It is not probable that she slept during the
night. At least she was already completely dressed when, very early
the next morning, the parish-beadle knocked at the door of the hut, and
it was she who opened it.
He asked for the key of her house, because the corpse must be carried
to the town-hall.
"Why?"
"Because, early in the forenoon, the committee and the district
physician will come from the city to hold the coroner's inquest."
"Will he be present?"
"Who?"
"The--Herr von Abonyi."
The beadle shrugged his shoulders and said,
"I don't know."
Panna did not give up the key, but went with the beadle herself, and
was present when the latter appeared, with three other men and a bier,
and bore the corpse away.
The coachman Janos, and another servant, also came to fetch the wheels
and poles on which they had brought the dead man home the day before,
and which belonged to the castle. Panna locked her door behind them,
and followed the corpse to the town-hall.
In the centre of the court stood a long black table, surrounded with
all sorts of pails and various utensils, and near it a small one with
writing materials and a chair before it.
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