Spotted Hemlock

‘She could have been taken ill along the road and crawled into it to sit or lie down. She could have died in some innocent person’s car and been dumped when this person panicked. She could have taken the stuff, knowing it to be poison, and crept into the coach to die. Of these hypotheses, two are, of course, untenable, and another is highly unlikely.’

‘Oh?’

‘You did not see the inside of the coach after the body had been removed, but I did. There were no signs of vomiting and—there were no rats. I searched carefully, and so did the police, although I don’t know that we were looking for the same things.’

‘But the theory that she might have died in someone’s car and been dumped would still hold water. Why is it so unlikely?’ asked Miss McKay, later on when she and Dame Beatrice were discussing the tragedy and Mr Clotford had returned to duty.

‘Because, if she was dumped in the coach, she was dumped somewhere else first. There’s not much doubt but that the rats got at the body before it was put into the coach. Somebody has guilty knowledge of how that girl died.’

Carey, brought into consultation later, pointed out that the root of the spotted hemlock could be mistaken for parsnip, its growth of leaves for parsley.

‘You must remember that she was a student at an agricultural college,’ said his aunt. ‘She wouldn’t be likely to confuse things of that sort, would she?’

‘True enough. What, then, do you suspect?’

‘Foul play, of course. What else?’

‘Are you sure it couldn’t be suicide?’ Carey persisted.

‘There are easier ways of killing oneself. Death by most forms of poisoning is not a painless one, and death by spotted hemlock, though not to be compared with the agonies of taking the roots of the water hemlock, is very, very unpleasant. The symptoms of taking water hemlock are burning in mouth and throat, abdominal pains, nausea, palpitations, vertigo and brief fainting fits, followed by the most terrible convulsions at intervals of about fifteen minutes. Unless counter-measures are taken before the second of these convulsions, during which the patient screams, vomits and grinds his teeth, death follows as a matter of course. Poisoning by spotted hemlock is a paralytic illness, and quite often asphyxiation is caused by respiratory paralysis, although circulation remains comparatively normal. Of course, most of the cases one gets are those of children who have experimentally chewed the stuff, which looks and tastes rather like parsley, as you say.’

‘Children will chew anything,’ remarked Miss McKay, ‘in spite of all they are told in schools. We have water hemlock in one of the college ponds, and the spotted hemlock is of fairly wide distribution round here, but it has done flowering by now. It flowers in June and July. One relates it to Ancient Greece. Did not Socrates die from drinking an infusion of spotted hemlock?’

‘Yes, so we are told. Unfortunately for this poor girl, spotted hemlock is at its most deadly at this time of year, and we may suppose that her murderer knew it. But are you not rather rash to allow the water hemlock to grow on land where cattle are kept? The common name for water hemlock is the cowbane.’

‘To tell you the truth, I noticed it only the other day, when I was taking a short cut back to college. I think I will have it uprooted and burnt. Not that cattle are ever put into that particular field. You don’t mean that, after all, poor Miss Palliser took water hemlock and not spotted hemlock, do you?’

‘No, no. But have you an expert on poisonous plants, either a member of staff or a student? If so, I should be glad to make use of her specialised knowledge.’

‘Nobody, so far as I know. Ah, wait a moment! I believe the dead student herself had made some experiments. I must ask Mr Clotford. He will know. Well, now, Dame Beatrice, you’ve told us the symptoms and course of death by taking the water hemlock. How about the symptoms of poisoning by spotted hemlock? You did say it was a paralytic illness…’

‘Before I answer that, I think I ought to inform you, Miss McKay, that Miss Palliser was no longer Miss Palliser; she was a Mrs Coles. Moreover, I should have taken the body to be that of a woman of at least thirty. It is very odd.’

‘Oh, I guessed she had married,’ said the Principal, calmly. ‘Our students do, from time to time, before they have finished their course. When she disappeared, it occurred to me very soon that she might have gone to her husband. Do the police suspect him of the murder?’

‘They know of his existence. I wrote to him, and, in his acknowledgment of my letter he said that he had put himself immediately in touch with them, informing them that he was married to the girl.’

‘At least that doesn’t sound like a guilty conscience,’ said Carey. Dame Beatrice caught Miss McKay’s sardonic eye.

‘I wouldn’t bet on it,’ said the Principal. ‘Two decades of working with students have taught me that a tender conscience is now the most striking anachronism in the world.’

Young Coles presented himself at the college that same evening. Miss McKay received him sympathetically.

‘I’ve been called to attend the inquest,’ he said awkwardly. ‘Is there anything you’d like me to say—or, perhaps, not to say—about Norah?’

‘The proceedings most likely will be adjourned after evidence of the cause of death and evidence of identification have been given,’ said Dame Beatrice.

‘Oh, yes, I see.’ He turned, tongue-tied, and fidgeted with the strap of his wristwatch.

‘And now,’ said Miss McKay, with practical kindness, ‘I am going to turn you on to Dame Beatrice. You may tell her everything you wish, including, I suppose, your reasons for marrying Miss Palliser before her college course was completed.’

‘Yes, there is that. It couldn’t have anything to do with what’s happened, though.’

‘Of course not. But it may help to ease your mind and something useful to the police enquiry may come of it.’