"And no one else came into the lab, or saw him, from midnight until Dr.
James found him this morning?"
The question was rhetorical, Auckland knew. No one would admit either
seeing Glamis or entering the lab between midnight and the time he was
found. He said to Edholm, "I'll be back in a few moments," and nodded
to Ekem-ve.
* * * * *
The box rested on the table in the recreation room, and the others sat
around in various postures and attitudes of unease. None of them had
liked Kenneth Glamis, and all but one feared unjust accusation, however
they assured themselves that their innocence left them nothing to fear.
"There have been times," Howard James said, "when I could have killed
him with the greatest of pleasure." He did not look at Amelia, who was
chain-smoking.
"I think," said Edholm, "that the first question we have to resolve
is whether Dr. Glamis was really the victim intended. I admit, sir,"
he nodded at Auckland, "that I was dubious about the previous alleged
attempts on Dr. James's life, but now it seems to me that they make
more sense. I think they were deliberately botched, so as to give the
impression of ineptness. I think that a competent person was posing as
incompetent because that person had tipped his hand earlier, or thought
he had, and wanted to misdirect his victim."
Howard James frowned. "You mean that if it had not been for the
_dodlig_ in the soup or the bomb in the cellar, I might have been
careless about opening a Vaec box?"
"Regardless of whether Dr. Glamis was the intended victim, we are still
faced with a murder to solve," Auckland broke in. He switched on the
lights. "I would like you two to look at this box again and tell me
which side was facing you when you saw it in the lab last night." He
got up and started to turn the box slowly. He hadn't gotten far before
a scream came from Amelia.
"She's fainted!" snapped Edholm, but James was already by his wife's
side, "What's the meaning of this, Auckland?"
"Something very simple," said Auckland. "So simple that no one noticed
it, even if anyone did examine the photographs on the table." He took
the color pictures out of his pocket and spread them out. "You will
observe that the pictures show a box with black designs and orange
shadings, on a pale blue background; and Amelia said she saw a box with
black designs and orange shadings on a pale blue background."
"But it _is_ a blue--" began Burleigh then stopped and stared. "Good
heavens, it isn't. It's white.... But I could have sworn."
Auckland glanced at Shirley who was visibly pale now. "You were right,
Cal. The box actually _is_ pale blue. But as Shirley and I discovered
yesterday, the Vaec blue tends to wash out under fluorescent lights."
A slight moan came from Amelia, then she sat up again. "I'm all right,"
she said faintly. "It was just the shock of realizing...."
"Yes," said Auckland. "You see there are two possible explanations.
One is that you actually saw Glamis working there by daylight, without
lights on--which would make the time you saw him this morning, rather
than last night--or that the box you saw him working on was not the box
before us now."
"But why should we lie to you, Roy?" asked James.
"Fortunately, we don't have to bother about that, Doc. Ekem-ve, did
Hcent find what she was looking for?"
"Yes, excellent Roy," replied the Carolinian. "Is it your wish that she
bring it in now?"
Auckland nodded, and Ekem-ve wiggled his finger in the parting gesture
as he left the room. "As soon as I heard Amelia describe a pale blue
box, I thought of a substitution, so I asked Ekem-ve to see if he or
one of the others could find something that looked like a Vaec box
anywhere around."
Ekem-ve entered carrying a box the same size and shape as the one on
the table. At a gesture from Auckland, he put it beside the white one.
"I'll be damned," said Edholm. The box Ekem-ve had just brought in
had black designs with orange shadings, not unlike the other, but its
background was clearly a pale blue. Auckland switched off the lights,
and both boxes showed a pale blue background. Set side by side, the
difference in tone was just barely noticeable.
"So you see," Auckland said, "the second explanation of the discrepancy
is the simpler one. Where did Hcent find this box, Ekem-ve?"
"She says box concealed in shrubbery outside shower rooms."
Auckland glanced around. "So now we begin to see the mechanism of
murder. Dr. James asked for a Vaec box to examine--" he switched on the
fluorescents again "--and Ekem-ve brought this box which now appears
white into the lab. Presumably, no one here had examined these boxes
closely before, but this presumption must be discarded.
"Dr. James intended to examine the box last night, but the unexpected
discovery of the book made him put it off. Dr. Glamis went to the lab,
as he often did, and after puttering around with whatever he went there
to do, decided to examine the box himself. But someone had substituted
what you can see is a very clever imitation."
"But, I don't understand," James interrupted. "What was the danger in
the imitation?"
"Glamis pricked his finger on something sharp. Do you know how to open
the Vaec boxes, Doctor?"
"Of course." James arose and went to the table, and picked up the box
with the blue background.
"Not that one," said Auckland.
"Oh. Heavens, it is easy to forget the difference, isn't it." He put
the imitation down and said, "You'll see that there are large solid
black squares on opposite sides. You just press them." He squeezed and
the lid flew open.
"Exactly," agreed Auckland. He opened a drawer and took out a small
cutting tool with a cord, which he plugged into a socket on the desk.
"I'm sorry to damage a work of art, but this is necessary."
A moment later he had the top off the imitation. "Now, if you will
all look inside." They gathered around the little box, and gazed in
fascination at the slender object projecting from one of the sides.
"This needle," Auckland said, "was set so that the person pressing the
solid black squares to open the box would prick his finger."
Shirley Mason was gripping the edge of the table, her knuckles white.
"But I didn't ... I didn't ..." she whispered.
"When did you make the imitation, Shirl?" Auckland asked.
"I ... it was a month or so ago. Then I put it away. I haven't seen it
for a couple of weeks. I didn't think about it. You've got to believe
me, Roy. I didn't make it for a death trap."