"And then," I continued, "there came the excitements of the inquest."
"This is where you lick your lips, I perceive."
"There was a certain amount of feeling evidenced against Dr. Quentin.
To begin with, he was not the regular doctor, only a locum, putting in
a month's work, whilst Dr. Bolitho was away on a well-earned holiday.
Then it was felt that his carelessness was the direct cause of the
accident. But his evidence was little short of sensational. Mr. Paynter
had been ailing in health ever since his arrival at Croftlands. Dr.
Bolitho had attended him for some time, but when Dr. Quentin first saw
his patient, he was mystified by some of the symptoms. He had only
attended him once before the night when he was sent for after dinner.
As soon as he was alone with Mr. Paynter, the latter had unfolded a
surprising tale. To begin with, he was not feeling ill at all, he
explained, but the taste of some curry that he had been eating at
dinner had struck him as peculiar. Making an excuse to get rid of Ah
Ling for a few minutes, he had turned the contents of his plate into a
bowl, and he now handed it over to the doctor with injunctions to find
out if there were really anything wrong with it.
"In spite of his statement that he was not feeling ill, the doctor
noted that the shock of his suspicions had evidently affected him,
and that his heart was feeling it. Accordingly he administered an
injection--not of a narcotic, but of strychnine.
"That, I think, completes the case--except for _the_ crux of the
whole thing--the fact that the uneaten curry, duly analysed, was found
to contain enough powdered opium to have killed two men!"