"
"It _must_ have been a mistake on the part of the chemist. No sane man
would take strychnine in order to commit suicide. Besides, how could he
have got it?"
"There was strychnine in the house," said Miss Pendarth slowly. "When
Mrs. Crofton was in Egypt it was prescribed for her. You know how people
take it by the drop? A chemist out there seems to have given her a much
greater quantity than was needed, and in an ordinary, unlabelled medicine
bottle, too." The speaker waited a moment, then went on: "Though she
brought it back to England with her, she seems to have quite forgotten
that she had it. But _he_ must have known it was there, for after his
death the bottle was found in his dressing room."
"What a dreadful thing! And how painful it must have been for her!"
"Yes, I think she did go through a very dreadful time. But, Janet, what
impressed me most painfully, and what I am sure would much distress Miss
Crofton were I to tell her even only a part of what I heard, was the fact
that the husband and wife were on very bad terms. This was testified to,
and very strongly, by the only woman servant they had at the time of his
death."
"I never believe servants' evidence," observed Janet Tosswill drily.
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