The Case of the Dead Diplomat Read Free Page A

and furnish him with an opinion if you can.”
    â€œI have never had to do anything of that kind since my old hospital training days,” said the doctor doubtfully.
    The taxi was announced.
    â€œCome along, doctor,” said Carruthers. “I don’t know how these things are done in Paris—whether they hold inquests as we do, or whether the police get busy and turn the case over to a Juge d’Instruction .”
    â€œThey will have moved the body down to the Judicial Medical School by this time,” said the doctor gloomily.
    Carruthers directed the taxi-man to drive them to the police office of the ninth arrondissement . There they found a senior police officer and were ushered into his room. Carruthers made the necessary introductions. “This is Dr. Hoskyn, monsieur le commissaire , medical officer of the British Embassy, and I am the first secretary. We have called about that distressing case of M. Everett, a member of our staff.”
    â€œAh! You mean the case of the gentleman found dead in an appartement in the rue St. Georges this morning.” The officer touched a bell-push and a constable made his appearance. “Chairs for these gentlemen.”
    Two chairs were brought in, dusted and placed at a corner of the table.
    â€œMay I inquire, monsieur, whether you have reached any conclusion?” asked Carruthers.
    â€œMonsieur is, of course, aware that the body bore a deep wound in the throat. To judge from the state of the appartement it seemed clear that there had been a violent struggle. Furniture was over-turned; a table-lamp was broken and on the floor was lying this knife.” He flung open a drawer and took from it a heavy dagger in a sheath with blood-stain upon it; on the blade were engraved the words, “ Blut und Ehre! ”
    â€œThese daggers, we understand, are carried by young schoolboys in Germany when they march along the road on the German side of the frontier. You will notice the symbol in the coloured shield on the handle—the swastika in the middle. It is Hitler’s device for fostering a warlike spirit among German schoolboys.”
    Carruthers examined the weapon, which was about a foot long. The blade was stained with dried blood. He passed it to Dr. Hoskyn who said, “Does this mean that young Everett was murdered by a German?”
    â€œWe do not know, monsieur. When the concierge was interrogated she said that when dusting the appartement she had often noticed this dagger lying on the table in the sitting-room. It must have belonged to M. Everett himself.”
    â€œI believe it did,” said Carruthers. “I remember hearing that Mr. Everett had displayed a dagger like this to his colleagues in the Embassy. He said that a journalistic colleague on the frontier had sent it to him to use as a paper-knife.”
    â€œWe should be grateful, monsieur, if that could be verified. It will help us in reconstructing the case. This much we know already from the concierge : Mr. Everett had arranged with her that she should prepare his petit déjeuner every morning and bring it up to the door of his appartement ; then she would knock and set down the tray. Sometimes he opened the door and took it from her; more often it stayed for some minutes on the landing before he took it in. It was so this morning. She left the breakfast on the landing and went downstairs to her other duties. When she went up to do her dusting the breakfast was still lying untouched. She knocked repeatedly but could get no answer, and on opening the door was shocked to find that her tenant was lying fully dressed on the floor. She thought at first that he had had some kind of seizure and that in falling he had pulled the table over him; but on going to the body she saw blood on the floor, and she left the body as it was and ran down to telephone to us. As I told you the room was in the utmost disorder, and so much blood on the floor that they thought Mr. Everett