As the surgeon carefully and deliberately pulled back the bedclothing and exposed the body of the man clothed in pajamas, the others watched him. Sinclair made first an examination of the head; completing this, he unbuttoned the pajamas upon the chest, loosened them at the waist and prepared to make his examination of the body.
"How long has he been dead?" Connery asked.
"Life is still present," Sinclair answered guardedly. "Whether he will live or ever regain consciousness is another question."
"The blow, as you can see,"--Sinclair touched the man's face with his deft finger-tips,--"fell mostly on the cheek and temple. The cheekbone is fractured. He is in a complete state of coma; and there may be some fracture of the skull. Of course, there is some concussion of the brain."
Any inference to be drawn from this as to the seriousness of the injuries was plainly beyond Connery. "How long ago was he struck?" he asked.
"Since four o'clock, then, rather than before?"
"Since midnight, certainly; and longer ago than five o'clock this morning."
"Could he have revived half an hour ago--say within the hour--enough to have pressed the button and rung the bell from his berth?"
Sinclair straightened and gazed at the conductor curiously. "No, certainly not," he replied. "That is completely impossible. Why did you ask?"
The doctor glanced down quickly at the form of the man in the berth; then again he confronted Connery. "Why did you ask that?" he persisted. "Did the bell from this berth ring recently?"
Connery shook his head, not in negation of the question, but in refusal to answer then. But Avery pushed forward. "What is that? What's that?" he demanded.
"Will you go on with your examination, Doctor?" Connery urged.
"You said the bell from this berth rang recently!" Avery accused Connery.
"I did not say that; he asked it," the conductor evaded.
"The pointer in the washroom, indicating a signal from this berth, was turned down a minute ago," Connery had to reply. "A few moments earlier, all pointers had been set in the position indicating no call."
"That was why I went to the berth--yes," Connery replied; "that was before I found the body."
"Then you mean you did not find the body," Avery charged. "Some one, passing through this car a minute or so before you, must have found him!"