She, the speaker, slept lightly, and that night had been tending a sick child.

Accordingly, she would have heard if there had been either the scream described by Lizzie Cole, or the sound of Lizzie Cole jumping out of bed.
"We quite understand that you think you saw the"-- the coroner hesitated--"the individual who had just perpetrated these terrible crimes.

But what we want to have from you is a description of him.
In spite of the foggy atmosphere about which all are agreed, you say you saw him distinctly, walking along for some yards below your window.

Now, please, try and tell us what he was like." The woman began twisting and untwisting the corner of a coloured handkerchief she held in her hand.
"Let us begin at the beginning," said the coroner patiently.

"What sort of a hat was this man wearing when you saw him hurrying from the passage ?" "It was just a black 'at" said the witness at last, in a husky, rather anxious tone.
"Yes--just a black hat.