TWO
It is another snowy November day near the end of 1921 in London. Many cabs are driving up and down the streets, puffs of steam billowing from the horses’ nostrils as they passed each other and small, shiny black taxis. Inspector Joaquin Theodore sits inside one of these cabs adjusting the high collar of his jacket and preparing his mind for the beginning of the investigation.
Just the evening before, he had received a telephone call from Officer Wilder himself informing Inspector Theodore that he would not be in for his night shift.
Theodore had originally planned to take this cab to The Crescent Fleet of Inspection, or CFI, where he worked when one of his colleagues hurriedly told him of Officer Wilder’s sudden end. He was sent off immediately to the scene in Wilder’s flat.
Upon arriving, Inspector Theodore climbs the worn, dusty stairs, ducks under police tape and barriers, to find the cluttered room and the body of the officer. Two policemen and the Vice-Chief of Inspection, are standing just inside the room, the policemen snapping photographs of the scene and the Vice-Chief strokes his grey beard.
“It’s curious, Joaquin,” The Vice-Chief begins, not meeting the eyes of the imposing Inspector in the dingy doorway. “Why would someone as unimportant as Thomas be murdered in such a way?”
Inspector Theodore steps in and crouches by the body. Foam from the pale lips suggest poison, so does the fact that all clutter is cleared away from the body in a five-inch radius in the shape of a snow-angel, which reveals the possibility of spasms before death.
Theodore quickly shuts off his emotions as he has trained himself to do as a necessity. This man had been as good of a friend to Joaquin as anyone dared, or was allowed, to be. It would not suit the work if Joaquin let his sighing heart speak its own opinion of this grisly sight. The Vice-Chief then, at last, draws up his eyes to meet Inspector Theodore’s. “I should have notified you before your coming here, Joaquin, but you have been assigned a partner for this investigation.”
Inspector Theodore cautiously fingers through the items surrounding the body and speaks in a low voice, “I beg your pardon? I do not think I heard you correctly… a partner you said?”
The Vice-Chief nods adamantly and shrugs, “She’s a transfer from the Edinburgh region of our Crescent Fleet. A very fine girl I hear, highly trusted in her sector.”
Theodore chuckles, “I am sorry to disappoint, but I will be taking on no partners in the near future, thank you.”
“That is not a choice you have, lad. In fact, she is here now.”
He quickly stands and turns to find a young woman just behind him, leaning casually against the doorway. She tucks a thick blue scarf back from her face and gives Inspector Theodore a polite smile.
“I’m surprised you did not notice me here before, I have been here quite a while.”
“I was absorbed in my work, Ma’am.” He replies curtly.
“I apologize if I speak out of turn, but it seems you were too absorbed in your own work to notice your own work.”
Joaquin crosses his arms definitely, “Oh, indeed? And how do you mean?”
She kneels down and lifts the hand of Officer Wilder. “See, just here. The silver ring he wears, far too feminine for a man of his age. Now it may be a gift from a sister or lover, but why would he wear it on his smallest finger? Because it was made for someone much smaller than he, and look,” she slides the ring off his finger and points to the inside, “‘Lucy’ it says. And here,” she runs her finger over where the ring had been, “it challenged his circulation; being wise, he did not wear it often as is plain just here. The tip of his finger would be far more blue that it is.”
Inspector Theodore stares at the hand she holds up to him, “What are you saying?” He inquires hesitantly.
“This ring was placed on his finger, following his death.”
“What does that tell you about the killer?” Asked the Vice-Chief.
“The fact that the killer knew of this ring tells us that this attack was well planned, he knew more about this officer than, I’d guess, anyone else. I hope you have come to a conclusion on the murder weapon, Joaquin?”
“That would be Inspector Theodore. And the answer would be poison as the facts suggest.” He points to the clues listed earlier.
“And the means by which it was administered?”
Inspector Theodore opens his mouth, and then, finding that he does not have an adequate answer, he closes it again. The Vice-Chief bites his lip to keep from smiling wryly at watching Joaquin’s pride be humbled.
The young woman nods, “I myself was at first puzzled also when it came to this matter. But then, see, a thermometer lies near, and just above where it sat in his mouth you can see a brown film…” Her voice trails off as she looks around the room, eventually sighting the mug left on Wilder’s desk from the evening before. She stands quickly and touches the tip of her finger to the liquid inside.
“In here, it looks like the same as was on the thermometer. And in the centre… there’s a small scar in the film... must’ve had it dipped sometime yesterday evening.”
She lifts the mug gingerly and hands it to one of the officers that stands beside the Vice-Chief. “Take that to forensics, have them find out the sort of poison it is.”
The officer leaves the room and the young woman turns to Inspector Theodore, giving him the same congenial smile she did upon their meeting, only this time slightly more smug.
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