Read Online C S Lewis and the Country House Murders (C S Lewis Mysteries Book 2) by Kel Richards - Free Book Online

by cyanide. But that was never really in doubt. The interesting thing was his finding that the cyanide had been ingested in a solid lump by the deceased. The full technical account you’ll find here in his report.’
    With this he handed over the sheaf of papers.
    As Crispin glanced at the pages he asked, ‘Was the cyanide administered in liquid or powder form?’
    ‘Powder . . . definitely powder.’
    Inspector Crispin turned the pages of the report silently and slowly. When he had finished he puffed out his cheeks and looked puzzled.
    ‘It says nothing here,’ he said, tapping the pages, ‘about how such a large dose of cyanide could be in one slice of the cake without a single trace elsewhere.’
    ‘Yes, yes,’ burbled the local GP excitedly. ‘I noticed the same thing myself. Which does nothing to point us towards the solution to the most baffling part of the mystery: how did the cyanide get into the cake at all?’
    ‘Well, thank you, doctor,’ murmured the Scotland Yard man. ‘We won’t keep you any longer.’
    Dr Henderson rose somewhat reluctantly, muttering about ‘getting back to my patients’, but my impression was that he would have happily stayed for the next hour talking murder with the experts from London.
    Alfred Rose returned to offer us tea. The offer was accepted, then Crispin turned to me and said, ‘Now, Mr Morris, in your role as chief suspect I suppose I should begin by interviewing you.’
    As I agreed wearily, Sergeant Merrivale pulled out a notebook, huffing and puffing loudly like the faithful bulldog he was.
    ‘Were you watching as the cake was delivered to the table, cut and served?’ asked the inspector.
    I assured him that I was.
    ‘And during that process, what opportunity was there for someone around the table to tamper with just one slice of cake—tamper in the sense of inserting cyanide?’
    None, I said, unless Lady Pamela did so as she cut and served each slice. ‘Even then,’ I said, ‘she must have been performing some sort of conjurer’s trick in which the hand is faster than the eye. But aren’t you going to ask me about my relationship with the deceased? Look for a motive for murder?’
    ‘If you want me to I shall,’ said Crispin with an amiable smile. ‘So tell me, Mr Morris, how did you get on with Mrs Worth?’
    ‘Much the same as everyone else, to be honest.’ I went on to explain that I saw very little of her, that I’d only had one clash with her—and that was over her wanting to take one of the rare and valuable books from the library to her room. But apart from that, I said, I’d had almost no dealings with her.
    ‘After all,’ I added, ‘I’m not a member of the family . . . just the scholar in residence.’
    ‘Are you satisfied now, Mr Morris? Have I asked you the questions about motive that you wanted me to ask?’
    I looked at him blankly, surprised by his not taking his chief suspect more seriously.
    ‘And what about you, sergeant?’ Crispin continued. ‘Have I cross-examined this gentleman closely enough?’
    Merrivale snapped closed his notebook and gave an unpleasant smile. ‘For the time being,’ he said. Ah, I thought to myself, he speaks! The silent sergeant has a voice after all.
    ‘Now,’ the inspector resumed, ‘I’ll turn my attention to the matter that really interests me—the source of the cyanide.’

TWELVE

    It turned out that Inspector Crispin had made some preliminary inquiries before leaving London, and had decided that the local chemist’s shop was the most likely source of the poison. That was where he wanted his real investigation to begin. He even invited Jack and me to go with him. As we left the pub and started down the street, I had no idea that things were about to get much darker for me.
    The village chemist shop had a large flask of coloured water and an ancient ceramic mortar and pestle in its tiny window. In an arc over the top of the window, in fading gold paint and in the style of an earlier