You admit that was one mystery that stumped you?” “You can have it in writing if you like. But don’t make me rack my feeble brain any longer.” Dr Javers took his time, sipping a spoonful of soup and savoring it deliberately along with his moment ot trmmpn. “The subject was poisoned by carbon tetrachloride— otherwise, the commonest kind of cleaning fluid.” Simon stared at him, blinking. “I thought that was supposed to be harmless. Unless he drank it. But I’m positive you never gave me any hint that he might have done that.” “I didn’t, and he didn’t. The clue I gave you was the lipstick stain on his coat. Although it was comparatively innocent, he probably thought it would be better to get rid of it than have to explain it to his wife. He got out a bottle of this cleaner and started to work on it. But, being in the condition he was, he knocked the bottle over and spilt what there was in it. After that, he gave up and went to bed.” “But if a few fumes like that can kill someone, from something that everybody uses, why aren’t people dropping dead all the time?”
