On penetrating into the inner room, they discovered the body of Harrison, lying half-dressed on the bed. It was cold when found, and the features much distorted. Various articles in the room were flung about in a disorderly fashion and the trestle-bedstead was broken. Both in this and in the outer room there were signs that the dead man had vomited persistently. A bottle of whiskey and a tumbler were found beneath the bed.
As there is no telephone communication between The Shack and Manaton, Mr. Lathom was obliged to go on foot to summon assistance. The landlord of the inn at Manaton telephoned to the police-station at Bovey Tracey. Sergeant Warbeck, who received the message, communicated at once with Dr. Hughes, and proceeded in the doctor’s car to the scene of the tragedy.
The Coroner : Was Mr. Harrison a man of cheerful disposition?—He was a reserved man of quiet tastes and behaviour on the whole, though subject to occasional fits of annoyance about trifles.
During