about ten o'clock
A number of documents had been discovered , which , in the coroner 's opinion , threw a flood of light on the motives that led to the crime . A few dollars and a bull 's - eye silver watch , found on the dead body , precluded the idea that the murder was done for plunder . With that quickness of perception for which Coroner Bullfast , like most of his official kind , was celebrated , he had formed his theory of the murder , and tremendously strong must be the future testimony that could shake it . On the morning of the second day , Coroner Bullfast and the jury reassembled , about ten o'clock , in the room where the murder was committed . The coroner was a jovial man , with a bulging forehead , a ruddy nose , a large diamond breastpin -LRB- a real diamond , of that superlative style only seen in its perfection on the shirt fronts of aldermen , contractors , and Washington Market butchers -RRB- , and the native New York manner of speaking , which is sharp and mandatory . The coroner began life as a stone mason , gained early distinction as a fireman , controlled several hundred votes in his ward , became a member of a political committee , and got a coronership as his share of the spoils . He had aspired to be a police justice , or city inspector , or commissioner of the Croton Board .