“Did she complain of any sensation of cramp? Any shivering in the extremities, or creeping in the arms? Did she seem to you to have difficulty in breathing?”
Mrs Matthews shook her head. “Oh, no, no! If there had been anything like that I should have sent for you at once! She seemed better after taking the medicine. She was drowsy, and I tucked her up, and left her to have a sleep. I am such a firm believer in the healing qualities of —”
“Fielding, what did she die of?” Guy demanded.
The doctor looked from one to the other of them, his own face set into hard lines. “It is impossible for me to answer that question without performing a post-mortem examination.”
Mrs Matthews laid her hands on the bed-rail, and grasped it nervously. “Surely that cannot be necessary!” she said. “It is so obvious to me that she must have had a stroke! The shock of her brother's death —”
“It is not obvious to me, Mrs Matthews. I am sorry, but I cannot undertake to sign a certificate. This is a case for the Coroner.”
“Oh, my God!” groaned Guy.
Mrs Matthews said in a shaking voice: “It's absurd! My sister-in-law has been through a great deal, and she was not a young woman. Moreover, I myself have noticed signs of failing health in her for some time past.”
“Look here, you've got to tell us!” said Guy, taking a step towards the doctor. “What do you suspect?”
Fielding met his angry stare with cold severity. “I suspect that Miss Matthews has been poisoned,” he replied.