The inspector was now stern in his manner. ‘I don’t know what evidence you have to suggest such a thing, Mr Holmes, but whether you are right to suppose it or not, the coroner’s verdict was final.’
‘That does not make it correct, inspector.’ Holmes spoke in a stern tone of voice. ‘I ask you plainly, as a man of sense. Did you ever suspect that Jacob Wixted had abused his daughter on a regular basis and, in doing so, that he had killed her, whether by accident or design?’
The inspector’s silence was answer enough for my companion. With a curt promise that he would do what he could to resolve the mystery, my friend beckoned for me to follow him and we left the house behind us. For some time, Holmes remained motionless, his finger to his lips, and his eyes fixed on the clock of the church t
