Page 25 of Evidence of Evil
The doctor rose to meet them with his hand held out. “Mrs. Grey? Mr. Grey? I’m Dr. Laing. Do sit down. How can I help you today?”
He was a fair, pleasant-looking man in his early thirties, who exuded an air of confidence and trust. Constance, who had reason to distrust many of his profession, thought his manner no more than ordinary for the owner of a rural practice who no doubt had ambitions toward greater things. Until she looked in his eyes, which were bright blue and curiously intense, almost driven. An interesting man.
She left it to Solomon to answer.
“You may have heard that we are guests of Sir Humphrey and Lady Maule.”
“My housekeeper did say. I trust I don’t find you unwell?”
“We are both fortunate in that regard,” Solomon said smoothly. “Our interest is rather in the lady whose body was found in The Willows lake.”
The doctor’s expression changed immediately to one of acute sadness, even distress. “Forgive me,” he said, an edge to his voice, “if I fail to see your interest in the matter.”
“It is not a salacious or malicious interest,” Solomon assured him, “nor even a personal one, except in so far as we are trying to help our friends.”
“The Maules,” the doctor said, relaxing once more, although his expression was still bleak. “I suppose you have heard that Colonel Niall is convinced of Lady Maule’s guilt in the matter.”
“He told us so himself,” Constance said, “though he failed to provide any evidence.”
“I would be hugely surprised if there were any,” Laing said dryly. “I believe the police from London have found none either. However, I fail to see what I can tell you that might help either Sir Humphrey or his wife.”
“You carried out the autopsy,” Solomon pointed out.
Laing grimaced. “I did. And not very well. It was fortunate that my assistant, Dr. Murray, was observing, for it was he who spotted what I failed to notice.”
“The lack of water in her lungs?” Solomon gazed at him, unblinking. “Forgive me, but how could you fail to notice such a thing?”
The doctor colored. “Unforgivable, I know. I confess I was merely going through the motions. It was so clear that she had drowned—as I thought—and to be frank, I found it upsetting to be carrying out such a procedure on someone I regarded as a friend.”
“Ah,” Constance said sympathetically. “So you and poor Miss Niall knew each other?”
Laing smiled slightly. “Of course. Mine is the only practice for miles. Everyone in the neighborhood is my patient. But I also dined occasionally at Fairfield Grange. And at The Willows. We even danced once at Mrs. Darby’s ball. Do you know Mrs. Darby?”
“Sadly not,” Solomon said, while Constance filed the name away for future reference.
“She has the big house about ten miles south of here. She is some kind of relation of the Nialls and held a ball to welcome them back to England.”
“I see.”
The doctor glanced from Solomon to Constance and back, a small, cynical smile forming on his lips. “Do you? Please don’t imagine I was trying to court Miss Niall. For one thing, she was very much my social superior. For another—and much more importantly—she was my patient.”
And an ambitious man in a small community would not risk his reputation.
“Forgive the thought,” Constance said. “We understand she was eminently court-able.”
“A beautiful and fascinating lady,” Laing said ruefully. “Such a loss to her family.”
Solomon leaned forward on his chair. “Was she ill, doctor?”
Laing hesitated. “You’ll appreciate my difficulties in discussing even a late patient with strangers.”
“I beg your pardon. Allow me to rephrase the question. To your knowledge, was there any likelihood, or even possibility, of Miss Niall dying of natural causes? Of some illness or condition that was not apparent to those who knew her?”
Laing shook his head slowly. “None that I ever found. I treated her only for minor ailments—and one small injury to her wrist. There were no signs of other illness.”
“Have youanyidea how she died?” Solomon asked.
Laing sighed. “None. There were no marks upon the body, no poisons in her stomach, no enlargement of the heart or other organs, no clots of blood on her brain or elsewhere.”
