“And then?”
“You would die.”
“With what symptoms?”
“None to speak of. Just a gasp or two. The lungs would make a desperate effort to keep things going. Then you’d just stop. Like heart failure. It would be heart failure.”
“How well I know it. . . That sneeze in the carburettor—a gasping, as you say. And what would be the post-mortem symptoms?”
“None. Just the appearances of heart failure. And, of course, the little mark of the needle, if you happened to be looking for it.”
“You’re sure of all this, doctor?” said Parker.
“Well, it’s simple, isn’t it? A plain problem in mechanics. Of course that would happen. It must happen.”
“Could it be proved?” insisted Parker.
“That’s more difficult.”