Q. Then you think some of the contents of this bottle were used?
A. That is my opinion.
Vandeloup was recalled, and deposed that the bottle Kitty took from
his desk was quite full; and moreover, when the other bottle which
had been found in her room, was shown to him, he declared that it
was as nearly as possible the same size as the missing bottle. So
the inference drawn from this was that the bottle produced being
three-quarters empty, some of the poison had been used.
The question now arose that as the guilt of Miss Marchurst seemed so
certain, how was it that Selina Sprotts was poisoned instead of her
mistress; but this was settled by Madame Midas, who being recalled,
deposed that Kitty did not know Selina slept with her on that night,
and the curtains being drawn, could not possibly tell two people
were in the bed.
This was all the evidence obtainable, and the coroner now proceeded
to sum up.
The case, he said, was a most remarkable one, and it would be
necessary for the jury to consider very gravely all the evidence
laid before them in order to arrive at a proper conclusion before
giving their verdict. In the first place, it had been clearly proved
by the Government analyst that the deceased had died from effects of
conia, which was, as they had been told, the alkaloid of hemlock, a
well-known hedge plant which grows abundantly in most parts of Great
Britain.
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