Nodding gently at Lizzie's comment, Bridget follows her instruction, and leaves the small pitcher where it was. Lizzie needed to calm down, so Bridget knew she had to do her best not to do anything which may further cause more distress.

"Here, just have some tea." Bridget says, handing Lizzie the chamomile cup, and hoping it would help sooth her nerves and mind.

11:55 AM
Borden Home
While Bridget and Hilliard exchanged pleasantries and conducted a tea ceremony Officer Fleet had been busy interviewing Mrs. Churchill. After half an hour in the parlour with her he felt he had gotten all the important information from her. Tentatively he opened up the door to the dining room and ushered Mrs. Churchill through it and into the kitchen, nodding to Hilliard and making apologizes for interrupting as they went. Having bustled Mrs. Churchill back into the kitchen Fleet paused at the door, and looked over at Hilliard.

“Sir, should I question Mrs. Russell now?”

((Assuming a ‘yes’))

“Alright sir… I’ll get right on it.” He peeked his head back into the kitchen.

Inside the kitchen Mrs. Russell was bending over Lizzie.

“Lizzie, drink your tea now, and take deep breaths. It will all be alright, I promise…” she tried to soothe her. Lizzie looked up at her with a face that said ‘How are you going to make it alright, exactly? Mrs. Borden and my father are dead.’

“I’ll get Dr. Bowen like I said…” Mrs. Russell said, backing up a little from Lizzie’s look, and then turned and found Mrs. Churchill back in the kitchen.

“Oh, Addie… Lizzie thinks someone poisoned the milk…” Mrs. Russell made a small face to show how ludicrous she thought the idea was. “I was just going to get Dr. Bowen, you should stay here with Lizzie, I don’t think she needs to be alone.”

“Oh! Yes, yes of course!” Addie quickly rose to the occasion again.

Fleet cleared his throat at the door. The three women in the room looked up. “Yes… actually Mrs. Russell if you’ll come with me I have some questions I am going to need to ask you as well. I think Mrs. Churchill can attend to Miss. Borden just fine.”

Alice Russell put her hand on her chest and looked around. “Me? You really need to speak with me? But I didn’t get here until only a few minutes before you all did. Truly I don’t know anything…”

Fleet looked over at her with an uncompromising expression. “I still need to ask you some questions, so if you’ll please come with me.” He held open the door for her.

Blushing slightly Alice nodded. “Well I suppose if you think I could help… Addie can you see if you can get Dr. Bowen?”

Alice caught Addie nodding in response as she moved into the dining room, and then into the parlour with Officer Fleet following her. He nodded politely to Hilliard and Bridget again and then closed the door behind him.

Back in the kitchen Addie turned to Lizzie. “Do you really think someone poisoned the milk? Oh how dreadful. This whole thing is dreadful. I still can’t believe it, and I’ve seen it with my own two eyes. Dreadful, just dreadful. Oh Lizzie. But I’ll do everything I can of course. I told Officer Fleet everything he needed to know. Oh I hope I didn’t forget anything, but I guess if I remember something later I can always call him up… But to think… this horrible murder, and right next door too! Oh!”

Lizzie raised a brow and listened to Mrs. Churchill ramble on for a moment. “Addie, Dr. Bowen?”

“Oh! Yes, yes… I’d nearly forgotten. How inconsiderate of me. I know this must be so hard for you. I know how it was when my Earl passed away, and that was nothing like this… but yes, where is he?”

“In the sitting room with Dr. Dolan…” Lizzie stated matter of factly.

“Yes, that makes sense… hold on dear, I’ll be right back.”

Lizzie watched her go out another door in the kitchen that lead to the sitting room. Then shook her head a little before dropping it into her hands and massaging her temples.

In the sitting room Mrs. Churchill walked in on Dr. Dolan performing his inspection of the body. She paled slightly seeing it and spoke up quickly. “Dr. Bowen, Lizzie needs to see you… when you can…but I’ll leave you both… to… your work…” And as soon as Dr. Bowen acknowledged that he had heard her she ducked back into the kitchen.

“He’ll be on his way shortly Lizzie…” she said and tried to smile, but suddenly she didn’t seem quiet as interested in being a part of this story as she did a few minutes ago.

Gossip 12:00pm
Outside the Borden Home
News travelled quickly in Fall River. There was already a crowd gathered when Marshall Hilliard had arrived, and despite his words of discouragement the crowd only continued to grow after he disappeared into the house. The mob moved restlessly in the oppressive August heat. It swayed, shifted, and crashed together, carrying on its waves the flotsam and jetsam information that feed it.

“Mr. Borden was really murdered?”

“And his wife too. Maybe Miss. Emma too, no one has seen her. They saw Miss. Lizzie at the door, and the maid, whatever her name was, but not Emma.”

“How?”

“Gunshot…”

“But no one heard any shots.”

“I heard they were hacked to death!”

“Hmpf! Seems someone finally gave old Andrew what he deserved!”

“What do you mean by that? And what about Abby?”

“What do I mean by that? I mean he was a difficult man. Everyone knows that. Remember the ads he used to run in the paper, about those coffins? Guaranteeing they’d keep your relatives in shape longer than any others. Creepy. You couldn’t do business with him, he’d always end up getting the better end of the deal. Never took a loan in his life, he’d swear, but he certainly gave them, and with high interest rates too.”

“Ha! I remember those ads, think they’ll put him in one of those coffins now? But do you really think that him being so stingy is enough to kill him over?”

“Well he certainly didn’t make a lot of friends around here. Maybe he rubbed someone the wrong way, you know?”

“I heard one of the bank employee’s was embezzling from him… maybe he did it.”

“Yeah…? And maybe the bogeyman did it… leave that up to the cops. I just want them to catch him, whoever he is… They were murdered in the middle of the day!”

“Someone saw John Morse around town yesterday.”

“Morse? Ain’t he a horse thief?”

“How should I know? But isn’t it convenient him showing up right before the murders?”

“Pshaw… like I said, leave that to the cops. Why haven’t they arrested someone yet? Didn’t anyone see anything, or hear anything? I mean… it’s the middle of the day!”

“Nah… I heard the maid found them and went running for help, didn’t see or hear nothing!”

“Nonsense someone had to see something, murderer’s can’t just go lurking around Fall River before dinner time and not get seen!”

“Well if someone had seen something, they would have arrested them already.”

“Maybe people aren’t talking. Maybe they’se scared or something…”

“Maybe they aren’t talking because they did it.”

“Yeah? Like who?”

“I dunno… what about Miss. Lizzie, or the maid, they were in the house right?”

“No… Lizzie was out shopping. Only the maid was there, she went for the doctor.”

“That’s not what I heard. I heard Lizzie found them, and started screaming. I also heard that it’s so awful in there that when Fleet arrived at the house he ran out screaming too.”

“Why would Lizzie kill her father and mother?”

“It’s not her mother, Abby is her –step- mother.”

“Really?”

“Yes. And maybe she did it to get her fathers money. I heard they argue about that all the time. You know she wants to move up to The Hill. Not like they couldn’t afford it. But Andrew wouldn’t hear of it, what would he do up there with all those society people? And of course Abby would take his side, she wants to get his inheritance so she can give it to that begging sister of hers.”

“Wait, didn’t someone say Emma was dead too? Why would Lizzie kill Emma?”

“Why would she kill her father? Who knows, maybe they saw something and she had to kill them too.”

“Maybe she’s hysterical.”

“Lizzie, an embezzler? You all are crazy! What about the maid? Or Dr. Bowen, or… Marshall Hilliard himself? You guys don’t know anything.”

“Who was that other guy, with the long face who went in?”

“I dunno, but he had a medical bag with him. Maybe he’s another doctor. Not that doctors will help them out much now.”

“That’s for certain.”

The crowd went on and on, running itself in circles as the day drug on…

"Thank you Brigit, that will be all for the moment." Rufus concluded.

"If you could please ask Ms. Lizzie to join me for a brief interview, we can get everyone else home. Thank you for your time."

He continued to sip away at his tea as he awaited his next appointment.

"By the way, this tea is lovely. Thank you kindly."

*sip*

(Sorry it's short, in a bit of a pickle IRL)

Bridget smiles, glad to be of service, "Thank you Mr. Hilliard."

She returns to the kitchen, to check on Lizzie.

"Lizzie?" Bridget begins tentatively, but before she does what she was bidden to do, she had to ask one thing first.

"Lizze, did you need me to do the dishes, or was there any laundry you had that needed washing?" Bridget asks, her hands beginning to shake slightly; she is clearly keeping herself calm by immersing herself in her work at this point.

As almost an afterthought, after Lizzie replies to her first question, Bridget adds, "I'm afraid Mr. Hilliard would like to see you now."

12:05 pm
Borden Home
In the sitting room Dr. Bowen had stopped helping Dr. Dolan for a moment when Mrs. Churchill came into the room and informed him that Lizzie needed his attention. But he was just getting started with Dr. Dolan, there was so much he could learn from a man like him.

With a sigh Bowen nodded to Dolan, “Just a moment good sir…” and then popped his head back into the kitchen.

“Everything alright Lizzie?”

“Yes Doctor, I’m fine. I think someone poisoned the milk, but really I’m fine. Alice is just worried about me.”

“Alright dear, I’ll finish up with Dr. Dolan, but if you need me I’ll be right here…”

Lizzie nodded and Bowen slipped back into the sitting room and rubbed his hands together, “Well what do you think doctor?” he grinned a bit at Dolan.


Then Bridget had come in and Lizzie looked over at her.

She returns to the kitchen, to check on Lizzie.

"Lizzie?" Bridget begins tentatively, but before she does what she was bidden to do, she had to ask one thing first.

"Lizzie, did you need me to do the dishes, or was there any laundry you had that needed washing?" Bridget asks, her hands beginning to shake slightly; she is clearly keeping herself calm by immersing herself in her work at this point.

As almost an afterthought, after Lizzie replies to her first question, Bridget adds, "I'm afraid Mr. Hilliard would like to see you now."
“Well… we haven’t had dinner yet, I am not all that hungry, but perhaps the others here are, Addie, Dr. Bowen, Alice… even the Marshall. Perhaps you should get something together for everyone. Biscuits, some of those cookies, perhaps get some pears from the backyard, and… maybe warm up some of that mutton soup again…”

Then she heard her say that Mr. Hilliard needed to see her.

“Of course he does.” She nodded and stood up smoothing out her dress. “Addie if you could help Bridget please…?” and then Lizzie went into the dining room.


In the dining room Lizzie gave an awkward smile to Hilliard. “Well Rufus, welcome to our home, I do wish this was under better circumstances of course. Emma is on her way… in case you were wondering.”

She took a seat opposite of Hilliard. “I suppose you want to know all the basics. Well… to start with today… I got up around nine am and came downstairs. I spoke to father and Mrs. Borden. Father left first, he always goes out in the morning to check on business in town, and today he was also going to go to the post office to deliver a letter I was sending to Emma. Then Mrs. Borden left, she said she had a note to see a friend who was sick. I don’t know who is sick. It was just Bridget and I in the house. I really didn’t see her until father came home, that would have been some time before eleven I’d think. Bridget let him in and I talked to him about the mail, then he went upstairs and I went out into the barn. You see I needed iron for sinkers for fishing, I was going to join Emma out in Fairhaven and we were going to go fishing. I think I found some, but left them there, I am not… well was not I guess I’m not going at all now, going to go for a few days see? Well I came back inside… and found father. I sent Bridget for Dr. Bowen… but he wasn’t home. Then I sent her to find Alice, and Mrs. Churchill came over… and… and after that…” she paused to think, “Well I think that’s when Bridget and Alice came by and found Mrs. Borden upstairs. I had thought that maybe I had heard the front door and that she might have come home, so they went to see if they could find her… I haven’t seen her since this morning… Dr. Bowen came over some time around then too, and went to send a telegram to Emma.”

She stopped a moment and looked at Hilliard, then went on in a calm collected way, as if she were not speaking of the murder of her parents, but instead what they should have for dinner.

“To be honest I am not all that surprised this has happened. We have been sick all week. Mrs. Borden and father were up late the other night vomiting, I could hear them through wall, and Mrs. Borden even went to Dr. Bowen for castor oil. You know I think she said something about poison, and I think she might have been right. I told Bridget not to serve you tea because I’m afraid that might be poisoned. The other day I heard some man and father arguing in the living room. And he was with someone late last night too, I could hear them talking downstairs, and they were so loud I even had to shut my door. But I don’t know who that was. Father didn’t have a lot of friends here in town, though I can’t think of anyone in particular that would want him dead. You know about the burglaries of course. Someone must have wanted him dead… I really wish I knew who so I could help more… but I’m just afraid I only know that he is dead and that I’ve had a funny feeling the last week. I hope this is helpful. Is there anything else?”

Bridget nods, glad to have something to do, "Alright, I'll see what I can do." She replies to Lizzie.

Bridget walks over to the stove, and stokes the fire a bit, bringing it back to flame. She pours more water in the kettle, and waits for it to boil. In the meantime, she rummages through the cupboards, searching for biscuits and cookies. After a moment, she finds them, and pulls out a plate to put them on. Setting out a fair assortment of biscuits and cookies, she places the plate on a serving tray, and waits for the water to boil.

"Addie, can you gather a few pears? I think four will be enough for now; I can always grab some others later if needed. What tea do you think I should make? I was thinking peppermint, but what do you think?" Bridget asks, pulling out the jar of peppermint tea bags while looking at the others.

Dr. Dolan managed to stare down his long patrician nose at the jovial little doctor. He arched an eyebrow at Bowen’s casual manner. He then glanced to his outstretched hand then placed his perfectly manicured hand in it, gingerly shaking it.

“Dr. Dolan”, he introduced himself crisply. “A pleasure”, he added, clearly nervous with the small talk and eager to get to business. With an obvious expression of relief, he followed him into the sitting-room and stared complacently at the covered form on the couch.

“Ah”, he said calmly. ‘Well, that’s that then”. He nodded, and then quietly padded over to the still form. What lay beneath would turn a lesser man’s stomach but never him. He observed that nothing on the body was taken, nothing touched, although there was obvious distress to the head of the victim, an eyeball displaced. He straightened. It would have had to have been a club-like object that had killed the man, something heavy…the base of an antique lamp perhaps, or the handle of an ax…

He looked over, startled, as Mrs. Churchill entered the room unannounced. Swiftly, he covered the body and smiled thinly. “My apologies, madam”, he managed.

“It is obvious that head trauma killed this victim”, he stated, turning to Dr. Bowen, “ trauma done with some sort of blunt weapon, heavy too. The entire side of the face was destroyed, the cheek bone shattered, the entire occipital orbit damaged. But of course, you knew that. What I find curious is that nothing else on him is touched. Absolutely nothing”. He paused.

“It’s a puzzlement”.

The Borden Home
Aprox 12:20 pm.

It was a little after noon when Emma arrived home.
A throng of people was gathered across the street from the house, some she recognized as neighbors, the rest were likely curious townspeople drawn here by the gossip that no doubt had spread like wild fire. Falls River was a quiet town with nothing going on more sinister than the occasional disorderly conduct of a tipsy patron at the local bar. A murder in a small town like this was unheard of and as such was sure to cause a fuss, the likes of which had not been seen before.

As she mounted the steps to the house, she saw no signs of anything being out of place. The house stood calm and steady as it had since her childhood with no physical sign that anything dreadful had happened here at all save for the whispering bystanders huddled together across the street.

She opened the door expecting to find chaos, the kind one would expect when a horrendous crime had taken place…instead she found the house eerily silent except for the creak of a floorboard beneath her feet. She closed the door and set her bag down. “Lizzie! Lizzie, I’m home" she called as she hastily removed her bonnet and proceeded to the kitchen where she found Brigit busily arranging tea cups and biscuits on a plate.

“Brigit, where’s Lizzie?” she asked. (Brigit acknowledges Emma is home and says Lizzie is speaking with Hilliard in the dining room)

Emma hurried into the dining room where she found Lizzie speaking to Hilliard. She rushed to her sister and embraced her.

“Oh Lizzie! My sweet! Are you alright?” she asked, not taking the time to acknowledge Hilliard. “ I got here as soon as I could!”. Oh it must have been absolutely horrible for you”, she continued without giving Lizzie a chance to respond. “I was so worried about you! When did it happen? Were you the one who found them?” (Lizzie responds by repeating the Information she had given to Hilliard just minutes before.)

“Oh dear…I wasn’t here…I wasn’t here.” She repeated. “How can I ever forgive myself!” For the first time she turned and acknowleged Hiliard. “Oh Rufus, I'm so sorry for ignoring you, I'm just in shock right now" she said apologetically. "Where are the bodies? May I see them?” She asked.

“It is obvious that head trauma killed this victim”, he stated, turning to Dr. Bowen, “ trauma done with some sort of blunt weapon, heavy too. The entire side of the face was destroyed, the cheek bone shattered, the entire occipital orbit damaged. But of course, you knew that. What I find curious is that nothing else on him is touched. Absolutely nothing”. He paused.

“It’s a puzzlement”
Dr. Bowen looked at Dolan with his mouth open a little bit, and the awe apparent in his face. “Blunt object… ahh… well yes I had thought of that, of course.” He fumbled a bit and fidgeted with the cuff links holding his shirt sleeves together.

“Yes… blunt. Although… are you sure it wasn’t like a knife or something? There almost seems to be gashes… you see?” He pointed toward the corpses forehead, “Though no, you must be right, blunt, a blunt object could cause that, with enough force. I’d imagine the attacker would have to be some sort of large man to have done all that damage. You are right, though, nothing has been touched. He still has his pocket watch and the ring on his finger.”

Bowen looked around the room, “Nor has anything in here been touched. Nothing knocked over, the window is closed… shut up tight. A puzzlement indeed. Would you like to see Abby now? She’s upstairs.”

Upon getting some kind of positive response from Dolan he moved out of the dining room and into the front hall, then the two mounted the steps going upstairs. On the upper landing three doors could be seen, two of which were closed, and the third lay open with light from an open window streaming down onto the polished wooden floor of the landing.

“She’s in there. The maid and Mrs. Churchill found her I think. I had them put a sheet over her as well. You know she seemed cooler to the touch when I first examined her, maybe she was killed first. She really hasn’t been touched either, as you’ll see. It is so strange, I can’t imagine why anyone would kill Abby. Interesting story though…”

He spoke as he walked into the guest room and let Dolan examine the body.

“As I said I’m their physician. Abby came over the other morning, not this morning but I think the one before, saying that she and Andrew had been up all night vomiting. She swore that she’d been poisoned. I tried to assure her that no one would poison her, it was just some bad food I said, and gave them some castor oil and told them to drink it with port wine and they would be fine. I came by the house later in the day to check on them, but Andrew refused to see me, saying he wouldn’t pay for an uncalled house call… surely old man he was.” He shrugged a little. “Tis strange though, I spent so much time trying to convince her that no one would poison her, and now here she is laying on the floor with her head bashed in… poor dear Abby…”

“Oh Lizzie! My sweet! Are you alright?” she asked, not taking the time to acknowledge Hilliard. “ I got here as soon as I could!”. Oh it must have been absolutely horrible for you”, she continued without giving Lizzie a chance to respond. “I was so worried about you! When did it happen? Were you the one who found them?” (Lizzie responds by repeating the Information she had given to Hilliard just minutes before.)

“Oh dear…I wasn’t here…I wasn’t here.” She repeated. “How can I ever forgive myself!” For the first time she turned and acknowleged Hiliard. “Oh Marshall, I'm so sorry for ignoring you, I'm just in shock right now" she said apologetically. "Where are the bodies? May I see them?” She asked.
Lizzie embraced her sister back tightly. “Oh Emma, it has been horrible. Just awful. But it isn’t your fault. I’m actually glad you were away, I simply couldn’t have bore it at all if you had been killed too. I’m so glad your home.” She pulled back and set her grey eyes on Emma, they were not wet, and her voice carried only the slightest hint of emotion.

“You really don’t want to see them sister. I haven’t seen Mrs. Borden, only father, but that was bad enough. Perhaps she isn’t dead, I mean… I haven’t seen her…” her brow furrowed as if in thought, then she shook her head, “No she must be, Bowen saw her, and he wouldn’t lie to me. Are you hungry Emma, after your trip you must be. Maggie is working on getting together some dinner. I haven’t eaten either, though I’d avoid the milk…” she leaned over toward Emma. “I fear it might be poisoned… but really I’m not that hungry, but you should eat something.”

Turning to Hilliard, “Is there anything else Marshall? Or may I take Emma to the kitchen to have a bite to eat?”

“Brigit, where’s Lizzie?” she asked.
Bridget stops setting up her tray and turns, "Oh, Emma, you're here already? Oh, Lizzie is in the dining room, being interviewed by Mr. Hilliard."

Bridget then begins carefully slicing the pears (assuming Addie got them...) and arranging those on her tray as well, in an elegant, restaurant style. Pouring the hot water into a proper formal tea kettle and putting a couple of peppermint tea bags in it, Bridget also puts this on the tray.

"I think that mutton stew might be a bit old now..." Bridget murmurs thoughtfully, "At least, it isn't proper to serve something old when there are formal guests here."

Bridget carefully places a few dishes and cutlery on the tray, and, balancing it on her arm, begins to make her way to the people who actually have an invitation to be here. She offers tea and pear slices and biscuits to Addie, Dr. Bowen, Alice and the others, carefully making her way around the house and trying not to interrupt people's work. She saves the dining room and the other room being used for interviews for last, trying not to intrude. She knocks before entering in either case and returns to the kitchen if she runs out of something before returning to the others.

Borden Yard
12:30 pm
Sawyer stood by the kitchen door as he had been commanded. He’d let in that self important doctor and Marshall Hilliard, then Emma Borden, but no one else. He could see glimpses of a large crowd gathered on the street in front of the house. Shifting uneasily he wiped the sweat that formed in large beads across his forehead off with an already damp handkerchief. The crowd seemed to be growing more and more upset by the minute, and if they were to decide to do something there would be nothing Sawyer could do to stop them.

Just then something specific caught his attention, the side gate was being opened. Sawyer tensed, drew himself up and waited to see who would walk through the gate. It was a man, a man whom Sawyer did not recognize. He was of an age that was leaving middle age and approaching the golden years, with heavy side burns, a top hat, a brown jacket and waist coat and a pair of well worn black pants. The man looked back at the crowd with a quizzical look then closed the gate behind him and casually walked down the path toward Sawyer.

Instead of mounting the steps to the little landing under the door where Sawyer stood, and where all the others who had come through that gate had gone he tipped his hat to Sawyer and moved toward the backyard.

“Sir? Excuse me…” Sawyer started to stammer as the man took an expected route.

He paused and looked up, then rose a brow, tipped his hat and said plainly enough, “Gooday… busy place today isn’t it?” then without waiting for a response he moved further into the yard.

“Sir. If you’ll pardon, are you with the police?”

Reaching up to grab a pear off one of the trees with one hand, while with the other he pointed to his chest, “Me? The police? Why certainly not, what would make you think so?”

“Sir, if your not with the police I’m afraid I am going to have to ask you to leave…”

“Ask me to leave!” The man actually started laughing at that point, stopping only to take a bite of a pear. “How absurd.”

“No sir, I really am asking you to leave…”

He stopped eating his pear and stared up at Sawyer. “And just who are you? Ordering me off this property like you own it…” he retorted quickly.

“James Sawyer… And yes, the police have asked me to keep anyone not part of the investigation off the premises.”

“Investigation!? What in the Lord’s name are you trying to pull on me boy! Now… I think it is time you left this yard immediately before –I- go get the police!” The man threw the pear to the ground and started to make his way toward the kitchen steps.

“Oh dear…” Sawyer muttered under his breath as the man approached with a very determined gait. Sawyer backed up into the screen door and then turned his head a little yelling into the darkness of the house, “Um… some help out here. Someone!”

Bridget looks over toward the source of the commotion outside, and murmurs a small 'Oh dear.'

Putting down her tray, and excusing herself from the group she was currently serving (if there was one and she wasn't making a luncheon), Bridget walks out to meet the man.

"Mr. Morse, please wait a moment before entering." Bridget says to the man as he reaches the door, "There are some things you should know..."

"It appears that..." Bridget chokes slightly on the words, but forces herself to continue, "Mr. and Mrs. Borden have been murdered. As such, there is an investigation going on, so I suggest staying in the kitchen for now, at least so that the others can finish their work first."

Bridget's hands begin to shake slightly, and she forcibly grabs and steadies one with the other. No, she had to go back to work. She couldn't afford to break down.

A wry smile ghosted across his patrician’s face and he averted his eyes slightly. He chuckled softly. “Quite, Dr. Bowen”, he replied crisply. “ The gashes gave me a moment’s hesitation as well, but yes, the idea that a sharp object made these marks, it is a common misconception. Blunt objects when levered with enough force can cause these so called gashes, though”, another slight smile touched his lips, “ the culprit need not be a man. Many women have a certain wiry strength that men tend to underestimate.”

He followed Bowen up the stairs and calmly entered the room with the door held ajar. “Thank you, I`ll be quite fine here”, he replied. He knelt next to the body and undid the golden clips to his case, wrapping his used gloves in a cloth and placing on new ones. Gently he removed the sheet, turned over the body and started examinations with a certain precise care. At Bowen’s words, he glanced up sharply, his analytical gaze glittering with thought.

“Poisoned”, he stated coldly, an inquisitive note in his tone. He opened the corpse’s mouth gently, closed it, and then shook his head. “She has good colour in the soft tissues of her mouth, no left-over inflammation. The question is, if the culprit had gone through the trouble to poison her, why would he bother to bash in her head with, what I presume, is the same weapon that he slew her husband with. “

He rose, shaking his head. “ A strange tale, my good doctor, but irreverent, I believe”.