A Hint of Scandal

The doctor's examination was over, but he hesitated and cleared his
throat.

"Mr. Coroner," he said, "at the risk of taking up valuable time, I
would like to speak of an incident that may or may not throw some light
on this matter."

The audience was alert at once.

"Kindly proceed, Doctor," the coroner said.

"My home is in Englewood, two miles from Casanova," the doctor began.
"In the absence of Doctor Walker, a number of Casanova people have been
consulting me. A month ago--five weeks, to be exact--a woman whom I
had never seen came to my office. She was in deep mourning and kept
her veil down, and she brought for examination a child, a boy of six.
The little fellow was ill; it looked like typhoid, and the mother was
frantic. She wanted a permit to admit the youngster to the Children's
Hospital in town here, where I am a member of the staff, and I gave her
one. The incident would have escaped me, but for a curious thing. Two
days before Mr. Armstrong was shot, I was sent for to go to the Country
Club: some one had been struck with a golf-ball that had gone wild. It
was late when I left--I was on foot, and about a mile from the club, on
the Claysburg road, I met two people. They were disputing violently,
and I had no difficulty in recognizing Mr. Armstrong. The woman,
beyond doubt, was the one who had consulted me about the child."