"You give yourself away so splendidly," said Strause. "Aylmer would naturally feel relief from such a powerful opiate as you administered."
"I did not administer the opiate. I gave him two tablespoonfuls from the other bottle. It is, I suppose, within the region of possibility that the medicines may have been shifted into wrong bottles. For that I am not responsible. You will recollect, perhaps, the fact that you visited Aylmer in his room soon after nine o'clock that evening. You were there for a couple of minutes, and came out afterwards, telling me that he was asleep. I noted that you were quite two minutes in the room, by the little clock on the mantelpiece. I also observed that you walked about softly while there. If you bring this charge against me, I can but repeat what happened."
"And who will believe your word? you have no witnesses."
"Nor have you."
"I hold the bottles," said Strause, with another sneer.
Keith was silent for a minute or two.
"I see nothing for it," he said, "but to try and get an order to have the body exhumed, and thus have the case properly sifted."
Strause uttered an uneasy laugh. He walked to the window and looked out. Then he returned to Keith.
"You do not know, perhaps," he said, "that the effects of opium are very short-lived, and that long before now all traces of opium would have left the poor fellow's body."
"Let the case be brought openly to trial," was Keith's next remark.