The Purple Fern by Fergus Hume — Read

The Coroner, a stolid old country doctor of sixty, with a ruddy face, shrewd eyes, and a beard which would have done credit to a Christmas card Santa Claus, opened the proceedings after the jury had inspected the corpse. His few brief remarks regarding the nature of the death, and the heinousness of the crime, introduced fussy Inspector Tick, with a sheaf of notes, dealing with up-to-date evidence.

Tick described the appearance of the dead man, described the state of the room, hinted at the open window, and laid before the jury the deadly assegai, with which the death wound had, in all human probability, been inflicted. Then the Inspector reverted to the appearance of the man in grey at the Savoy Hotel, under the name of Alfred Osip, and related what Dr. Jerce had said about the struggle on the terrace. Afterwards he mentioned the finding of the envelope containing the representation of the purple fern, and the discovery by Miss Baird of the gold box. He finished by again drawing the attention of the jury to the fact of the open window, and to the finding of the dead man by Chalks. Not being an orator, Inspector Tick spoke with hesitation, and set forth his facts dryly; but these were so interesting, that the lack of ornamentation was not apparent.