牙医谋杀案16

FIVE, SIX, PICKING UP STICKS

I
Twenty-four hours later Japp rang Poirot up. His tone was bitter.

“Washout! The whole thing!”

“What do you mean, my friend?”

“Morley committed suicide all right. We’ve got the motive¹.”

“What was it?”

“I’ve just had the doctor’s report on Amberiotis’ death. I won’t give you the official jargon² butin plain English he died as a result of an overdose of adrenaline and novocaine. It acted on hisheart, I understand, and he collapsed³. When the wretched devil said he was feeling bad yesterdayafternoon, he was just speaking the truth. Well, there you are! Adrenaline and procaine is the stuffdentists inject into your gum—local anesthetic⁵. Morley made an error, injected an overdose, andthen after Amberiotis left, he realized what he had done, couldn’t face the music and shothimself.”

“With a pistol he was not known to possess?” queried⁶ Poirot.

“He may have possessed⁷ it all the same. Relations don’t know everything. You’d be surprisedsometimes, the things they don’t know!”

“That is true, yes.”

Japp said:

“Well, there you are. It’s a perfectly⁸ logical explanation of the whole thing.”

Poirot said:

“You know, my friend, it does not quite satisfy me. It is true that patients have been known toreact unfavourably to these local anesthetics. Adrenaline idiosyncrasy is well- known. Incombination with procaine toxic⁹ effects have followed quite small doses. But the doctor or dentistwho employed the drug does not usually carry his concern as far as killing¹⁰ himself!”

“Yes, but you’re talking of cases where the employment of the anesthetic was normal. In thatcase no particular blame attaches to the surgeon concerned. It is the idiosyncrasy of the patient thathas caused death. But in this case it’s pretty clear that there was a definite overdose. They haven’tgot the exact amount yet—these quantitive analyses seem to take a month of Sundays—but it wasdefinitely more than the normal dose. That means that Morley must have made a mistake.”

“Even then,” said Poirot, “it was a mistake. It would not be a criminal matter.”

“No, but it wouldn’t do him any good in his profession. In fact, it would pretty well ruin him.

Nobody’s going to go to a dentist who’s likely to shoot lethal¹¹ doses of poison into you justbecause he happens to be a bit absentminded.”

“It was a curious thing to do, I admit.”

“These things happen — they happen to doctors — they happen to chemists … Careful andreliable for years, and then—one moment’s inattention—and the mischief’s done and the poordevils are for it. Morley was a sensitive man. In the case of a doctor, there’s usually a chemist or adispenser to share the blame — or to shoulder it altogether. In this case Morley was solelyresponsible.”

Poirot demurred¹².

“Would he not have left some message behind him? Saying what he had done? And that hecould not face the consequences? Something of that kind? Just a word for his sister?”

“No, as I see it, he suddenly realized what had happened—and just lost his nerve and took thequickest way out.”

Poirot did not answer.

Japp said:

“I know you, old boy. Once you’ve got your teeth into a case of murder, you like it to be a caseof murder! I admit I’m responsible for setting you on the track this time. Well, I made a mistake. Iadmit it freely.”

Poirot said:

“I still think, you know, that there might be another explanation.”

“Plenty of other explanations, I daresay. I’ve thought of them—but they’re all too fantastic.

Let’s say that Amberiotis shot Morley, went home, was filled with remorse¹³ and committed suicide,using some stuff he’d pinched from Morley’s surgery. If you think that’s likely, I think it’sdamned unlikely. We’ve got a record of Amberiotis at the Yard. Quite interesting. Started as alittle hotelkeeper in Greece, then he mixed himself up in politics. He’s done espionage¹⁴ work inGermany and in France—and made very pretty little sums of money. But he wasn’t getting richquick enough that way, and he’s believed to have done a spot or two of blackmail¹⁵. Not a nice man,our Mr. Amberiotis. He was out in India last year and is believed to have bled one of the nativeprinces rather freely. The difficult thing has been ever to prove anything against him. Slippery asan eel⁴! There is another possibility. He might have been blackmailing¹⁶ Morley over something orother. Morley, having a golden opportunity, plugs an overdose of adrenaline and novocaine intohim, hoping that the verdict will be an unfortunate accident—adrenaline idiosyncrasy—somethingof that sort. Then, after the man’s gone away Morley gets a fit of remorse and does himself in.

That’s possible, of course, but I can’t somehow see Morley as a deliberate murderer. No, I’mpretty sure it was what I first said — a genuine mistake, made on a morning when he wasoverworked. We’ll have to leave it at that, Poirot. I’ve talked to the A.C. and he’s quite clear onit.”

“I see,” said Poirot, with a sigh. “I see….”

Japp said kindly¹⁷:

“I know what you feel, old boy. But you can’t have a nice juicy murder every time! So long. AllI can say by way of apology is the old phrase: ‘Sorry you have been troubled!’”

He rang off.

 

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