All 6 Uses

inquest
in
Alias Grace
(Auto-generated)

Grace appears to have told one story at the inquest, another one at the trial, and, after her death sentence had been commuted, yet a third.†
Chpt 4 *

inquest = formal investigation
The next thing, Sir, was the Inquest, which was held very soon after we were brought back.†
Chpt 11
Well, Sir, I will continue — the day of the Inquest came, and I took care to appear neat and tidy, for I knew how much appearances count, as when you are applying for a new position, and they always look at your wrists and cuffs, to see if you are of clean habits; and they did say in the newspapers that I was decently dressed.†
Chpt 11
The Inquest was held in the City Hall, with a number of Magistrates present, all staring and frowning; and an immense crowd of spectators, and Press men, pushing and shoving and jostling, so as to be in a better position to see and hear; and these had to be reprimanded several times, for disruption.†
Chpt 11
When McDermott asserted that Grace helped him in his strangling escapade, he may very well have got the idea from the Kingston Chronicle and Gazette, which proposed it as fact, even before there was an inquest.†
Chpt 12
Then, at the inquest, she said she suspected Nancy was dead and in the cellar, though she hadn't seen her put there.†
Chpt 12

Definitions:

(1) (inquest)
a formal inquiry or investigation -- typically into the cause of an undesirable event -- often an investigation of an unexpected death
(2) (meaning too rare to warrant focus)