Excerpt from the book called The Frisby Waterless Murders
“I presume so, but I have no idea why anyone would do that.”
“Someone is taking the mickey out of us; how dare they.”
“Better news about your dart or more accurately a fishing fly that has been twisted into a sort of dart – this has a trace of curare on it and does correspond in size to the slight hole in the Major’s neck.”
“A fishing fly? Someone is trying to make us believe that a member of the Major’s fishing club was responsible for firing the dart at him.”
“Or could it be a double-bluff – some of those fishermen are very cunning you know, Colin, and might be taking you for a ride. They have to try and outthink a fish and come up with some inspired ideas sometimes.”
“You’re comparing me with a fish, Dr Crabtree? I will have to think about that one. Yes, it might be a double-bluff and it seems like the person who used the fly might have the same sense of humour as the person who threw the biro out of the window – is that what you’re getting at?”
“It is, yes, it might even be the same person who did both, just to confuse the issue.”
“Thank you for that information – were there any fingerprints on the biro?”
“There was a smudged print and it would be difficult to get a match to be honest with you.”
“So it was wiped clean, deliberately wiped clean before being thrown out of the window by someone who was trying to deceive us.”
Dr Crabtree nodded before saying “don’t forget this is another attempted murder because in my professional opinion the dart didn’t cause the Major to die – it was the curare administered via the hand that was the cause of death.”
“Yes, I must remember my priorities here, you are correct Doctor, I must not get hung up on the fishing fly too much. Thank you for the information – I will go and see if we have come up with any suspects for the curare administered by hand.” With that Knowles left the lab and walked up the stairs to find Linda Smythe.
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“Right, Linda, let me see whether I can get this straight in my own mind. You have managed to speak to all the passengers, which is excellent work by the way, and none of them, apart from David Yeung and Mrs Cridge, can recall shaking hands with the Major on the train, but almost all of them can recall someone else shaking hands with him although they can’t be certain of the time.” Knowles rubbed his forehead with his right hand in a distracted manner and shook his head slightly. They were sitting in an interview room for a bit of peace and quiet away from the distractions of the office.
Julian Worker Fiction Writing 