It is presumed that,
when he opened his mouth for B flat, the lump of coal was thrown by
the sinful man from one of the windows, and that it went down the
wait's throat and choked him."
"You want to be a good shot, but it is certainly worth trying,"
murmured Mr. Coombes thoughtfully.
"But that was not his only crime, alas!" added my uncle. "Prior to
that he had killed a solo cornet-player."
"No! Is that really a fact?" exclaimed Mr. Coombes.
"Of course it's a fact," answered my uncle testily; "at all events,
as much a fact as you can expect to get in a case of this sort.
"How very captious you are this evening. The circumstantial
evidence was overwhelming. The poor fellow, the cornet-player, had
been in the neighbourhood barely a month. Old Mr. Bishop, who kept
the 'Jolly Sand Boys' at the time, and from whom I had the story,
said he had never known a more hard-working and energetic solo
cornet-player. He, the cornet-player, only knew two tunes, but Mr.
Bishop said that the man could not have played with more vigour, or
for more hours in a day, if he had known forty. The two tunes he
did play were "Annie Laurie" and "Home, Sweet Home"; and as
regarded his performance of the former melody, Mr.
Pages:
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49