The coroner, a genial-looking man with wispy grey hair, gold-rimmed glasses and the bedside manner of an experienced doctor, explained to those in attendance that an inquest was not a trial but an opportunity to lay out all the facts and assess them. The police had already concluded that the death of Danny Winter had been an accident. In turn, each of the four remaining Crazy Crows gave their account of the day’s events. Derek said he saw no more than the boat leaving with three high-spirited occupants and returning about forty minutes later with only two. He didn’t hear if an altercation took place on board, as he fell asleep on the sand, but reiterated Peter’s statement that he didn’t hear anything either, and he would have woken Derek if he had. Eric told the inquest that Danny started fooling around, stood up and fell in. Eric was not a confident swimmer and if he’d also gone into the water, they would be talking about two deaths today and not one.
