He paced the room, shaking his head. “This is all speculation. It will take too long. Who knows how long he would require to make the replica?”
“I shall tell him time is of the essence because Archibald’s birthday is imminent and I wish to give it to him as a birthday gift. I shall offer him a substantial amount of money if he can produce it very quickly.”
“Again, conjecture. Poppy-”
“Sherlock, I know you. If I could see through a mirror to all the years you were growing up with a father who seemed disappointed in you and a brother who seemed to overshadow you, I would say that you are once again trying to be bigger, better, smarter. You are all of those things but let me help you prove it, and without getting yourself killed. We shall exonerate Uncle, catch the killer and - as you said, show Mycroft once and for all who has the better mind.”
“You will depart at the slightest indication of danger? You will swear it?”
I nodded.
There was a long silence, during which Sherlock stared at his reflection in the pane of glass above the fireplace. Then he turned to me. “I am going to talk to Mr. Brown again.”
“The apothecary? Why?”
“He has knowledge of the ingredients in this poisonous potion. He is also a member of an ornithological society. There may be some clues there, given the killer places a bird at the crime scenes.”
“What if Mr. Brown is the killer?
“Hopefully I can confirm that. Now, there are many details which I should desire to know about what you are going to say, and I must also coach young Archibald before we take this course of action.”
“Yes, but we have not a moment to lose. And Sherlock, there is one very large detail to discuss before we embark on this adventure.”
“What is that?”
“Have you something that poor Archibald can wear that is suitable for a patron of the British Museum?”
Nodding, he smiled.
35
A few minutes after Sherlock left, Aunt Susan came home. I was so elated to see her, I burst into tears as I ran to her.
“Is Uncle with you? Did they catch the killer?”
Her face was drawn, her eyes frightened like a trapped animal and the expression she wore was drained and haggard.
“Aunt Susan, tell me.”
“He has not been charged with anything, according to Mr. Havershal. But he is locked away. Poppy, he refuses to speak to anyone. Anyone! He does not admit guilt, from what I understand, but he says nothing to exculpate himself from these ridiculous accusations.”
“If they have not set forth a charge of prosecution, then how can they keep him?”
“For further interrogation. That’s all Lestrade would tell me. Mycroft refuses to speak to me at all.”
“Is there not some law to prevent this? Must they not-”
Before I could finish my sentence, she had walked to the library. She poured herself some port and drank it quickly. Then she poured herself another and went into her morning room. She sat down on the piano bench and I knelt at her feet.
“Aunt Susan, talk to me.”
She tinkered on the piano, playing a few notes from The Maiden’s Prayer by Tekla Badarczewska. It was incredibly popular and Uncle had purchased the score for her last Christmas. Suddenly, she stopped and gazed at me. “As I said, there has been no indictment yet. But there will be, I am certain of it.”
“And then?”
“Mr. Havershal says that the prosecutor, judge, and jurors have great discretion, much flexibility in interpreting the law. I don’t know what that means, really. Once charged, Ormond will have to plead Guilty or Not Guilty. If he confesses-”
“He will not confess. He did not do this.”
“But he also won’t speak! And refusing to plead is deemed the same as pleading guilty. Then evidence will be presented and Ormond must explain away the evidence against him to prove his innocence. From what I am told, Ormond has access to the poison used to kill these men. He has spoken to all the physicians who treated the victims and diagnosed them. Mycroft told Mr. Havershal that there will be witnesses who will describe him as cold, as someone who has frequently voiced his approval of euthanasia. He does not go to church. He makes no overt affirmation of the sanctity of life. He-”
I stopped her mid-sentence. “Of course, he believes in the sanctity of life, Aunt Susan. He’s a surgeon. He saves people’s lives. If you could have seen him at the train collision. If you-”
This time she interrupted. “Did you see him at the wharf, Poppy? Did you ever really see him there?”
I did not answer.
“Do you remember that discussion we had not long ago at dinner? Do you remember he said that sometimes life is not worthy of life? Those were his very words. And he went on and on about his advocacy of the use of drugs to intentionally end a patient’s life. He agreed with the legalization of euthanasia. He has said so to people at the hospital.”
“How do you know this?”
“Mycroft told Mr. Havershal. And Detective Inspector Lestrade and Mycroft’s people are now talking to everyone at the hospital who ever heard Ormond say anything on the subject.”
“There is nothing to tie Uncle Ormond directly to these murders, Aunt Susan.”
“Mr. Havershal read to me from an old case, Poppy. The case of John Donellan. He said that... that... wait, I wrote it down.” She pulled a slip of paper from her pocket. “This is what the judge read to the jury in that case.”
She read the excerpt of the judge’s jury charges to me. “A presumption, which necessarily arises from circumstances, is often more convincing and more satisfactory than any other kind of evidence because it is not within the reach
