The Weak-Eyed Bat

“I saw Joan,” Susan admitted in a trembling voice. “I used the mosquito oil as an excuse. She let me into her room sometime after Ralph left.”

She paused and Prye said, sighing, “You wanted your father’s diary.”

“Yes.”

Prye turned his head toward the head of the table. “Your diary has caused me a lot of trouble. I hope it’s worth it.”

“Not any longer,” Frost said, smiling. “I burned it. A gesture symbolic of a new life. You see, I am a sentimentalist after all. If I weren’t I wouldn’t have struggled into a stiff collar two sizes too small.”

“You look very handsome,” Emily said graciously.

“I’d like to ask a question that’s bothering me,” Nora said. “If Mary was out in the storm on Tuesday night she must have been wet when she got home. Why didn’t Jennie notice it when she woke up?”

“Mary was damp and Jennie did notice. When Mary came back to the house she took off her wet clothes and got into bed. The only thing she couldn’t cover up was her wet hair, so she took the precaution of spilling a glass of water. Jennie assumed that she was nervous because of the storm and that the glass slipped out of her hands.”

Ralph leaned across the table toward Prye. “What was that business of Jennie turning off the lights and trying to escape?”

“Jennie could scarcely explain it herself,” Prye answered. “The main idea, though, was to give Mrs. Little a chance to get away. It was one of those impulsive gestures based on a genuine fondness for Mrs. Little and a feeling that both murders had been justified. The hearing test I gave her was very crude but it served the purpose of making her realize that I suspected her hearing was subnormal and consequently suspected the alibi that partly depended on her hearing. The majority of people are able to hear this watch of mine at a distance of three and a half feet with one ear closed.”

They were silent a minute.

“What did Mary mean when she said her kidneys had dried up?” Emily asked suddenly. “Or was that just a delusion?”

“A delusion based on the fact that sulfanilamide in large quantities does poison the kidneys. This type of delusion is very common among the mentally ill. One man may claim he can’t eat because he has no stomach, another may insist his throat is blocked or his bowels are shriveled. Knowing the effects of the drug Mary thought her kidneys had dried up.

“Because of some of its unpredictable qualities sulfanilamide itself lately has given place to its compounds, sulfapyridine and sulfathiazol. The effects of these are less unpleasant. In Mary’s case, however, her system must have been saturated with the drug to have such results. I estimate that she took one hundred and twenty grains in twenty-four hours, about the maximum dosage. The cyanosis, the fall of blood pressure, and the weak pulse are symptomatic of both sulfanilamide poisoning and a heart attack.”

“My question,” Professor Frost said, “is hypothetical. Suppose, Prye, that Mrs. Little had not confessed and had not been insane, could you have proved your case against her in a court of law?”

“That would depend,” Prye said dryly, “on the judge, the jury, Jennie, and the talents of the counsel for the defense, in other words on the variable human element. My chief point was the sulfanilamide. Its presence in the blood stream could easily be verified; but what about the reason for its presence? I would tell the jury that the drug had been used to simulate the symptoms of a heart attack and establish an alibi for the accused. The defending lawyer would insist that poor Mrs. Little had felt an attack of strep throat coming on and had used the medicine which a doctor had prescribed the year before for the same thing.

“Juries love fingerprints, but they frown on cases built up on lack of fingerprints. Besides, Mrs. Little could have denied the story she told me of flinging the ring out of the window; or, better still, her lawyer could have the story thrown out of court because she had been given an eighth grain of morphine a few hours previously.

“Her motive has always been obvious, but so many of you had obvious motives. Offhand I’d say I could have built a better case against Miss Bonner, and by better I mean a case composed of tangibles, the tangibles being fifty one-hundred-dollar bills.”

Ralph looked at Emily in astonishment. “What were you doing with five thousand dollars in bills, Aunt Emily?”

Emily said calmly: “I was going to buy you a new car, my dear.”

“You were! Really, I— That’s awfully nice of you.”

“It’s nothing at all,” Emily said. “Just a little present for your birthday.”

“But my birthday isn’t until January!”

Emily gazed at him reproachfully. “You can’t expect a poor old crippled lady to remember dates.”

“Of course not!” Prye said severely, and Emily had the grace to blush. “Mr. Smith, your question is the last one. I hope it’s good.”

“It isn’t good, no,” Mr. Smith said cautiously. “I merely want a simple explanation about that nurse dying, Miss Alfonse.”