He said, The mirror-image. The reverse. I think the survivor told the truth inside out. Suppose it was
Louella-Marie who was getting the boy and Susan who didn't like it, rather than the reverse. Suppose it was Susan who for once was preparing the tea and Louella-Marie who was at the front desk rather than the reverse. In that case, the girl who prepared the tea would have taken the right cup and remained safe. Everything would be logical instead of ridiculously improbable.'
That did it. The man had come to the same conclusion I had and so I had to like him after all. I have a habit of feeling soft toward guys who agree with me. It comes of being Homo sapiens, I think.
I said, 'We've got to prove that beyond reasonable doubt. How? I'd come up here, hoping to prove someone had had access to potassium cyanide and others had not. That's out. Everyone had access. Now what?'
The professor said, 'Check on which girl was really at the desk at two o'clock when the tea was being prepared.'
It was obvious to me that the professor read detective stories and had faith in witnesses. I didn't, but I got up anyway.
'All right, Professor. I'll do that.'
The professor rose also. He said urgently, 'May I be present?'
I considered. 'Why? Your responsibilities to the Dean?'
'In a way. I would like to see a quick, clean end to this.'
I said, 'Come along, if you think that will help.'
Ed Hathaway was waiting for me when I came down. He was sitting in an empty library. He said. 'I got it.'
'Got what?' I wanted to know.
'How it happened. I figured it out by deduction.'
'Oh?'
He was paying no attention to Professor Rodney. The cyanide had to be smuggled in. By whom? By the joker in the deck, the outsider, the guy with the accent-whatzis-name.'
He started scrabbling through a series of cards on which he had filed information on the various presumably innocent bystanders.
I knew who he meant so I said, 'All right, never mind the name. What's in a name? Go on'-which shows that I can be as unbright as anyone.
'All right. The foreigner comes in with the cyanide in a little envelope. He tapes the envelope to a page in the German book, that organish whatzisname with all the volumes...' The professor and I both nodded.
Hathaway went on. 'He was German, so was the book. He was probably familiar with it. He put the envelope on a prearranged page according to a particular formula that had been picked out. The professor said there was a way to find any formula if you only knew how. Isn't that right. Professor?'
That is right,' said Rodney coldly.
'All right. The librarian knew the formula so she could find the page too. She picks up the cyanide and uses it for the tea. In the excitement, she forgets to close the book-'
I said, 'Look, Hathaway. Why should that little guy be doing this? What's his excuse for being here?'
'He says he's a furrier reading up on moth repellents and insecticides. Now isn't that phony right off. Ever hear anything so phony?'
'Sure,' I said, 'your theory. Look, no one is going to hide an envelope with cyanide in a book. You don't have to find a particular formula or page with an envelope bulging a volume out of shape. Anyone who took the volume off the shelf would find that the book would fall open to the right page automatically. A hell of a hiding place.'
Hathaway began to look foolish.
I drove on pitilessly, 'Besides, cyanide doesn't have to be smuggled in from the outside. They've got tons of it here. They can use it to make snow-slides. Anyone who wants a pound or two can help himself.'
'What?'
'Ask the professor.'
Hathaway's eyes widened and then he fumbled in his jacket pocket and drew out an envelope. Then what do I do with this?'
'What is it?'
He took out a printed page with German on it and said, 'It's the page out of that German volume that-'
Professor Rodney grew suddenly scarlet. 'You tore a page out of Beilstein?'
He shrieked it and surprised the hell out of me. I wouldn't have thought him capable of shrieking.
Hathaway said, 'I thought we could test it for stickum from the scotch tape, or maybe for a little cyanide that leaked out.'
'Give it to me!' yelled the professor. 'You ignorant fool.'
He smoothed out the sheet and looked at both sides as though to make sure that none of the print