Fen settled in an armchair, after casting his hat inaccurately at a hook on the door, and offered them cigarettes. ‘Well?’ he queried. ‘Aconitine,’ said Elizabeth briefly. ‘In the tea.’ They all looked at the tray. There was a full cup on it, now almost cold. ‘How do you know?’ said Fen. ‘It comes of poring over these things. I held a little in my mouth, and it made my lips go numb.’ ‘You must have had some reason for suspecting.’ ‘Suspecting,’ Elizabeth repeated wryly. Her big eyes, with their uneven, sardonic brows, were very grave. ‘Yes. I had reason enough. You see–’ She went on to narrate, in detail, the events of the afternoon. ‘So you can understand,’ she concluded, ‘just why I began to have doubts about the tea.’ She gestured apologetically. ‘When one’s studying these things, one gets cagey – just as medical students tend to credit themselves with having the diseases they’re working on. At all events, I tried the stuff and’ – she shrugged – ‘that’s all.
