able to stop him,’ said Colonel Philips fruitily, trying to take the sting out of Pride’s words.
‘No, I wasn’t,’ said the Duke shortly. ‘And I don’t think I can keep my other guests out of their beds much longer.’ He looked at his watch. ‘It’s twelve o’clock.’
‘Yes, of course,’ said the Chief Constable hurriedly. ‘Pride, I suggest we have a word with the gentlemen now but let the ladies go to their beds. We can talk to them in the morning.’
Pride looked dubious but since he had no official standing in the house he could only grunt his agreement.
‘Your Grace, may I use your telephone?’ Dr Best inquired. ‘I must send for an ambulance to take away the body. I can do the post-mortem tomorrow.’
‘Yes, of course,’ said the Duke, relieved to have an excuse for leaving the room. ‘And I will tell the ladies that they can go to their rooms?’
‘Yes,’ said Colonel Philips, ‘and say to the others, we – I mean Inspector Pride and myself – will come and take brief statements in a few minutes and then they too can go to bed. I don’t think there is much we can do until the morning.’
The Duke turned to go. ‘What do you think happened?’ he said to the doctor, his voice almost breaking. ‘I still don’t understand. I mean, it wasn’t the food. We all had the same food and drank the same wine.’
Dr Best put a sympathetic hand on the Duke’s shoulder. ‘I’m so sorry, Duke. This must be terrible for you and you need not worry that anything you gave the General caused his death. I cannot be absolutely sure until tomorrow when I do the post-mortem but in my own mind I am sure that the General must have taken poison.’
‘That’s what Ned said,’ reiterated the Duke, puzzled, ‘but why should he do it here at dinner?’
‘We don’t know, Duke,’ said Colonel Philips sombrely, ‘but we will find out. Perhaps he took the wrong pill.’
‘That reminds me,’ said the Duke, ‘my brother said he had noticed that there was a silver box in the General’s hand.’
Inspector Pride knelt again by the corpse and examined the hands of the dead man. He grunted, annoyed to have missed seeing the box when he had first looked at the body. Shaking his head, the Duke left the two policemen to their gruesome job. He escorted Dr Best into the hall to use the telephone and then braced himself to face his guests. He wondered if ever again he would be able to eat in the dining-room without feeling sick to the stomach. ‘What a terrible thing, what a terrible thing,’ he muttered to himself. What was he to say to his guests? How could he apologize for involving them in this nightmare?
In the dining-room Pride had prised the pill box out of the General’s hand. He had tried not to leave his fingerprints on it by using one of the napkins from the table, but since there could not be any fingerprints on the box except the General’s he did not trouble too much. He carefully opened the box and showed it to Colonel Philips. It contained five brownish pills. Pride sniffed at them but the only aroma was a musty smell that he guessed must be the snuff which the box had once contained.
‘These will have to go for analysis, of course, but they don’t look like cyanide to me,’ Pride said.
‘Perhaps the General had mistakenly included a cyanide pill along with these indigestion pills or whatever they are and it was pure chance that he took it tonight?’
‘Perhaps,’ said Pride non-committally. ‘Colonel, do you want me to take on this investigation officially or will you have one of your men take charge?’
‘Well,’ said the Chief Constable, ‘I would be very grateful if, since you are here, you could extend your stay with me for a couple of days and tidy all this up. It just happens that of my two best inspectors, one is on leave and the other has a complicated fraud case on his hands. I am sure there is nothing too sinister here – just some bizarre accident – and it
‘No, I wasn’t,’ said the Duke shortly. ‘And I don’t think I can keep my other guests out of their beds much longer.’ He looked at his watch. ‘It’s twelve o’clock.’
‘Yes, of course,’ said the Chief Constable hurriedly. ‘Pride, I suggest we have a word with the gentlemen now but let the ladies go to their beds. We can talk to them in the morning.’
Pride looked dubious but since he had no official standing in the house he could only grunt his agreement.
‘Your Grace, may I use your telephone?’ Dr Best inquired. ‘I must send for an ambulance to take away the body. I can do the post-mortem tomorrow.’
‘Yes, of course,’ said the Duke, relieved to have an excuse for leaving the room. ‘And I will tell the ladies that they can go to their rooms?’
‘Yes,’ said Colonel Philips, ‘and say to the others, we – I mean Inspector Pride and myself – will come and take brief statements in a few minutes and then they too can go to bed. I don’t think there is much we can do until the morning.’
The Duke turned to go. ‘What do you think happened?’ he said to the doctor, his voice almost breaking. ‘I still don’t understand. I mean, it wasn’t the food. We all had the same food and drank the same wine.’
Dr Best put a sympathetic hand on the Duke’s shoulder. ‘I’m so sorry, Duke. This must be terrible for you and you need not worry that anything you gave the General caused his death. I cannot be absolutely sure until tomorrow when I do the post-mortem but in my own mind I am sure that the General must have taken poison.’
‘That’s what Ned said,’ reiterated the Duke, puzzled, ‘but why should he do it here at dinner?’
‘We don’t know, Duke,’ said Colonel Philips sombrely, ‘but we will find out. Perhaps he took the wrong pill.’
‘That reminds me,’ said the Duke, ‘my brother said he had noticed that there was a silver box in the General’s hand.’
Inspector Pride knelt again by the corpse and examined the hands of the dead man. He grunted, annoyed to have missed seeing the box when he had first looked at the body. Shaking his head, the Duke left the two policemen to their gruesome job. He escorted Dr Best into the hall to use the telephone and then braced himself to face his guests. He wondered if ever again he would be able to eat in the dining-room without feeling sick to the stomach. ‘What a terrible thing, what a terrible thing,’ he muttered to himself. What was he to say to his guests? How could he apologize for involving them in this nightmare?
In the dining-room Pride had prised the pill box out of the General’s hand. He had tried not to leave his fingerprints on it by using one of the napkins from the table, but since there could not be any fingerprints on the box except the General’s he did not trouble too much. He carefully opened the box and showed it to Colonel Philips. It contained five brownish pills. Pride sniffed at them but the only aroma was a musty smell that he guessed must be the snuff which the box had once contained.
‘These will have to go for analysis, of course, but they don’t look like cyanide to me,’ Pride said.
‘Perhaps the General had mistakenly included a cyanide pill along with these indigestion pills or whatever they are and it was pure chance that he took it tonight?’
‘Perhaps,’ said Pride non-committally. ‘Colonel, do you want me to take on this investigation officially or will you have one of your men take charge?’
‘Well,’ said the Chief Constable, ‘I would be very grateful if, since you are here, you could extend your stay with me for a couple of days and tidy all this up. It just happens that of my two best inspectors, one is on leave and the other has a complicated fraud case on his hands. I am sure there is nothing too sinister here – just some bizarre accident – and it
Similar Books
