other girl, too? He called her Lolly?' Susan shrugged. 'Well...'
'Let's put it this way. Did he go out with her?'
'Sometimes.'
'Seriously.'
She snapped, 'How should I know?'
'Come on, now. Was she jealous of you?'
'What's all this about?'
'Someone put the cyanide in the sugar and put the mixture in only one cup. Suppose Louella-Marie was jealous enough of you to try to poison you and leave herself a clear field with our friend Pete. And suppose she took the wrong teacup herself by mistake.'
Susan said, That's crazy. Louella-Marie wouldn't do such a thing.'
But her lips were thin, her eyes sparkled, and I can tell hate in a voice when I hear it.
Professor Rodney came into the library. He was the first man I had met on entering the building and my feelings toward him had grown no warmer.
He had begun by informing me that as senior faculty member present, he was in charge.
I said, 'I'm in charge now, Professor.'
He said, 'Of the investigation perhaps, Inspector, but it is I who am responsible to the Dean and I propose to fulfill my responsibilities.'
And although he hadn't the figure of an aristocrat, more like a shopkeeper, if you follow me, he managed to look at me as though there were a microscope between as with himself on the large side.
Now he said, 'Mrs. Nettler is in my office. She heard the news bulletin, apparently, and came at once. She is quite agitated. You will see her?' He made it sound like an order.
'Bring her in. Professor.' I made it sound like permission.
Mrs. Nettler was in the usual quandary of the average old lady. She didn't know whether to be horrified or fascinated at the closeness with which death had struck. Horror won out after she looked into the inner office and noticed what was left of the tea things. The body was gone by then, of course.
She flopped into a chair and began crying. 'I had tea here myself,' she moaned. 'It might have been...'
I said as quietly and soothingly as I could manage, 'When did you drink tea here, Mrs. Nettler?'
She turned in her seat, looked up. 'Why-why, just after one, I think. I offered Professor Rodney a cup, I remember. It was just after one, Professor Rodney, wasn't it?'
A trace of annoyance crossed Rodney's plump face. He said to me, 'I was here a moment just after lunch to consult a reference. Mrs, Nettler did offer a cup. I was too busy, I'm afraid, to accept or to note the time exactly.'
I grunted and turned back to the old lady. 'Do you take sugar, Mrs. Nettler?'
'Yes, sir.'
'Did you take sugar?'
She nodded and started crying again.
I waited a bit. Then, 'Did you notice the condition of the sugar bowl?'
'It was-it was-' A sudden surprise at the question seemed to put her on her feet. 'It was empty and
I filled it myself. I used the two-pound box of granulated sugar and I remember saying to myself that whenever I wanted tea the sugar was gone and I wished the girls would-'
Maybe it was the mention of the girls in the plural. She broke out again.
I nodded to Hathaway to lead her away.
Between i and 2 p.m., obviously, someone had emptied the sugar bowl and then added just a bit of laced sugar- very neatly laced sugar.
Maybe it was Mrs. Nettler's appearance that pumped librarianship back into Susan, because when Hathaway came back and reached for one of his cigars-he already had the match lit-the girl said, 'No smoking in the library, sir.'
Hathaway was so surprised he blew the match out and replaced the cigar in his pocket.
Then the girl stepped briskly to one of the long tables and reached for a large volume that lay open on it. Hathaway was ahead of her. 'What are you going to do, Miss?'
Susan looked completely astonished. 'I'm just going to put it back on the shelves.'
'Why? What is it?' He looked down at the open page. I was there too, by then. I looked over his shoulder.
It was German. I can't read the language, but I can recognize it when I see it. The printing was small, and there were geometrical figures on the page with lines of letters attached at various places. I knew enough, too, to know those were chemical formulas.
I put my finger in the place, closed the book and looked at the backstrap. It said, 'Beilstein-Organische Chemie-Band VI-System Nummer 499-608.' I opened to the page again. It was 233 and the first words, just