“Right to the minute. Excellent woman. Good, that’s that fixed. Now, did you form any opinion as to how long she’d been dead?”
“Oh, really, doctor,” I said, “I shouldn’t like to say.”
“Don’t be so professional. I want to see if your estimate agrees with mine.”
“Well, I should say she’d been dead at least an hour.”
“Quite so. I examined the body at half past four and I’m inclined to put the time of death between 1:15 and 1:45. We’ll say half past one at a guess. That’s near enough.”
He stopped and drummed thoughtfully with his fingers on the table.
“Damned odd, this business,” he said. “Can you tell me about it—you were resting, you say? Did you hear anything?”
“At half-past one? No, doctor. I didn’t hear anything at half past one or at any other time. I lay on my bed from a quarter to one until twenty to three and I didn’t hear anything except that droning noise the Arab boy makes, and occasionally Mr. Emmott shouting up to Dr. Leidner on the roof.”
“The Arab boy—yes.”
He frowned.
At that moment the door opened and Dr. Leidner and Captain Maitland came in. Captain Maitland was a fussy little man with a pair of shrewd grey eyes.
Dr. Reilly rose and pushed Dr. Leidner into his chair.
“Sit down, man. I’m glad you’ve come. We shall want you. There’s something very queer about this business.”
Dr. Leidner bowed his head.
“I know.” He looked at me. “My wife confided the truth to Nurse Leatheran. We mustn’t keep anything back at this juncture, nurse, so please tell Captain Maitland and Dr. Reilly just what passed between you and my wife yesterday.”
As nearly as possible I gave our conversation verbatim.
Captain Maitland uttered an occasional ejaculation. When I had finished he turned to Dr. Leidner.
“And this is all true, Leidner—eh?”
“Every word Nurse Leatheran has told you is correct.”
“What an extraordinary story!” said Dr. Reilly. “You can produce these letters?”
“I have no doubt they will be found amongst my wife’s belongings.”
“She took them out of the attaché case on her table,” I said.
“Then they are probably still there.”
He turned to Captain Maitland and his usually gentle face grew hard and stern.
“There must be no question of hushing this story up, Captain Maitland. The one thing necessary is for this man to be caught and punished.”
“You believe it actually is Mrs. Leidner’s former husband?” I asked.
“Don’t you think so, nurse?” asked Captain Maitland.
“Well, I think it is open to doubt,” I said hesitatingly.
“In any case,” said Dr. Leidner, “the man is a murderer—and I should say a dangerous lunatic also. He must be found, Captain Maitland. He must. It should not be difficult.”
Dr. Reilly said slowly: “It may be more difficult than you think .