‘Is that diff’rent?’

‘It looks different,’ she agreed. Frances puzzled about it not only because she wanted to know what the gesture meant, but also because she had a feeling that she ought to know what it meant because she had seen it before.

There was a surge of excitement as Dr Bond arrived, which signalled the fact that he had finally concluded his examination of the skeleton that had been deposited in the cellar of Queens Road, and it was hoped that the inquest on the remains could be concluded.

Mr Marsden arrived together with Lionel Antrobus, and on seeing Frances he uttered some words to his client with a sour twist of his mouth. Antrobus’ expression was unreadable.

‘I wanter go now,’ said Ratty, when he saw Inspector Sharrock appear. ‘Don’ like coppers and don’ like him!’ he was out of the door before Frances could say another word.

The inquest on the unnamed skeleton resumed, and Dr Bond was called.

‘Since the last hearing I have examined additional pieces of bone, pieces of a human fibula, recovered from the site where the earlier remains were found. They are compatible with the conclusion that they are part of the same skeleton. None of the human bones have been duplicated. At the last hearing, and based on the condition of the right tibia, I was of the opinion that the deceased would have made a good recovery from the fracture. The new remains have led me to revise that opinion.’

There was a stir of interest in the court.

‘The injury to the fibula was very substantial. I think that the deceased must have twisted the leg and either struck or collided with some hard uneven surface. The bone was shattered into several fragments, some of which would undoubtedly have protruded through the flesh. The process of healing would have been a long one. The fracture was not skilfully set and the bones have not knitted well. There is evidence of a subsequent infection. The deceased would have walked with a noticeable limp. I have also, on the basis of the new evidence and further examination of the tibia, concluded that the injury was suffered less than five years before death. I cannot be more accurate than that.’

‘Have you any suggestions to offer concerning the identity of the deceased?’

‘I am afraid not.’

Dr Bond stood down, and Lionel Antrobus was called forward to state very emphatically that his brother had walked with an entirely normal gait.

There was no further evidence and the jury could only conclude that the identity of the remains was unproven and the cause of death was in all probability a broken neck, but whether by accident or design it was impossible to say.

Frances and Sarah discussed the outcome of the inquest over a simple luncheon of ham and stewed peas, with bread and butter and tea.