"One you can't answer?"
"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.
"Some hours."
"You can't tell more than that?"
"Longer ago than five hours, certainly."
"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?"
Connery avoided answer.
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.
