“We were chatting, and Mr. De Gex had just said that it was about time we were off to Olympia, when I sipped my coffee. I noticed that both Doctor Moroni and our host glanced at me curiously. The coffee tasted unusually sweet, and also it seemed to be slightly perfumed, I remember, almost like pot-pourri. I had just replaced the cup upon the table when I felt a most violent pain in my head, and cried out. Miss Engledue was at my side in an instant, but I felt a sensation of giddiness, and next moment I knew nothing more.”
I remained silent for a few seconds, thinking deeply over her remarkable story.
“Then Miss Engledue was quite well at the time?” I asked.
“Quite, she sprang to my assistance.”
“Then you were taken ill before she became similarly affected?”
“Was she? I did not know that!” said my beloved in surprise.
“Yes. You were rendered unconscious by a drug which produced all the symptoms of death, but Miss Engledue was afterwards deliberately killed.”
Gabrielle stared at me as though she believed that I was bereft of my senses.
“Was Gabrielle Engledue killed?” she gasped. “Surely she was not!”
“She was,” I replied. “And her body was afterwards cremated!”