7 : The Lying StrawsThe woman came forward to the stand self-consciously, constraining her natural gait into little mincing steps and holding her large hands, exaggerated by impossibly ornate gloves, in an affected position neither comfortable nor becoming.
John Widdowson turned to Mr. Scruby.
“Who’s this?” he demanded with the startled expression of an author at rehearsal finding an unexpected character in his play. “I’ve never seen her before.”
“Ssh,” said Mr. Scruby apprehensively as the Coroner’s glance shot towards them.
John gobbled in silence and the witness took her place.
She was a large woman, asthmatic and unhealthy-looking, with a white face, a pursed mouth, and gold pince-nez looped to her ear with a small chain. She wore a cheap black fur coat much too small for her and
