Page 38 of A Study in Scarlet Women
“Reasonable enough, since I could dispatch a vial back within minutes.”
“But in the end there was more than enough chloral at Curry House,” Treadles pointed out, doing his best to keep his voice even.
Dr. Harris set his hands at the edge of the desk and leaned forward. “Which to me suggested two possibilities. One, he had been purposefully accumulating chloral. Keep in mind though, the last time he had a vial from me was shortly after I saw him six weeks ago. Is it not odd, if he planned to kill himself, to wait that six weeks? Not to mention he never struck me as a man who had the least desire to die before his time.”
Treadles exchanged another look with Sergeant MacDonald. “And the other possibility?”
Dr. Harris exhaled and clasped his hands together. “Let’s just say that I for one was not sorry that Mr. Sherlock Holmes of London took the trouble to write to the coroner.”
Treadles’s breaths came faster. He had to remind himself that he mustn’t get carried away—not yet. “You made no mention of your unease at the inquest, doctor.”
“I was never asked any question except whether I’d prescribed chloral for Mr. Sackville.”
“Given your misgivings, Dr. Harris, do you believe that it is a coincidence that Mr. Sackville happened to die on a day you were away?”
“That did give me pause.” Dr. Harris looked down for a moment at his hands. “I haven’t told anyone this, but at the inquest, had the letter from Mr. Holmes not been read, I would have said something about my suspicions, even though I was most reluctant to do so.”
“Of course. I understand that reluctance—it’s a small village and the glare of the public would immediately focus on those closest to Mr. Sackville.”
Dr. Harris nodded. “I was both baffled and relieved when Mr. Holmes connected Mr. Sackville’s passing with deaths in the wider world—since that would exonerate members of his household.”
“Would someone who isn’t from around here know that you’d be gone that day?”
Dr. Harris blinked. “I can’t be sure.”
“But people from the village would know?”
“They know that I travel to London once a month to meet with old friends from medical school, have dinner together, and talk about interesting cases we’ve come across—they more than I. Afterward, it’s usually late enough that I stay overnight and start back early in the morning.”
“Does it always happen on a fixed day?”
“Usually it falls in the middle of the month and I put a note on the church bulletin to that effect. Dr. Birch looks after my patients in my absence, as I do in his. But this isn’t the sort of place where one expects to hear frantic knocking on the door in the middle of the night. In fact, the unfortunate circumstances surrounding Mr. Sackville’s death were the first time Dr. Birch had cause to bestir himself for one of my patients when I was away in London.”
They thanked him and walk out of his house.
“I see you’ve something in mind, Inspector,” said MacDonald, after taking one look at Treadles.
“I hope you still have ink in your pen, sergeant,” replied Treadles. “We are going back to Curry House.”
Mrs. Cornish’s brows shot up as she opened the door to Inspector Treadles and Sergeant MacDonald one more time.
“Inspector. Sergeant. Did you forget something after all?”
“No, indeed, Mrs. Cornish. More questions came to mind after we spoke to Dr. Birch and Dr. Harris. Would it be all right for me to take a few minutes of Tommy Dunn’s time—and a few minutes of yours?”
“Certainly. Tommy is in the garden, I believe. Should I have him come in?”
“No, we’ll be happy to speak to him in his natural habitat.”
Mrs. Cornish pointed the policemen in the direction of the walled kitchen garden. Tommy Dunn, digging in a corner of the garden, was surprised but not alarmed to see them. “Something I can do for you, Inspector?”
“Yes, Mr. Dunn. Do you remember what exactly Mrs. Cornish said to you, when she came to ask you to fetch Dr. Harris?”
Tommy Dunn thought for a moment. “She said, ‘Quick. Get on that horse and go get Dr. Harris. Mr. Sackville is badly off. We can’t wake him up and I don’t think there’s much time.’”
“Anything else?”
“No.”
