He thought of what he might get out of Ransford if he, Bryce, were Coroner, or solicitor, and had Ransford in that witness-box.
He would ask him on his oath if he knew that dead man--if he had had dealings with him in times past--if he had met and spoken to him on that eventful morning--he would ask him, point-blank, if it was not his hand that had thrown him to his death.

But Bryce had no intention of making any revelations just then--as for himself he was going to tell just as much as he pleased and no more.

And so he sat and heard--and knew from what he heard that everybody there was in a hopeless fog, and that in all that crowd there was but one man who had any real suspicion of the truth, and that that man was himself.
The evidence given in the first stages of the inquiry was all known to Bryce, and to most people in the court, already.

Mr.Dellingham told how he had met the dead man in the train, journeying from London to Wrychester.

Mrs.Partingley told how he had arrived at the Mitre, registered in her book as Mr.John Braden, and had next morning asked if he could get a conveyance for Saxonsteade in the afternoon, as he wished to see the Duke.