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“This bit of paper,” said Goodbody, extracting it from his breast pocket. “All crumpled and pushed down in one of his trouser pockets, sir. With your name on it, sir.”
Emerson snatched the scrap from him. “Curse it,” he remarked.
“So we thought…” Goodbody resumed.
“Yes, quite,” I said. “Very sensible. We will go round at once.”
It is only a short walk from the gates of the estate to the village and the White Boar. I took advantage of the time to point out to Emerson facts he knew quite well but was too irritated to admit. “It is our duty to inquire into this matter, Emerson; we are obliged, by custom and by our position in this little community, to assume responsibility. Surely it struck you as highly suspicious that there should be no identification on the fellow, not even a pocketbook. Someone must have removed that identification after drugging or attempting to poison-”
Stamping along beside me, Emerson let out a growl like that of an angry bear. I knew what he was about to say, so I raised my voice and went on.
“It is an assumption, I know, but one that fits the known facts. The man was robbed and left for dead. Dr. Membrane would not recognize a case of arsenical poisoning unless the victim held a sign with the word ‘arsenic’ on it. Once he learned the fellow had no means of payment, he left.”
“So now,” said Emerson resignedly, “we have progressed from poisoning in general to a specific poison. I despair of you, Peabody. I refuse to discuss the situation further until you-er-we have examined the individual.”
The village of Camberwell St. A
Mrs. Fi
She fixed trusting brown eyes upon me. Mrs. Fi
“Leave it to me, Mrs. Fi
“She will, she will,” muttered Emerson. “Curse it.”
“Tell me-did not the gentleman sign the register last night?”
“Oh, yes, Mrs. Emerson, ma’am. I will show you.”
The signature was a scrawl, totally unreadable except for an initial letter that might have been a B. Or a P.
“So much for that means of identification,” I said, returning the register. “Very well, let us go upstairs.”
The unknown had a small chamber at the back, on the second floor, where the ceiling slanted down at a steep angle. The furnishings were simple but adequate: a blue-and-white-braided rug, a wardrobe, a narrow brass bed, and a set of the usual china necessities, painted with bright red roses. Some of the paint had chipped off.
Emerson came to a halt in the center of the room, the only place where he could stand without hitting his head on a beam, folded his arms, and stared fixedly at the individual lying on the bed.
Someone, presumably the doctor, had loosened his cravat and opened his shirt. The rise and fall of his breast was so slight as to be almost imperceptible. His countenance was pale, but not deathly white, and his lips were curved in a faint enigmatic smile. Beard and hair framed his face like a fallen halo.
“Damnation,” said Emerson.
I had, of course, anticipated that it would be he.
THE REVEREND’S HEARTBEAT WAS faint but steady, his respiration slow but regular. His temperature was normal. There were no needle marks on his arms. When I delicately raised one eyelid, I found myself staring into a placid blue orb, the pupil neither dilated nor shrunken. He lay limp and acquiescent as a stuffed doll as I moved him about.
Mrs. Fi
“No smell of prussic acid?” inquired Emerson. “No gaping wounds? Broken bones? Pools of blood?”
I had proceeded to the next stage of the examination. “Not a pool,” I said, withdrawing the hand I had inserted between the pillow and the back of the reverend’s skull. “I doubt there was much blood to begin with, and it will have dried by now. Emerson, stop swearing-there are ladies present-and help me turn his head. Carefully, if you please.”
The injury was on the side of the head, above and behind the right ear. Mrs. Fi
“He may have fallen,” said Emerson desperately. “Hit his head and-”
“Hit it on what, while he was doing what? Banging his head against the mantel, which is of wood? Washing his hands in a china basin which is at waist height? There is nothing in the room hard enough or blunt enough to have caused such trauma.”
“Curse it,” said Emerson.
“Oh dear, oh dear,” lamented Mrs. Fi
IN MY OPINION WE had no choice but to remove Papagopolous to Amarna House. Emerson did not share in this opinion but gave in, simmering silently, when I pointed out that we could not leave him on Mrs. Fi
According to Mrs. Fi
(Emerson: “Jumping to conclusions again, Peabody.” Myself: “He had not unpacked nor prepared to retire. What was he doing for three or four hours?” Emerson: “Taking a nap, praying, scratching his…” Myself: “Never mind, Emerson.”)
The attacker must have entered through the door, since the room was on the second floor and the window was inaccessible from below.
(Emerson: “Ladder.” Myself: “How would he know where to find one? How could he ascend without being observed, or climb in through a window without arousing the suspicions of his victim?” Emerson: “Hmph.”)
It would not have been difficult for the assassin to gain entry to the room. He had only to wait until Mrs. Fi