The Case of Mr. Jacob Mason by Arthur Morrison

The mystery of Denson's death remained a mystery, despite all the police / could do. The coroner's jury returned a verdict of "Murder by some / person or persons unknown" -- which, indeed, was all that could be / expected of them; for they had no more before them than the bare fact / that the body, disguised in the clothes of a labourer, had been found on / the steps near the Duke of York's column, just before midnight, by a / police constable. But for the housekeeper's identification, even the / name of the victim would have been unknown. The jury certainly wasted / some time in idle speculation as to the strange triangular mark found on / the forehead, without a speck of evidence to help them; but in the end / they returned their verdict, and went home.

But the police knew a little more than the jury, though that little / rather confused than helped them. They exercised their judgment at the / inquest in withholding all evidence of the theft of diamonds on which / the victim had been engaged, the curious particulars of which I have / already related. In this they followed their usual course in cases where / the evidence withheld could give the jury no help in arriving at their / verdict, and at the same time might easily hamper further investigations / if revealed. For the theft had been frustrated by Martin Hewitt's / exertions, as we have seen, and in any case the thief was now dead and / beyond the reach of human punishment. The one matter now remaining for / the police was inquiry into the murder of this same thief, and the one / object of their exertions the apprehension of the murderer or murderers.