Prompt: Truth is Stranger. Use a strange fact in your work today.
Fact should be pretty obvious, but I'll put it at the end just in case :)
"Cause of death?"
"Poison."
Another voice answered in unison with my own, and Holmes glanced away from the carpet fibers, that brief eye contact the only indication of his surprise. Lestrade had directed his question at Holmes.
Fortunately for Holmes' and my bet earlier, though, this deduction remained simple.
"Apple juice," I answered shortly. One hand referenced the cloudy jar sitting on the desk as I added, "and that looks like ground seed. He might have eaten from the wrong bowl, but it's more likely a slow poisoning over a period of time. You need a lot of seeds to reach toxic cyanide levels."
"Indeed." He eyed me but did not voice his thoughts. "Did he have a wife? Or sisters?"
"A brother, sister-in-law, and two nieces." Lestrade flipped through his notebook. "The younger niece, aged eight, died one month ago from an accident while playing alone. Unknown cause."
Crushing realization mixed with a sort of righteous vindication, but I made no effort to speak my thoughts. Holmes had undoubtedly reached the same conclusion.
As proven by his next question. "What was the girl's name?"
"Rosalee."
Holmes abruptly looked away, though I busied myself inspecting the door for signs of a break-in—not that I would find any. My biology lessons had provided the same information Holmes would have uncovered in his studies of every possible poison. We both knew exactly why Mr. Menshinov had not shown up for work this morning.
The apple was classified as a Rosaceae—a member of the Rose family.
"Come, Watson. We can do nothing here."
Holmes knelt to peer at something behind the bookcase, then stood and waved me toward the door. Lestrade's shock remained more than evident as he glanced between us and the scene of death.
"You're walking away from a murder case?"
"Suicide," Holmes corrected, stopping in the doorway, "not murder. He ground the seeds to use at the chemistry set in the back room and rendered the rest of the fruit to juice to avoid waste. The ring on the table beside the bowl suggests applesauce, and an identical bowl with his chemistry equipment held nutmeg. Even you should be able to see the evidence pointing to an accidental switching of spices, Lestrade."
He did, that look conveyed, but another scan of the area revealed a hole in Holmes' duplicity. Confusion flushed to anger before I could decide whether to speak.
"Quite right." Lestrade's book closed with a snap before he joined us on our way toward the door. "Are we still meeting tomorrow morning?"
"Half nine," Holmes confirmed. I doubted Lestrade noticed the smile trying to escape. "Did you need anything more from us?"
"Just your notes from last week's case, but those can wait for tomorrow. My apologies to Mrs. Hudson for dragging you away from your supper."
Huffed amusement escaped as he closed the door. After so many years, the inspector knew as well as I did that Holmes would skip three meals a day in favor of an interesting case. Mrs. Hudson, however, disliked when Holmes raced out the door not ten minutes before the food finished cooking. While she did an excellent job at turning uneaten meals into leavings for several days, our landlady would be glad to see us return so quickly.
Not that I would let Holmes reach his supper without at least trying to get more information. I waited only until we shared a bouncing cab before using the general din to cover a low question.
"Who put the nutmeg next to the chemistry set?"
"The sister-in-law," he replied just as casually.
Which probably meant the brother had delivered the seeds and juice to Menshinov's study. A distracted thought considered the elder sister's role in this but ultimately threw the idea away. They would not enlist even a grown child in such a plan.
"Did you expect Lestrade's reaction?"
"Yes." But not the deduction, that added. My grin widened. I did not often see my friend surprised twice in a single conversation.
I would not voice as much, however. Silence fell between us for several seconds before I found the right words.
"You know, Lestrade's recorded cause of death will be entirely accurate. The man did unintentionally commit suicide."
Holmes stiffened, just slightly, then the twist of logic clicked to make amusement war with agreement. Menshinov had committed suicide the day he killed his niece.
It simply took a month to poison him.
Strange but true: Apples, peaches, and raspberries are all members of the rose family.
Hope you enjoyed! And thank you very much to those reviewed Nap Attack :)
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