Miller nodded with an air of satisfaction, and nothing more was said on the subject until we drew up before Dr. Usher’s surgery. That discreet practitioner was already waiting at the open door, and at once took his place in the carriage, watched curiously by observers from adjacent windows.
“This is a rum go,” he remarked, diffusing a vinous aroma into the atmosphere of the carriage. “I really did think I had paid my last visit to Mr. Crile. But there’s no such thing as certainty in this world.” He chuckled softly and continued: “A bit different this journey from the last. No hatbands this time, and no Sunday-school children. Lord! When I think of those kids piping round the open grave, and that our dear departed brother was wanted by the police so badly that they were actually going to dig him up, it makes me smile, it does, indeed.”
In effect, it made him cackle; and as Miller had not heard the account of the funeral, it was repeated for his benefit in great detail. Then the anecdotal ball was set rolling in a fresh direction by one or two questions from Thorndyke, with the result that the entire history of Usher’s attendance on the deceased, including the misdeeds of Mrs. Pepper, was retailed with such a wealth of circumstance that the narration lasted until we stopped at the cemetery gate.
Our arrival was not unexpected, for as we got out of the carriage, two gentlemen approached the entrance, and one of them unlocked a gate to admit us. He appeared to be the official in charge of the cemetery, while the other, to whom he introduced us, was no less a person than Dr. Garroll, the Medical Officer of Health.
“The Home Office license,” the latter explained, “directs that the removal shall be carried out under my supervision and to my satisfaction; very necessary in a populous neighbourhood like this.”
“Very necessary,” Thorndyke agreed gravely.
“I have provided a supply of fresh ground lime, according to the directions,” Dr. Garroll continued; “and as a further precaution, I have brought with me a large formalin spray. That, I think, should satisfy all sanitary requirements.”
“It should certainly be sufficient,” Thorndyke agreed, “to meet the requirements of the present case. Has the excavation been commenced yet?”
“Oh, yes,” replied the cemetery official. “It was started quite early, and has been carried down nearly to the full depth; but I thought that the coffin had better not be uncovered until you arrived. I have had a canvas screen put up round the grave so that the proceedings may be quite private. We can send the labourers outside before we unscrew the coffin-lid. You said, Superintendent, that you were anxious to avoid any kind of publicity; and I have warned the men to say nothing to any one about the affair.”
“Quite right,” said Miller. “We don’t want this to get into the papers, in case—well, in any case.”