“But it’s obvious.” James, standing, was looking grim. “I don’t need to.”
“Nevertheless, please indulge me. There’s a certain detail. Will you do it as naturally as possible?”
“Yes.”
“Good. Will the rest of you all watch Mr. James’ face? Closely. Go ahead, Archie.”
With the gun in my pocket I moved in front of James and told him to open wide. He did so. For a moment his eyes came to mine as I peered into his throat, and then slanted upward. Not in a hurry, I took the gun from my pocket and poked it into his mouth until it touched the roof. He jerked back and dropped into his chair.
“Did you see the gun?” Wolfe demanded.
“No. My eyes were up.”
“Just so.” Wolfe looked at the others. “You saw his eyes go up? They always do. Try it yourselves sometime. I tried it in my bedroom Sunday evening. So it is by no means impossible to kill a man that way, it isn’t even difficult, if you’re a doctor and he has something wrong with his throat. You agree, Dr. Lloyd?”
Lloyd had not joined the general movement to watch James’ face during the demonstration. He hadn’t stirred a muscle. Now his jaw was twitching a little, but that was all.
He did his best to smile. “To show that a thing could happen,” he said in a pretty good voice, “isn’t the same thing as proving it did happen.”