“And supposing the sandwiches and the lemonade were not consumed, do you happen to know what became of the remainder?”
“I have no idea. Possibly the servants consumed them, but more probably they were thrown away. Well-fed servants are not partial to remainders from a sick-room.”
“You never heard of any attacks of illness among any of the servants?”
“Not to my knowledge. But I shouldn’t be very likely to, you know.”
“No. You notice, Mayfield, that you have mentioned one or two rather material facts that were not disclosed at the inquest?”
“Yes. I was observing that. And it is just as well that they were not disclosed. There were enough misleading facts without them.”
Thorndyke smiled indulgently. “You seem to have made up your mind pretty definitely, on the negative side, at least,” he remarked; and then, looking round once more at the walls with their faded, loosened paper, he continued: “I take it that Mr. Monkhouse was not a fresh-air enthusiast.”
“He was not,” I replied. “He didn’t much care for open windows, especially at night. But how did you arrive at that fact?”
“I was looking at the wall-paper. This is not a damp house, but yet the paper on the walls of this room is loosening and peeling off in all directions. And if you notice the distribution of this tendency you get the impression that the moisture which loosened the paper proceeded from the neighbourhood of the bed. The wall which is most affected is the one against which the bed stood; and the part of that wall that has suffered most is that which was nearest to the occupant of the bed, and especially to his head. That large piece, hanging down, is just where the main stream of his breath would have impinged.”
“Yes, I see the connection now you mention it; and yet I am surprised that his breath alone should have made the air of the room so damp. All through the winter season, when the window would be shut most closely, the gas was burning; and at night, when the gas was out, he commonly had his candle-lamp alight. I should have thought that the gas and the candle together would have kept the air fairly dry.”