“The murder was committed on a Friday. Serle accompanied Conway or Milicant or Hogarty — or whatever you want to call him — to his apartment. They were both smoking cigars. At that time in the evening, a cigar usually represents an after-dinner smoke. And then I suddenly remembered what I myself had eaten at the Home Kitchen Café on Friday night — roast lamb, baked potatoes, green peas. And I had the menu that they use week after week to prove I wasn’t dreaming! A good chemical analysis would probably show the difference between beef and lamb after the digestive processes have stopped working, but the difference between roast lamb and broiled lamb, never.”
Judge Knox said, “Personally, Mason, I think it’s a most remarkable piece of detective work, an example of sheer deductive genius.”
Mason shook his head. “I’ll never forgive myself for becoming so engrossed in the incidental matters. After all, Judge, that’s one thing a detective should guard against. He should never let his attention become so concentrated on the incidental matters that he feels they are other than mere incidentals.”
Judge Knox studied him curiously. “What,” he asked, “were the incidental matters which so engrossed you?”
“Minor matters,” Mason said, vaguely, “interesting but purely incidental.”
Judge Knox smiled. “Are you, by any chance, referring to the identity of John Milicant as Bill Hogarty?”
Mason said, “That really was a surprise to me, although I should have appreciated the significance of that clue of the frostbitten foot.”
Judge Knox let the smile fade from his lips, although his eyes remained kindly.
“Mason,” he said, “the proof that Milicant was Hogarty certainly seems rather vague and sketchy. If Milicant had been blackmailing Leeds, and one of Leeds’ relatives had called on him for an explanation, wouldn’t it have been only natural for Milicant to have used the documents in his possession to substantiate a spurious claim made by way of justification to the nephew that he actually was the Bill Hogarty who had been wronged by Leeds years ago? Wouldn’t this be the logical way to fabricate a justification for blackmail?”
Mason’s face showed surprise. “That,” he said, “is an interesting question.”