Читать книгу Seven Sins онлайн

53 страница из 79

"Certainly," said Dr. Fawcett. "There are several details to which I shall have to draw your attention, but the cause of death is unmistakable. It is for you," he added with a sly smile, "to explain how and where it took place."

"As to when," Firth challenged, "what are your findings, doctor?"

"I should say that Sir Giles had been dead not more than twenty minutes when I arrived."

"In other words, he died at just about the time that Lord Marcus called up Scotland Yard?"

"Exactly. Such is my reading of the matter."

"H'm," muttered Sergeant Bluett, and made another note. "I've got an idea."

"It is possible," murmured Firth. "What is this idea?"

"I was thinking about Mrs. Vane."

"I was thinking you might be."

Sergeant Bluett turned to Dr. Fawcett, his ingenuous eyes and upstanding hair lending him an absurd resemblance to a stout schoolboy. "Has it occurred to you, doctor, that she may be dead?"

"Dead!" the surgeon echoed.

"That's right."

Firth, brows drawn down so that his tawny eyes gleamed fiercely, stared at Bluett. His expression changed, and he glanced interrogatively at Dr. Fawcett. But the doctor was smiling again.