“Did you give them any physic?”
“Yes, sir. A pill apiece when I put ’em to bed.”
“Ah!” said Mr. Duffham. “What pill was it?”
“One of Abel Crew’s.”
This answer surprised him. Allowing that his suspicion of poison was correct, he assumed that these pills must have contained it; and he had never had cause to suppose that Abel Crew’s pills were otherwise than innocent.
Mrs. Reed, her voice broken by sobs, explained further in answer to his questions, telling him how she had procured these pills from Abel Crew some time before, and had given one of the said pills to each of the babies. Duffham stood against the dresser, taking it all in with a solemn face, his cane held up to his chin.
“Let me see this box of pills, Mrs. Reed.”
She went upstairs to get it. A tidy woman in her ways, she had put the box in its place again on the top of the press. Duffham took off the lid, and examined the pills.
“Do you happen to have a bit of sealing-wax in the house, Reed?” he asked presently.