"Excellent. I can go further. The best, most conscientious butler I ever had."
"Did you ever get the idea he had any enemies?"
"No. He seemed the most peaceable of men."
"None of the other servants were jealous of him?"
"On the contrary, they seemed to like him very much."
"He scarcely ever went to town. Once or twice he asked me for permission to go with my chauffeur--for a hair cut, and so on."
"What did you observe about his health? Did it seem to be good?"
The coroner's interest quickened. "You weren't aware, then, that he had an incurable malady?"
"No. And I don't think he had. At least I never saw the least sign of it. None of the other servants ever mentioned it."
"He was rather gray--from his indoor life, I suppose. But he never looked sick to me."
"Good Heavens, I don't see how we can think anything else!"
"You can ascribe no reason for his murder."
"You can't, eh." The coroner paused, several seconds. "To come back to yourself. You were here less than a month. May I ask what was your idea in buying this manor house?"
"I can't hardly say a home. I got it more for a winter shooting and fishing lodge. My home is on the Hudson. I'm very fond of fishing and shooting. I loved the place on sight."
"I take it, then, that you are a man of large financial means--able to indulge your whims even to the extent of buying a shooting and fishing lodge such as this?"
Nealman stiffened slightly. "I don't see how that point can possibly have any bearing on this case."
"The merest detail of the lives of any one of the actors involved often throws light upon a crime." The coroner spoke slowly, seemingly choosing his words with care.
"I am not a man of great wealth, if that's what you want to know," Nealman answered at last. "I feel--I felt able at the time to buy this house."
"No great financial disaster has overtaken you since, I judge?"
Nealman's voice dropped a tone, and he spoke with a curious hesitancy. "No. I shouldn't say that there had."
The coroner halted, gazing absently at the carpet, and then began on a new tack. "This butler of yours--I suppose you paid him a good wage?"
"It would be considered so, among the men of his occupation."
"Do you know if he had any large amount of money saved, or if he carried any large amount on his person?"