Mystery of the Inn by the Shore

The inquest was held in the little town-hall in the market-place, and the ugly whispers which were afloat concerning Jem Stickels's death brought together such a gathering that the meager accommodation provided by the old building was taxed to the utmost.

It was evident from the outset that this was no ordinary case of a drunken man found dead in a ditch, with nothing about him to tell how he came by his death. From the very first moment when the doors were opened, and the crowd rushed in and filled in a moment the space allotted to the public, there were murmurs and whispers flying from mouth to mouth, indicative of the general belief that some person or persons of a higher social position than the dead fisherman, and more generally interesting than he, would be implicated in the course of the proceedings. The questions: "Where's the young lady? " And "Won't the gentleman be well enough to come? " were often but never satisfactorily answered. The witnesses in the case were in the magistrate's room, so rumor said, and were to be brought out one by one as they were wanted.