“Nil if the fracture is open, far better if it is closed,” my father prognosticated. “But in the latter much will depend on whether there is permanent damage to the brain.”
“Let us hope for the best.”
“A little prayer will not hurt,” Joanna added, now carefully inspecting the blood splatter patterns on the floor and wall of the foyer. Her gaze went back and forth between the bloodstains and the door leading into a spacious parlor. “From the evidence at hand, the events went as follows. The lad releases the dog from its holding room, and the hound races in ahead of the boy, then attacks the intruder who was standing at Botticelli’s painting. At that point, the—” Joanna interrupted herself and turned to Lestrade. “What breed of dog was it?”
“A rottweiler of considerable size,” Lestrade replied.
“Where is its body?”
“It is covered in the garden.”
“Please have it brought in.”
Lestrade gestured to a nearby constable who hurried out.
Joanna continued on as she envisioned the sequence of events. “So the rottweiler pounds on the intruder and a fierce struggle ensues, for this breed of dog is fearless and will go to any length to protect its master. The intruder has his knife in hand to slash open the painting, but instead uses it to defend himself.”
“You keep referring to the vandal as an intruder, when we all know it was Harry Edmunds,” Lestrade interjected.
“And where is the evidence for that which will hold up in a court of law?” asked Joanna.
Lestrade hesitated briefly before nodding. “You have a point, madam.”
“It is best, Inspector, not to rush to an obvious conclusion, for in the process you may overlook clues that could prove to be significant later on,” Joanna said, then returned to her summary of events. “The intruder uses his knife to stab the rottweiler, most likely in the neck where the carotid arteries lay. The severed artery then spurts blood against the wall beneath the painting, as evidenced by a pattern of intermittent splatterings. The rottweiler yelps and falls, and the lad rushes the intruder, only to be knocked to the floor where his head strikes hard marble which results in a skull fracture.”
“That was my assessment as well,” Lestrade concurred.
The constable hurried into the foyer carrying the dead rottweiler in his arms. “Shall I place him down, ma’am?”
“Please hold him in his current position,” Joanna requested and removed the blanket covering the dead animal. There was a deep gash of at least three inches extending from its massive jaw to its heavily muscled chest. Dark, caked blood surrounded the wound and much of its neck. Joanna leaned over and sniffed at the rottweiler’s mouth and snout. “Care to take a whiff, Inspector?”
Lestrade carefully approached the dog’s massive head and inhaled. “Coal tar!” he announced.
“And now we know for a fact that it was Harry Edmunds,” Joanna went on. “The rottweiler went for Edmunds’s neck and in the process exposed its own neck where the blade of a knife was inserted.”
“The dog was intent on ripping Harry’s throat wide open,” said I. “Do you believe he was able to inflict any damage?”
“The blood splatter says no,” Joanna replied. “All of the bloodstains and pools can be attributed to either the rottweiler or the son. Nevertheless, to make certain, we should follow his footsteps out. I assume that he entered via a service door in the kitchen area.”
“He did,” Lestrade confirmed. “There were multiple scratch marks on the lock, indicating a rather clumsy lockpick.”
“After entering, Edmunds then crept through the kitchen and into the parlor to reach the marble foyer.”
“Correct.”
“And he would leave taking the same route.”
“Correct once more.”
“Were there any bloodstains on the carpet in the parlor or on the floor of the kitchen?”
“None.”
“Then it is unlikely the dog inflicted any significant damage on Harry Edmunds.”
“He is lucky as well as clever,” Lestrade grumbled and gestured for the constable to remove the dead rottweiler. Once the foyer was clear, he came back to Joanna. “I do have one question for you, madam. You inquired of Sir Charles as to what sounds he heard downstairs at the time of the break-in. Did this have particular importance?”
“It did have some relevance,” Joanna replied. “You will recall that initially there was the sound of barking. Keep in mind that barking dogs bark, but do not attack. Harry Edmunds was aware of this, and when the barking remained distant and in place, he knew the hound was enclosed. Taking all this into consideration, he decided to make his move, hoping to be in and out before the hound was released. The growling sound came later, indicating that Edmunds had misjudged and the dog was on the attack.”
“Most interesting and informative,” Lestrade lauded. “But the most important question remains. Did Edmunds find the treasured masterpiece and make off with it?”
“He did not,” said Joanna. “And there is evidence to clearly show that Harry Edmunds was unsuccessful.”
“Please tell us how you reached that conclusion,” Lestrade requested. “I see nothing, as you might say, that would stand up at an official inquiry.”
“Allow me to walk you through the steps, Lestrade,” Joanna proposed. “First, study the edges of the slash in the painting and describe what you see.”
Lestrade inspected the edges before gently separating them for further examination. “There are abundant bloodstains present.”
“Where did the blood come from?”
“Either from the dog or from an injury inflicted by the dog on Edmunds’s hand.”
“I believe we can exclude the latter because such a wound would have to bleed excessively, and this would have shown up on the floor around the painting and on the carpet of the parlor as he dashed out. This did not occur.”
“Which indicates the blood came from the fatally stabbed rottweiler.”
“Spot-on, Inspector. So now, the dog is dead
