From Wordwielder: Sailing
"Right this way, gentlemen."
"Good heavens..."
"Quite the sight, isn't he, Doctor?"
"I'll say! Poor devil... Who was he, Lestrade?"
"Peter Purvis, one of the crew of the Countess of Morcar, a sealing ship. She just came back from the Arctic Sea two days ago – a very successful voyage, apparently."
"And Purvis was celebrating that good fortune rather enthusiastically, I note."
"Oh aye, he was knocking back several pints in the Goose and Gander when he keeled over, according to witnesses. Not the worst way to go, by any means..."
"Watson, do stop staring at the poor man's face. You must be familiar with the symptoms of silver poisoning by now, surely!"
"Well, yes, but never such an extreme case as this! He must have been taking colloidal silver for most of his life."
"Oh, that's what did for him, is it? His shipmates called him Blue Peter, said he'd looked that way since he signed on, seven years ago."
"Yes, but argyria isn't usually fatal... oh, wait on... Holmes, look, there are slightly darker patches on the neck, almost violet."
"Ah! Then Purvis encountered some substance or other that would leave red patches on anyone else's skin! Well spotted, Watson!"
"You think cyanide?"
"Most likely. And clearly someone knew the signs of poisoning well enough to try to disguise the evidence, in a most ingenious manner. We'd best visit the pub next, find out if our man was drinking in company..."
A/N: Teaser for 'The Adventure of Blue Peter', another of the Back-to-Front Adventures!