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This edition of OPSIS does not follow the usual

pattern, but features one main story and an articlewhich, it is hoped will reflect credit on the writers

and provide entertaining reading for the end of term.

OJ SIB is suffering from Clmild attack of "Loss

of identity". Editorless at the moment, it has not

been decided in what form it will reappear in the

future. It is accustomed to change, accepting it as

a necessary "functional hazard"; for instance, ithas had severalnames - "J .1.;[.","Inter Alia" and

"Outlook" -preCedBQ "OPSIS". The 1tJindsof cihangearewith us at B.R.G.S., and OPSIS, in keeping with the

best literary traditions, must reflect thisl

OPSIS is shrouded in mystery now - but one thingl

is certain- It W ~ L L- Rr;:;Aj~PEA R-:: ~

WHO WAS' SHERLOCK HOLMES?

For more than half a century Sherlock Holmes's name has been known

in every country of the world; not only his name, but his appearance, too.

The hawk-like features and piercing eyes; the dressing gown and pipe;the deerstalker cap and magnifying glass - the details are so familiarthat if he were to appear amongst. us tomorrow we should know him at once.

In many countries b~8ideB Great i~itain there are Sherlock Holmes

societies, whose members could tell many more details about Holmes and his

friend and partner, Dr. Watson. Sometimes people w-riteto Hdlmes at 'the

well-known address, 22lBBaker Street, London, asking his help in solvingtheir 'problems.' "

Yet strange as it might seem, Sherlock Holmes, th~ greatest detectivethe world has ever known, never lived at all.

He was 'born' in the year 1887 according to Beeton's Christmas Annual,

which published a lon'g story, "A Study in Scarlet," by an unlalOwn writer,

Arthur Conan Doyle: The story was about a rema~kable private detectivewho solved a double murder mystery which had baffled Scotland Yard. This

was Sherlock Holmes; and he was helped in his investigations by a former

army doctor, John H. Watson, with whom he was sharing rooms at 22lB,Baker Street.

Within a few years of this first appearance, the adventures of Holmes

and Watson were being read and talkeu about everywhere. A detective as the

hero of the story was something quite new jn those days; only a few autho:r:s

--among them Charles Dickens ,Wilkie Col1i:q.s",Edgar. Allan Poe, and theFrenchman, Emile G8boriau -- had UEJd them as important ~naracters. And

quite by chance, the Sherlo~k stories began to appear 'just at a time whe:-..more people were learning to Tead t:--.~never before. In 1870 Queen Victoria 1sgovernment under Mr. Gladstone had passed an Education Act, which was putinto force in 1876. It ruled that for the first time in history the children

of poor people -- of whom there were many in those daYG -- could go to schoolfree, and so could learn to read and 'IT,:,te 0 Arthur Conan Doyle I s stories

were amongst the first to be read fOT pleasure by countless men, women and

children. Queues would form at bookstalls for the Strand magazines containing

the latest story, a sight which none of us is likely to see today~ When

Conan Doyle himself got tired of writiLg about Holmes ana kille~~im off inthe story, "The Final Problem", gentlemen in London went about wearingblack armbands, and the general outcry was so great Holmes had to be brought

'back to life' in another story, "The Empty House."

All this was in Queen Victoria's time. How is it then that over 85

years later Sherlock Holm0s is the world's most widely known character infiction?

Of all the people ever created by a writer, Holmes is the only one vividenough for the reader to be able to know exactly what he would have felt,

thought, said or done in any situation. In the stories he is always pres-ented so completely as a human being, as well as a brilliant detective,

that something can be learned from him about almost every side of life.

"THERE ARE SOIvJETREES, WA'l'SON, ~-mICH GROWTO A CERTAIN HEIGHT AND THEN SUDDENLYDEVELOPSOME UNSIGHTLY ECCENTRICITY. YOU WILL SEE ITOFTEN IN IillI'1ANBEINGS."

"A LOG REFLECTS THE PAJYIILYLIFE. WHOEVERSAW A FRISKY IjOG IN A GLOOMYFMlILY, OR ASAD DOG IN A HAPPY ONE."

"IT IS AN OLD 11A.XIJ\1OF NINE THAT WHENYOUHAYE EXCLUDED THE lIViFOSSIBLE, WHNLEVERREJ.VlAINS,HOWEVERIMPROBABLE, r<1USTBE THE 'l'RUTH."

I~ fact, there are so many sayings like these to be collected, and so

many details about Holmes, .Vlatson and the other people who appear in the

stories,that not long ago it was possible to make a book -- "The Sherlock

Rolmes Companion" -- about them, as though they were real-life people andwere still to be found living at 22lB, Baker Street -- Watson reading The

Times and Rolmes lounging on the sofa, fingering his violin and listeningfor his client's foot upon the stair.

One reason why Arthur Conan Doyle -- Sir Arthur Conan Doyle as helater became -- could lake Holmes such a real character was that in writing

about him he was often writing about himself. Rolmes spent his lifefighting evil. Sir Arthur solved many real-life mysteries, using Rolmes'sown methods which had never even occuIredto the police; in fact, a famouspolice laboratory in France bears Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's name~

As he said in his own book about himself, "JYIemoriesand Adventures";

"I HAVE OFTEN BEEN ASKED -~!HE1'HERI HAD MYSELF THE~UALITIES WHICH I HAD DEPICTED A HAN CANNOTSPIN A CllAfu'l.CTEROPT OF HIS m.JN INNERo:-CONSCIOUSNESSAND HAKE 1'.0 REALLY LIFE-DIKE UNLESS BE HAS .SONEPOSSIBILITIES OF THAT CHAllACTER\ITTHIN HIM, WI1ICH IS ADANGEROUSADI>lISSION FOH ONE WHOHAS DRAvJN f.>ONANYVILLAIN~) AS I~ "

But .he was not only drawing upon his own character in creaLing Holmes.

Re was, as any writer does,coniliining with it little details from otherpeople ~hom he had met and.admired. Foremost amongst these was his tutor

at Edinburgt Universitt in the days when he was a medical student. This

was Dr. Joseph Bell, a man with a curious and remarkable talent; he could

take a quick glance at a patient entering his room and could often say what

was wrong with him, what part of the country he came from, and what he did

for a living. Holmes does this srune thing in "A Study in Scarlet", when

Watson asks him how on earth he had known that he, a perfect stranger toHolmes then, had just returned from Afghanistan:

"l~ERE n:.li. GENT}EI.'U,No}' /" ]\{EDIC'.L TYPE, BUTWI1'H THE IIR OF A MILITARY lI'iAN. CL:bARLYAN ARlVIYDOCTOR, THEN. HE HAS JUSfl' COl"[EFROM TEE TROIICS,FOR HIS FACE IS DARK, AND THAT IS NOT TEE 'Nl>TURALTINT OF HIS SKIN, FOR HIS ..JRISTS ARE FAIR. HE HASUNDERGONEHARDSHIP AND SICKNESS, AS HIS HAGGARDFACE SAYS CLEARLY. HIS LEFT .ARlVIHAS BEEN 17JURED ~

HE HOLDS IT IN A STH'F AND IDINJlTUHALJVlANNER. 'viHEREIN THE TROPICS COULD AN ENGLISH ARJVIYDOCTORHAVE .

SEEN .0 MUCHHARDSHIP AND GOT HIS ABM WOUNDED?CLEARLY IN AFGHANISTAN! THE \'.'HOLE TRAIN OF THOUGHTDID NOT OCCupy A SECOND. I THEN REl'vlARKEDTHAT YOUCfJIYlE:FROMAFGHANISTAN, AND YOU WERE AS'rONISHED."

Holme's well-known appearance, too, might also have' been that of Dr.Bell,

'thin~ wiry, dark with a high nosed acute face, penetrating eyes, angularshoulders and a jerky way of.walking.' But there were many more points of

similarity between the great detective and his creator. Both had ancestors

who had been country squires and others who had been famous artists; both

were keen students 01 history; they were uncoillITlonlygood boxers; they

enjoyed wearill5 old dressing-gowns, smoked pipes and kept loaded revolvers

.in ,their desks .And bothSherlock Holmes and Arthur Comin Doyle wereoffered knighthoods in the same year, 1902. Holmes declined the offer.

Arthur Conan Doyle was about to refuse, but his mother persuad~ him that it

. would be an insult to KingEdward VII, so he accepted.

We must not altogether identify Sir Arthur with Holmes, however. Littl~

bits of him are found appearing. in many of the other great characters he

created; Brigadier" Gerard, of "Napoleon's Army;" Professor Challenger in

"The Lr:'-stWorld;" Nigel Loring in "'['he\Vhite Company and Sir Nigel;" and

Rodney Stone. .

Sir Arthur wrote four long stories and fifty-six short ones about

Sherlock Holmes. All over the world people are still reading these stories

either in English or translated into their own languages.

***********

Susan Parkinson. u .VI.

FRIEND OR B~~MY.

Chapter 1:

Peter Granger took a last look at the brilliant tden sunshine beforestumbling past the stewardess of the Boeing 707 jet wait mg to take rim onthe last stage of 1'1is journey from Sydney to London. It had been anuneventful journey, except for ,Nt1enhe had knocked a "heaker of '~TAte.\overon the flight from Sydney to Singapore. Fe had read all the late st mmerson enzymology, and had 1Arritten a few pages for 1'1is own paper on the subject,

to be published a fe'IATmonths lAter. Granger could sUll not understand whyhe had been invited to attend the conference on scientj fj c discoverie s, notbeing a very prominent scientist himself. T1'1einvitation, whic1'1 'he hadreceived three weeks previous to his fligrt, was signed J. S., 1Ahicr: couldonly man John Stevens - his rival at university. He had not heard fro'11him for ten years and could think of no particular reason to do so now, butthe conference was as good an excuse as any to get m~ay from work.

He gazed absent-mindedly out of the specially touf"rened windo1~Ts, notnoticing 'When the plane hit dense fog Which served as an early warning systemto anyone accustomed to English 'Weather. Sure enough the no-smoking liflhtscame on and the pilot whispered the eternal phrase over the loud-speaker,"fasten your seatbelts, we will be landing at London Heathrcw in two minutes. 11

Five minutes later Granger was walking hurriedly across the weatherbeaten, rain-soaked runway to the customs buildmg,' <'\TIdthen out to thewaiting taxis. He picked the ne1ATest, cleanest t8xi, which charged him ,onepound, fifty nine new,pence to get to the Hilton Hotel. A sm8rt' miniontook him to suite 3l0,'where, reali8ing it was ten past midnight, hesprawled on the luxurious, posture-sprung, feather-pillowed bed and 'lATentto sleep.

Morning brought, a~ong with the fog and cold tea, a pleasant surprise.He found four of his college friends and John Stevens (a not-so-pleasantsurprise) 'in the adjoining rooms.

Joe Straker, the only f,mericen member of the group, had not changedmuch in ten years. He still had a !babyface I 1ATith floppy ginger 'hAir;freckles, and a big mouth. He was en£1aged on reseArc'h into imrrrllnologv,and endeavoured at all times to stress its llTlportance.

Straker had arrived from New York inhad been shepherded up to suite 311 by annow in a vile mood, and threw a string offrom behind R cloud of cigarette smoke.

WaIter Jones had aged about sixty years during 'his ten yeArs in Germany.He was yellow and wizened t'hrough illness, and looked tn Granger to naveshrunk by at least four inches. He WAS in perpetuAl pain, an~ had been eversince swallowing concentrated sodium hydroxide pt university, 1,j}'d.chrw:leaten away a large proportion of his organs.

t'he eprl.y hours of' the momingandequally tired bell boy. He wasabuses at everyone And everything

WaIter's field Wf1S toxicology, but he did not talk mucp about :it: hedid not talk much about anything other them his uncomf'ortAble ,journey to

England. Beiqg wa~y of aeroplAnes he had t~ken a continental train from

his base ~ FriebUrg'~o Ostende, and a ferry from Ost,ende to Dover. Thetrain had been crowded, the s,eaWDS too rough for the "ferry to be enjoyable, ,

and,th~,t:rip from DQv~r to London was just extremely bori,ng. To top all thC'1t,he had develo'led a c'ol';i"somewhere along the 1/oray,and J-liscom'nents ~r.reremasked by, a red and wl)ite spotted handkerchief. He was in room 315, and

his bed was the on3;y pleasant" part of the whole affair.,

Charles Parker was th~ personific~tion ofdown to the bowler an9 brolly. His un ~ vors ity

, his ever-trusting fothqr. He was qualified towhich wa,s'sl...f_'iciently -Vague to allow hiID free

father's'finn, IIParker Plastics. I!

a middle clC1~sbore; rightcourse had been paid for, bystudy 'Industrial diseases',access to all sections of his

He had arrived, complete 11'Jith,golfcJ-Ubs, by a chauffeured Rolls, andhad argued over his room number f')r At least twenty minutes. He wAnted room310,with a view and a balcony~ and had been allotted room 314 with no balconyto his disgust. Unfortunately he could not talk or bribe his way out of

the situation as Peter Granger already occupied 310, and" hnd to be "contentw~th 314, despite its inferiority.

Edward Pearson was a thin wiry SJ:Bcimen with poin'ted ears and apermanent froWl. He studied neurology at l>eneva, but wasn't nappy t11ere, orso ho said, but Edward Pearsonwas never happy Rbout anythin~ so notnjng~esaid could be taken as an accurate fact. '

Apparently the: flight was hurpy, his bed '\.\18S'hr>rd, his taxi'from Het1throwto London' Central had broken dovm so his luggageFad nol arrived,and he:neve~~~n~ed to come anyway,

John Stevens 'arrival brought an uncomfortable sil.ence to the 'group.>Granger SaW thet he had :;;till the ?ame unruly mop of black l~air, thou,!!'" itwas now sprouting ,grey, tingE's at the roots. He bounced into the lounge ".J-ithaltoget.her too mu.ch life for n:i,ne 0' clock in themorning, and grinned atthem aJl~ T},e grin was still the same too, 'splitting his face'i'n two fromear to ear. He was dressed in Cl sloppy red jumper,' 'at 'least three si"zes""\i{)Olarge, with darns dewn the front where acid, had spilt.

, Steven:;; was the ol1ly one, of the group to hAve achieved fame to an.-r extent.,:He"Dad ,~t.opped at un:iyersitv to t(1ke higher degrees wh8n the rp.st split uP,rind vvas now profittihg from the extra knowledge. Granger And,;'the rest secr~tly ,hated, hi~ guts, and he secretly despised the~, but t~8t was pu~ely accademically,and they had IIlc'1nyother things to talk about. '

,.

°14 college pranks were dug up {'rom the distDnt 1Ja$t,. esneciCllly themass ducking$ in the lAke in the lA st term. WaIter ~~~es remained silent,throughout the laughter, ne was thinking of hiscWn unfortunate university,career. If only'he could go back ten years and start ~1g[)in,and rememrer not

to dri'nk tl\i" sodium hydroxide. ,... .

. Theytalk!3d, about :!:-heir resp3ctive' jobs in scientific jargon, but SteV8l1Swas remarkp.b:\1, ,q~iet: aqout hisres,eArchr not even revealing his general AreA..',",-,". ", '

By evening they had exhausted all sources of conversation, apart fromthe conference, "Whicrhad teen kept 01Jtof discussion a]_l day ~ Stevens askedthem over to his room. number 313, for drinks in tlle evening, ",rith an ar3dedincentive that he would disclose the facts about the conference.

All arrived punctually at 8.30 Dm. outsi4e suite 313. Cnarles Perker

stood out as an immaculately dressed busjnes8 man, amongst the array ofsloPDY

jumpers, the scientist's trademar1<:. Stevens greeted them'",Tith the f'amousf!.Tinand mixed drinks whilst whistlinP'-oloudly and discordantly, presumably'to himself.

He looked too much like a lecturer for Straker's liking as ne stood in t.l1e

centre of the semicircle of cnAirs re had errgnged round the fire. Pe refrained

from'saying so, in the hope of a speedy explanation of the conference. A~l

five, he had found out, had received the same vague invitations, a touch ofJohn Stevensl melodramatic streak no doubt. '

"I have called you here to exDlain my silence on-the subject of'the

conference, which you are all no doubt eager to attend."

'You must be kidding,' thought Straker. "Yes," he said.

'When I tell you the reason for my silence you will not ~e surprised, butfirst have another drink." ,

'TiIre wasting', thought Pearson, II should never havecome to this.',

mouldy convention.'

'Stevens' melodramatic streak again,' throught Granger, 'T can 'see weare going to have to 1;\Jaittill at least midnight to learn his secret. I

"Well, as you know, the conference is about new scientific discoveries,especially in our field."

'Tell us news, not history, t they all thought.

ItJason Knight 1S research into enzymes had lead to a new improved yield

of alcohol by fermentation:-"

1Tell us more, I they all thouf)1t.

"But that is not as important as Peter King's advance in neurology-, an

extremely prof1 table discovery, Edward; you should get on very well1Nith him."

'He 1s pushing,' thought Pearson darkly.

King - he'll push too far! '

tHe knows I'm inferior to Peter

"And then, of course, 'trere'sHans Schneider's excellent results in

industrial chemistry, your field Charles'."

1Should I know him,' mused Parker. 'He could provide' bi~ money for dad's

firm if I get to know him. ReIIBmber your manners tomorrow, Char11e~ t

"But none of these discoveries can compare 111Tithmine. 1'11 rock world

medicine for years to come. John Stevens1Nillbe a householdname-It

e>' .'Pure, unadulterated pomposity,' decided Granger.

"Even Fleming will bow to me.,history books. I can see it nO\N-1t. .

i-1yriame will go dO1NI1along'Side his in tlle

'I wish Icould~' grumblEd Parker. 'Trdnkof' the money. f

"Still I suppose you 'lITant to know wl1at it is I've discovered. I!

'Well it was the general idea," Granger cut tne atmosphere whicll co1.Jldvery probably have be~n cut wjth Clknife, since Joe Straker ha9 now beensmoking encessantly for t1~TOhours.

"I have discovered a cure for cancer! I!

Somebody shoU1dhave taken a photograph of the five men seated around him.They stared in unbelieving astonishment, mmlths open, eyes popping.

"Alright, you've made the joke; now can we havp the real suhject r:f yourpaper ;'" scdd Straker, clearing the tension.

"Oh, I assure you, it fS no joke, you'll all see tomorro,-r w1tl1: t~ othersand maybe then you f n be proud to know me. "

"As we are, proud "to know you, arrrl also your friends, could we have apreview, please! " retorted Pearsori. "I have not come all the way from,Geneva to be treated as one of the rabble 0 "

"Nobody knows about rrw discovery, except 11Wassistant Adam, and hewouldn't tell anyone." ., .

Granger expressed disbelief in'his eyes. "T know you tl:1ink I'm bluffing, i'Stevens laughed almost hysterically, Itbut you'lllNish you'd had more faith:inme \'\hen I ignore you all tomorrow. You don It really think I need you, do you?"

Thinking abollt it, Granger reali,sed the trutrhad St~vens called them all this way just to tell

them? It could only be to insult the!;} further, tofutile their own research lNBS.

in these iNords, and yet l/I,1hythem be didn' t w~nt bknowsr,Ol/Irtrem how US"!le ss and

. .

"I still think you' should show us the evidence," complained Straker. "Trereare only eight hours left 'before the conference begins, and we are your friends."

"Eight hours is ample time to tell tlie press, ample ti1re" to encourage,indus~rial spies'to come nosing around. Why do you think rr;y name isn't on thepro gramne? Why should I not tell you of rrwdiscovery 'bef~re now? It must comeas a total shock to everyone - th.qt way it ,Nill have more impact.. There havebeen absolutely no rumours during the whole ten;.years of research, and I don'tintend t6 change ~hat now."

It was obvious that John Stevenswas going to keep his secret until theconference, so WaIter Jones whispered, "I think '-19 all ouei-ht to f!O and get somesleep now," and staggered to the door. The others ~ollowed, leAving Stevens

alon~,contented witr. the e+'fect his discovery had had.them,' he mused, 'who needs enemies?'

I1Nith friends like

Peter Granger was standing outside on the balcony. It was a beautifu~nig,ht. The fog hac! vanished, and he could see the neon l::igbts of a living,pulsing city stretching far away into the distant blaclcness. Up above himthin, wispy cJ!dudschased the stars down the sky,.a.nd the moon cast soft,silvery shadows on the street below. He rolled the events of the evening.over and over in his mind. He often wondered what. it would be like tn befamous, and respected by fellow scientists; if Oh+y he could really discoversomething big, instead of fiddling little enzymes, wit111ong nares, tnat no-body could prOnOllllCe,let alone remember.

He could not understand John ~teve~s only having one coDY of his results.Of course it was very unlikely thet anybody would find one copy, if' wellenough hidden, but why not denosit a duplicate in a safe? The great scientificbrain was not such a logical one, f1nrl.knowing Stevens, he. probably kilad the conyunder his pillow, or some such obvious place~

,.

Joe Straker 'ATasadmiring his bedroom. He lNas now trying out tbe tJ:-,irdand final armchair, and found the swivel-base much to his liking. 1,vitr a glassof whisky in one hand and a cigarette in the other he spun rf)Und and rounduntil thoroughly confused and diz"y.

'John Stevens was a damn fool, I re thought. 'Be should have told usmore - it makes .one feel untrust1JlTorthy~ ' After suitably critic::i sing ~tevp..nsfor a 1Nhile he turned his thoughts to himself. The ciR'prettes ne had smokedsince leaving university made his chances 0" dying of cancer much higner trannormal; maybe it was a good th~ng. John Stevens ,.ras depressingly brilliantenough to develop a Cl1re. In fact, he probably already had cancer, and beinga friend of the inventor, he should get priority treatment - thAt is ifStevens didn't de0ide his discovery was too imp9rtant to let Clgroup of theworld's leading scientists see; and that was quite possible if the evening'sdiscussion was anyth~g to go by!

Walte.r Jones was searching frantically through his suitcase mutteringto himself: Clothes had been flung all over the bedroom in his haste, and ablue p.11dwhite stripe,d tie was nanginf!. froDia swinging lampshade. At thebottom of the second case he finaJ~y came u:pon !'\ leather case lNith his 'in:i tialson it. His nunbling fingers unzipped it, and the best part of a chemist'sshop fel~ onto the bed.

He had enough drugs to keep any normal person supplied for a year~including the stronger ones. Aspirins, sleeping tphlets, barbiturates, ,

amphetamines":' he had anarsenpl of suicide weapons, red ones, pinkones,yellow ones, all arranged in labelled bottles, but only numbered, not named.

He todk two red ones out .of the second bottle pnd stumbled over two pairsof shoes and his raz.or to get to the bathroom for a glass o.t' water. :Re hancalmed down considerably wen re emergeri again, And startArl clearin,g up tnemess he had made. He tidied his pil~s away first and plpc0d them carefullyback in th~ case, covering. them quickly with a dressing gown.

John Stevenst discovery had been even better than'he :hAd thought; hewas very pleased.' He looked forward to the conference, there may even be adiscovery that would help him. He had tried every antibiotic broug:ht 'out inthe last ten years and none were really e~fective.

Charles Parker was surveying 'his room. He still thoug:ht it was inferiorbut, since it was dark, he could .not really take advantage of the balconyanyway. He hoped a draught came through tIle door and caused Peter GrangeI' tobe uncomfortable. .

Whilst taking off his flowered tie and mauve shirt he thought about theconference. Think of t'he money he could make if he had dis covered the cure.He would be able to live in luxury, ann repay his fat:her for all t'he money hehad wasted on his education. ]\1aybe he could discover s0methjng if he reallygot dam to some work, but he would be surprised if' :he even remembered practicaldetails, let alone theory. Perrans he could persuade J olm Stevens to gointo partnership with his father's top scientist~', tre opportunities for money..,..making were enormous.

Edward Pearson staggered into room 310, only to fino Peter GrangeI' sittingthere gazing into nothingness. As usual Pearson had had far too much todrink, and had to be directed back to room 312, his own room. It 1ATasa verynice room really, with thick cream carpets and a ruge. invi ting bed with abright red cover. Unfortunately the room had acquired H',dward Pearson, vl/hj:chmeant it could not possibly please him. As far as he 1~rasconcerned, every-thing was 1;\1l'ongwith the room, even tre bedspread failed to gain his ~pprovAl.

Trrough a drunken haze he only savl/ brief glimpses of' the room as it. spunround him, finding the bathroom lNC\Slike trying to jump onto a fast-movingroundabout at a particular point. He failed twice but the' third time thewall seemed to give way and he found himself face to face with a bCJtr sponge-.and deduced that he must be in the bath. After' El sf-emingly endless effort,he rolled out of the bath ""Dd stElyed, exhAusted, on the bathroon floor.

Tne next tbing re heard was Stevenst Swedisr assistant, Jldam<)venson,trying to bang through tne door. He dragged :himself UP pnd steggereri to thedoor. Adam was deathly 1,.mite, .<md in between gasps be mAnaged to convey toPearson that he must go next door to Mr. Stevens room at once. Fe arrivedthere to find an array of brightly coloured dressing pawns - tbc()thers harlalso been dragged out of bed. Nohody spoke, not even 81~rorn o-P1~18lcome.Then he noticed that John Stevens was still in bed asleep - that w"uld explainthe silence! but if John Stevens was asleep 1Nhatwere t~ey doing in his room?Not wishing to sound stupid by asking the o1)vious, '~rJ'by are l~re here At three0 Iclock in the morning?, he walked over to the bed to ltvake "tevens. It wasthen he noticed a small dark red patch on the white covers. He.. turned to facethe others, his mouth open.

"Do stop gaping like 1'\ fj sh," croaked Parker, ."and suggest whet we can do."Pearson still stood there, he closed his mouth and sil811tl;v'crumplod to the.floor. ,<

"Gre.at! 11 thought Straker. "All we need is ar:n:ur..der And a scientistwho can't st~nd the - sight of blood~ Well, you c;:m't say this tdp is boring."

"All th:i.s standing around won't solve our problems, we'd "hetter '1Jhonethe police." instructed Granger, .logical ann. calm in the face of' death.

"I dQ not think that is. a good idea," Whispered 'Adam, "the story mustnot get out until we have foun(! t1,.e notes on cancer, or all the spies ~n the,country will l::B looking for them. I knmv <3private detective we c,m caLl -Paul Metcalfe. He lives just outside London and it 1hTill only take him abouthalf cm hour to get here. He knew J ahn we11 from tre time VIlhentr ere IN'8Saleak in'security at the university research station. ,Sllould I call him?"

"Ye.s," replied Granger simply.

~HHHHHHHHHHHf-

Chapter 2:

Paul Metcalfe crawled out of bed to answer tre 'phone, l~ich had buzzedwithout mercy for the past five minutes. The thrills and salary of' A privatedetective were far outnumbered by sleepless nights and bullet-holes.

He picked up tre marvel of' mechanical engineering and an excited tinnyvoice care clattering through. miles ot' wires to arrive as 8 g8rbled mess inhis right ear. "Eh?" WClSthe unceremonious reply.

"There's been a murder ~ " shrieked the voice.

. "Good neavens, how exciting," said Metcalfe sA;cl'1stically.

"It's Em emminent research scientist -"r"Is it? And how did it die?"

"It - I mean he was stAbbed straight tJ->rough the neart twice."

"And why am I allowed to share tnis dark secret?"

. "I was hoping you could pop over and clear UP tHe mystery for us."

. "Oh, I see. Just a minute whilst I crcmge into my botrni'm suit - I'll bein through the windmv in no time."

"Don't you ever lea~ out the jokes?" growle:-1 the voice.

"Not .at ,three 0' clock in the morning," replied Metcalfe bri.gntly, he wasthoroughly en,ioyir, fl himself by this time. NotJ-1ing.like p. .p:oodmurder to wakeone up. It was usually hysterical women los:ng their pearls wro called himat such times.

"His n?me was, John Stevens. You met him on a security case about a yearago. Tall, looked rather like 8 shAgfZYdog wearing a polo neck .jumper."

Metcalfe thought, raising his rirht eyebrow as re Rhrays did wnen t'~inkin.r:.Of course, it must be, nobody looked more like a skaggy dog than the'add-ballhe had met at the university. Murder did not seem to he in his line, he wasalways so innocent and pelpless. Still - it hap"pens to tpe nicest people.

The voice was getting worried by the prolonged D8use. "Hello?" it said.

"Hello," r.eplied Metcalfe cheerfully.

"Are you still there?"

"I think so - just a minute whilst I check.definitely say that I am still here."

Yes. I think I can

"And will you help us?" the voice was getting tired of tne wisecracks.

"I/fell I do remember John Stevens, but I can't imagine the c ircumstl'1llcesleading up to his demi,se' - could you tell me more?"

"'I'm sorry but I can't over tpe 'phone.you arrive - if you arrive."

You'll understand t:hat 1Nhen

"Yes, I'Ll core, but where to?fI

"Hilton Hotel, suite 313; nobody in the notel knovvs about tr.is, so I'll'just tell reception to expect a late guest. Or, and try to look intelligent,I' 11 te 11 you why when you arrive."

';You cheeky-" the ripe language was wastpd because the' Drone had alr'eadygone dead. '

Metcalfe dressed slowly end careTully in 1::is luxurious bectroom, completewith nothing in particular. He shavei cmrl brusr.ed his r,pj r - nnlst lookintelligent - he thought. His faithful car was waiting for n:im dO1/'mstAirs.His car was his real friend. He alwpyskept it tunp..d UP And gleaming readyfor a quick get-away. He sped along the virtually emptyhighwlWs, all leadinglike veiri.s to a centrr-l heart. It was still a beautj ful night but very cold,as nights normally ere in December. Tne piercing wind blew scraps of paperand leaves out of his way. His headlamps covered the pavements with coldblue light. A cat, suddenly illuminated in the glare screecred and ranfor cover, its back arched. '

He arrived at the Hilton twenty five minutes after shouting abuse throughthe' phone. Looking up he could see about ten lights on altogether. One ofthose would be room 313, the others he left to tr.e im8ginat; on. He straigl1t-ened his tie, picked up his empty briefcase and strolled into reception, .

making a ~eterminedeffort to look intelligent. .1rlhether or not he succeeded,he was led'directly to room 313, and after dismissing the guide De rappedloudly on the door.

A sDeet-1/Imite face peererl at him through a crack in 'the door. "Boo, 11he said and the door ~ms immediAtely slammed in his face. He waited till it

opened again and put his foot in the crack Quickly. "Did you, or did you

not want'a private detective? I c)ffi qui to prepared to IYO rome and g-o to be0. :if pryou do not." ' 1.-'[11

th"I'm sorry," stmrnnered the,voice he l1ad l1eard on the 'D1~one. It was

"on the end of a lanky f;:dr-hpiredbody, vhicr l1e learned W£\S cAlled A-lam.

sr

He entered to find five coweringfipures staring: at him. One mad m'Scientist was enough, five were impossible, and 1mfortunately trey were still s~living,wl1ich"WJuli make it allthe harder. The orderto look lnte 11i5!.ent, aJshould have been chang'3d to "look like a sdentistll, iAlt1ich illTC'S,re decjrled, jia totally different pose. I

The body had. not been moved. Be recognised John C',tevens, wh" han. gone wgrey in the year between tl1eir meetings. Tl1e red st8in on t"he be"'clot'-es had ~grOiNrl to be a circle about a foot in rli8meter, 1iI1DichillTaSnow i?'oing brown rmddry at the edges. He did not uncover the body fully.

He turned round again to find them all lonking anxiously at him. liDoyou know who did it?1I !Nalter Jones 8sked An obviously ririiculous question.

ai,i,

'"

'11~1hattOe hell do you think I am," snapoo<1 ,Metc!:11f'e, lIa damn magici~I1or something?" It was worse than "he 118d thought, scientists were wors(; themuseless ~ He managed to collect; a pretty clear iieA Ol tre circumstance S outof them, by discarding all irrelevant t"\llTaddle, The first' tl1i~\J' to do iAmsrind the notes on Stevens' paper shout cancer research.

They searcl1ed Jorn Stevens' room first, ,<:Indit did not take them longto :iOO the papers, or at least the remnants. It hael obviously been copie:iand then burned and dropped in tl1e waste pareI' basket. Unfortunately tr.emurdereE had been in too much haste to make sure, ,:md n, feiI\T,COrnf:rs of' paper

had been left uncharred with some illegible scri,bh'ings on tl1em tl1at couldonly be the remains ,of the D:::!per on Cc'l1cer.

As one of the six people round l1im must he the murderer,tre np.-xt logjcalthing to do was to search'the.ir roo11'1Sfor the rluplicAte notes. Thi~ wouldprobably net producemucl1, AS tl1e notes were almost certAin to be in, tre formof an unexposed film, but it would give l1im an idea of the d:i.fferentoorson-alities and peculiarities of the five men.CRe knew Adam already.)

He told tl1em all to go'with Adam to his room whilst he seArched, knowing

that nobody could l1ide anyt'hinq: if tl1ey l/ITere all together. Being a verysuspiciousmam, he cl1eckedtl1emall for offensive weapons 8S tl1eywent out.Parker appearedto be carrying a golf stick 1illderhis dressing gown, and Joneshad an old police truncheontucked UP his sleeve.' GrangeI' ;md~t:takerw~re more sophistiGated And c~rrie4 small pistols, ,both fo1illdto be unloaded.Edwq.rd Pearson hrd not hrJd tiTre' to equip :himselfwith a weapon, and lllTas not

, really ina fit s-t,ateto use' one anY;lITay. ' ,

Metcalfe looked at all the improvisedweapons ",-!'hen they had gone. It wasfunny that they should,pick up arms wl1enAdam had only askeq them to go toJQhn Steven$lroom.Surely tl1~ didn't all have a part in tre murder, apartfrom Edwar:i. Pearson, VllhoW8.S still under tl1e influence of' drink.

As he was. in Stevens' room 1:->edecide--1 to searcr tnere first. Thepreliminary search had only been superficial - r,e did not want to reveal allhis talent to the murderer, w"'o TIRlst be feeling rAther proud of himsel~ atthat moment.

He examined the batl1room first, deducing trpt 8tevens must have hRd ashower before going to bed because of condensation on the tiles anrl shavingmirror. There was notning of real interest as he CAme to the bedroom. A'small suit-cDse with a clean shirt and new pAir of' shoes wps und(cr the bed,and Elneatly-presser'1. suit in the wardrobe, alonc: with various tatteredjl~pers and worn-out pairs of' jeans.

The remnants of the paper were in the waste P1'\per hasket s.till. They'were totally unintelligible to Metcalfe, but 11e dusted pwaythe burnt erlges,and stuffed the seven corners o~ paper into his pocket.

Finally he came to the body. He pulled the s11eets back now revealing'a pale under-nourished figure in brig11t blue' pyjamas "\i\rith yellow splotcha!!:,which toned beautifully with the yellow skin, utterly devoir'! of blood. Thewounds had been inflicted through the jacket, which hwl blTo lArge slitsdiagonally across it. There were two matching incisions underneath, directlyabove the heart. The cuts 1Nere very clean, as if mAde by a medical scalpelor a razor blade, either of which the murderer could be carrying 1~ritDout fe8rof accusation.

Met-calfe (!ecided to searcD Gri'mger's room next, the only one wit}! Sbalcony. Again he searched the "bathroom first. Ps l1e expecterl Grl'mger wC's notthe old-fashioned type" cmrl harl An -electric rA'70r - one point to G:ri'mger.Finding nothing else in tl1e b;:.throcm ne orogressed to tne be(Jroom. l~f1.-"erethere l1ad beon Clcream c prpet and bedspread -in Stevens I r00m, tl1ere wasa light blue combini'1tion :in GrangeI" s room. There were t\\TO suitcAses: neopened the 1Brge one, but it was ahsolutely empty. Tr,e sJl1all one'was locked,but ri'1ttled. In the wardrobe wos a suit and various accessories, including

the key to the sffi"11ler CAse. OpeninF! t11is hef'ound more papers, ADp::1yentlvon cnzymology from the titles, !'1nd a :iissection kit vmic~ included bothrazor blade and scalpel - two pointspgainst GrFmger. Tne instrumentshad been kept in perfect cond:ition, with no fingermarks on them at all.There were also one or tv,TOletters in the case, from his l'11ife or girlfriend,but vvhy he should have brougl1t them along MetiAlfe did not know. He foundnothing else in Granger's room, end made sure ne h8'l reolaced each sheet ofpaper in its original position before locking the caseanr1 replacing itcare fully. '

Stra~erl e room was next door. n'e b"tnroom reveale"'! nothnr: at ~ll noteven a bar of S08P- this 1Nas later found in p nag a C' toiletries in hi::, s'O:;t-Case. Stra.ker's ,case was locked, so Metcplfe sem'cned tne li1Tardrobe first,finding the key in his wallet. In the case were four packets af '8nqlishcigarettes, 1rJhich Straker had probably obtcdned cut-price on the plane, anda bag containing soap etc., ann an electric razor. Tnere i~ms also a "bottleof sleeping pills or aspirins i~dth no label.

Room 312 "\Tas Editmrd Poarson' s room. The bpthroom was still wetthrough from his earlier antics, and the door ~~S scratchen ~mere l1e had

fallen through ,md cAught U'e PAintvmrk 1"rith something. The b.«trroom wasa jumble of clothes and neurology papers, but Metcalfe found nothing of realinterest.

He passed the dead man's Doom, coming to Charles Parker's suite. Inthe b!'1throom was e neat line of After-shave lotion, prn-shave lotion, cologne,talcum end soap. The suitcases han bt'3cn emptied pnrl the warnrobe was fullof clothes for every possible occ8sion, incluning swim.rring and volf. I setof golf clubs, one of vmich J\'Ietcalfe had already confiscated, WASparked inthe far corner of the room. 7hey lonked well-used, much more so than thebriefcase cont$.ining papers on industrial medicine. Parker also 'had a diss-ection key, though it was dusty, And most of the implements 1aere blunt, APartfrom scissors and scalpel.

The last room ",ras 315, belonginp: to 1'Talter Jones. The bathroom revealedonly a similE'r bottle 0 f pills to that founn in Str8ker t s room, and Me,tcAlfetook one for analysis. His suitcAse was locked and l'~etcalfe han some trouble';locating the key, secured in a small, special inside pocket in l~Taltert sjncket. In the case was tom old, worn, brown leatner c,~se, "Wh1chwas alsolocked. The lock yielclerl to Metcalf'e' s skele ton key revealing a "bright con-glomeration of pills of all shapes and sizes. Although the bottles ""ereonly numbered, Metcalfe roc0gnised the signs ,0" a drug addict, amphetaminesto boost him up cmrl barbiturates to brine: him down again. He wonderedcynically which drugs Wplter hed taken before ,croinp: into Stevens' room.

Taking samples of All the clrugs, he replaced everytring cnrefullv anrlwent to, ca~l Adam back into the toom. This time trey pssembled in Grmgcr'ssuite whilst Metcalfe searched Adam's room. H0 fO'\mr'1all the tools of' ajunior scientist - dissection kit, old jumpers cmd various periodi<?als, mostlyon cancer.

He nOla had all the clues he needed and a pretty surp.. idea of who theIDurdererwas, but there were still things to check'up on. He v"Jffilted to knowmore about the background of each man. It was now, 'be noticed, helf pastfive, and he had to clear up the mystery before U'e conferEmce started Ateleven 0' clock the same morning. There was always the possibility that theinformation could be sold by that time, anr't SOTIBoneelse would Clf)im theglory if he was not careful.

, '

The scientists wereby nGAThalf-frozen in their pyjamas, anrl MetcAlfetold them to go ,md change qui,ckly. They were shepherr1ccl into room 310 Againwhen fully dresser) and left them under each other's gunrn until 1\1etcalfc rwrlmade his further investigations.

He found that nearly all .had guilty secrets. Granger 'bf1rl always beenextremely jeelous of'c)tevens! hetter twain anr't hi i7her qualifjcations. Straker

,had once annoye'l Stevens so much that 'he had kicked his knee and broken it.This resulted in Straker not being able to play football Again, for lA~ich hehad never forgiven Stevens. '\JIlalter Jones appeared to be too '1tJ'i";akto bear anymalice. Chnrle s Porker was jealous of the money C)tevens '\.-.pdmaGP.., andindignant beccmse he hAd not made ,crooduse of' it, ann, ::;;dl,rard DeArt5'On nwl somany trivial grudges egainst Stevens t'bat iJIetcplfe did not knm", wr15c'h 1~1I3reseriqus and 1rmich lAlGre imagin a.ry .

Now absolutely sure of tJ'G mu.rdcrcr hr:~ returned t the nominator)courtroom and decided to toy with the opposition before giving his verdict.First he celled for seven coffees to be brougl1t to room 310, migY-t as wellhave a nice homely atmosph:;re he thoug'ht. \-J11cn the coffee Arrived -he pouredit, to make sure nobody slipped anything into sorreone else's drink, andtook his place in the middle of' them all.

!Pho chairs were arranged as they has been the might before, in a semi-circle around 11etcalfe, but he was 81so sc8teC! this time. !'l\nd now to startthe ball rollimg -" rle thou "ht.

~HHHHHHHHHHH~

Chrpter3:

Havinga very orderly mind, Metcplfe dec~ed to expose opcn person ~nturn.

"First I would like to stCJrt in ~I[r. Grangerls room,"'he begc:'n nolitely.Nobody enswered so he went on - "I see you are involved in enz,ymology, fI newas still being Dolite.

"Yes", grunted GrangeI'.like lawyers.

Metccolfe sounded .lust like [1 lpwyer: ne C!idn't

......

"Could ;>rou please expl[1i n -what an enzymologist "'Tould be rloinro: wit}: a-::lissection kit?"-

"All scientists carry dissectlon kits", replied Grcmger blandly.

'~A[ell, most of YO11r friends here don t t seem to. fI.,

"Then they mustn I t be conscientious scientists. I!

the other men, Rnd GrangeI' felt his cheeks flushing.A Tmlrmer passed round

'Would you like to qualify that staterrent, Mr. Grcmger?1I

"No," answered GrangeI' directly, this was £"etting to be too much likea trial.

"You wouldn It have bl -:Mf?'ht a clean, new kit because you hoped John Stevenswould ask you to '7helphim then?"

"I well, ah --- yes, if you must know~ Ilm fGd UD "'Tit}! discoveringenzymes until they core ut): of my eaTS. There IS hardly any Dractical 1ATorkinvolved and I used to be rather vood at diSGections Anudtrings like thet. Icouldn t t think of any other rerson. Jorm Stevens would ask m=;to come to aconference but to ask me to join him. j;fter an I rwdn! t seen him for tenyears, 1Anyelse would he want to see me?"

On"epoint to r1etcalfe. 1,'1ell at le3st Grcmgerit cmd told the truth, even if he was cursin.f" Paulapparently innocent expression. Unfortunately hisconceal the pure hate he was feeling.

hprl 'been open-nanr1ed 8hout.MetcAlfe behind hisdeep b18ck eyes coulr'[ not

"And whr>t w:ere you doing stood on your balcony e.+'teryou left John Stevcnslast night?" .

"None of your.damned businessr " snappsd Granger.

ThCJt was just put in to judge the reacti on; Metcalfe was 1)ositive that

he had now worked Granger up to a high enough stute of anger. - "And you went

back ,to Jorm Stevens I room after that, didn't you?"

"How did .>ou.know that?" croaked Granger.

"That's my secret. Now why did you go back?" <1

"I went back to apologise for getting angry earlier in the evening.Besides, we had not been alone together, and I just wanted an informal chat.

I always considered myself a close friend and I trought he might tell me moreabout his research."

Granger had now had his share of the blushes, and was relieved when Paul

Metcalfe turned his unblinking eyes away from him and towards Charles Parker.

Parker blushed immediately.

"Do you always bring golf-clubs and swimming trunks to conferences, Hr.Parker?"

"Well I was, ah, hoping to take a short vocation afterwards."

"And does your father know what your business is, here in London?"

"Of course," stammered Parker, who was a very poor liar.

"Well it's funny, but I called him a short time ago on the telephone, and

he said he thought you were here to .enrol i new research scientist for him,

and take him for a short vacation to show your generosity."

"Well why should Stevens call me. I mean, I never was any good at science

His wish to join us was the. first thing I thought of."

Charles Parker, it appeared to Metcalfe, thought of nothing but mo~ey.

At this rate his father would soon be bankrupt. The old man apparently

paid for many such oxcursion~. It would be interesting to see what happened

when Farker went back this time; Mr. Farker senior had. not sounded too pleased

on the 'phone. .

"Does father mow why I am here.?" asked Charles anxiously. "Well he didn It

but he does now," Metcalfe grinned as Parker's jaw dropped exposing his gold

fillings. He would have to work ~ow, what could he do? His father was not

likely to believe any more of his excuses.

Satisfied that he h2d given Parker something to worry about, he decided

to go on to the next victim. They all cringed under his steely stare and

went alternately white, then red. Metcalfe decided to pounce on WaIter Jonesnext. Pounce was hardly the word, he need only creep up and say "Boo", and

WaIter would probably faint in his arms.

ness was not really his own fault.He felt sorry for WaIter, his weak-

"Now, tolr.Jones, what did you do last night? You obviously didn't go to

bed, because it had not been slept in when I examined your room."

"I find it better to sleep in an, ordinary chair," groaned Halter, who was

looking positively green at the time.

"Could you explain what a sock was doing on the windowsill, and a hand-

I kerchief on top of your wardrobe?"

Wal ter blushed a sort of yellowy-orange colol'r thr'ough his usually white

cheeks and stammered, "I was ub - looking for something important in my suit-case and got a bit over-anxious."

"And what "\ereyou looking for?" inquired JVletcalfe, knowing it was the drugs.

"For an aspirin; I had a headache, and I still have, so if you don't mind-"

"Oh, but I do mind, Mr. Janes.around?"

~~at about the stronger drugs you carry

"You had no right to open that case! " WaIter was almost crying.

"I suspect, by the look on your.face, that you need an amphetamine

right now to pep you up. 'l'heyare amphetamines and barbiturates, aren't they?I Correct me if I'm wrong."

"Yes they are," said \l1alter weakly. "Would you mind if I went and took

one, just to see me throught this conversation,"

"Not at all, providing Nr. Granger goes with you to make sure you don't

collapse", Metcalfe smiled; they he.d not n;,ticed that he had only askedGranger to go to make sure both of them returned. '

Whilst Jones was out, Netcclfe decided to examine Joe Straker, who was

looking at him quizically through the eternal cloud of cigarette smoke thatfollowed Straker around. "Are you still there, Nr. Str2ker?"

":FUnnyman~ " grunted Straker.

"Then we'll begin." this sounded more like 'Watch with Mother'.

"First could anybody tell me the time?" Straker cigain grunted some reply.

The time was not important, Metcalfe had time enough to see who was wearing awatch. Out of the six men, only Adam and Straker had watches, but Straker's

stood out in Metcalfe's mind as exceptional. He would have to work in

another question about that to confirm his suspicions.

"I noticed you have an electric razor - :4ot a very good stabbing weapon"

quoted Hetcalfe, just for the record. "how many packets of duty-free cigar-

ettes did you buy on the plane?"

""::I..'V~," ~e1'J~j.ed li3'trnker.

"And ha \<1many have you smoked?"

"Two", replied Straker, not seeing the catch.

"Then can you explain Hhy there are four full packets of an English bran!of cigarettes in your case, when I know you usually smoke American ones?"

Str8ker was ready for the question. "If you look closely you will seethat the cigarettes in one packet are home-rolled as you Llight say. Theyhave no name on them, and are some that I was trying out." Straker grinned,he had outwitted Metcalfe there, he could tell by the blank Gxpression. ,

Behind his blunk expression, Metcalfe was thinking 'He thinks he's outwittedme, I'll have the last laugh, but I'll leave it for a while.'

"And why did you go back to see John Stevens?" This question came as ashock to Straker; he WEtSsure nobody had seen him slip into John Stevens'room after the earlier conversation. "I wanted to apologise for my badmanners. I got rather hot-tempered after a few drinks and I didn't want toleave him with a bad impression."

"Are you sure thflt's why you went back?"

"Don't you believe anything I say, damn it?" Straker could not containhis building anger any longer; but Metcalfe shrugged the biting answer off,it had only been routine, to see if he had any feelings. He had decided tomention the watch in his final summing up.

Adam was next for interrogation. Although he had had the ~dealopportunity to kill Stevens he had no reason to. He could have copied thenotes, and he would have committed the murder in the laboratory to make itlook like accidental death. AdQm had a quick intelligent mind behind his'country yokel 'face, and would have committeda better murder, more dramaticand harder to trace.

Edw::,rd Pearson was the last to have his brains picked. He lookedthoroughly miserable, as he was beginning to feel the effects of too much driruHe woke up from his day-dreams \<lhen his name was mentioned for the third time.

"Are you still there, Hr. Pearson?"in Metcalfe's question.

'l'he cynicism vlaS showing plainly

"I notice you had a bath last night, but the towel isn't wet."

./ "No, I didn't have Cl bath - Oh, I tried but the waterseemed to run ontothe floor instead." '

"Why did you attempt to pack your suitcase when the conference doesn't.end till tomorrow?"

"I - thought I Hould go after hearing John's talk.home quickly," said Pear:son unconvincingly.

I've got to get

"Are you sure that's the real reason?"

Pearson realised that Hetcalfe was not convinced.. "Well I drank a bit

too much last night, I must have packed my case whilst I was drunk."

"And now we'll have the real reason." Metbalfe never gave inl

"1 don't know what you're talking about," stammered Pearson.

"Oh, I think you do," replied Metcalfe.

John stevens' room last night-"

"You see you went back into

"Yes, you win," Pearson cried. "I never meant to kill him. I went back

to have a little chat, I was drunk and happy but he didn't appreciate my

sense of humour. He told me I was no good and in~ulted my work, and I got

mad. I didn't really know what I was doing. I picked up his razor which was

on the table, he must just have used it. I took the blade out and laughed in

his face. I could not think properly. I could see his eyes looking at therazor blade in horror and I flashed it towards him. He reeled backwards onto

the bed. I followed him laughing and jerked the shining blade to~ds him again.He kept shrieking to me, but his words were garbled and only rang in my ears

as sounds. I kept on jerking the blade nearer and nearer. I pinpointed hisheart with medical accuracy; we would see who was no good. I would stab him

right in the heart. I told him so. I said I would use all my medical skillto make sure. I only meeded to stab him once, but I did it twice to make sure.

I slit his pyjamas and then sunk the blade in. ~..ikea good murderer :tput

him in bed and washed the blade, replacing it clumsily in the razor. Iwas

in such a state that I didn't even bother to lock his door, I just walked

casually back to my room and went to sleep."

1'hey were all staring at Edward Pearson, nobody said a word;

nothing left to say. "How long will I get?"

there was

"If you're referring to a prison sentence I don't know.

above three months for possessing an offensive weapon."

Probably not

"But - " whispered Pearson, "I killed him _If

"You will be very relieved to know that you did not kill him."

"But-the stab wounds, I saw them. I must be guilty."

"Yes but you don't have the papers do you? You seem to have forgotten

them. Mr. Straker you have a very interesting watch, in fact, I think

it's a camera, please correct me if i'm wrong."

"Yes, but I don't have the papers on film."

'~ut r have seen a film, wrapped in the ends of your suspect box ofcigarettes."

"That film has nothing to do with this affair. It was an experiment inphotography by my American University. When you were looking for a film I

panicked and hid the film in my cigarettes.find them there."

I - did not think you would

"You underestimate me, Nr. Straker," smiled Metcalfe.

you."

"But I believe

I

I

I

I"Well, if it's not me and it's not Eddy Pearson, who the hell is it?"

said Straker losing his -temper again.

"Please control your temper, Mr. Straker, I;instructed Metcaife.

about to tell you if you. will-let me proceed without interruptionl ""I am

"You all have various underhand occupations, and it was difficult to

decide which were legal and which were not. Mr. Granger's trip back to see

Stevens appeared to have absolutely no motive: Straker's cigarettes and

watch camera puzzled me for a while also. Mr. Parker's use of his father's

money was not cricket for a true Englishman, althouehhe did not appear to b~vethe brains to' commit a murder.

"Well, I - " exclaimed Parker.

"No interruptions please," said :Hetcalfe,going on - "liTJ'.Pearson hasappeared to have a guilty complex throughout my brief stay here, but the

most puzzling case of all was that of WaIter Jones - Hardly a murderer butyet." "laTter Jones Screamed. It was a high-pitched scream that left Metcalfcseardrur"s banging out a fast caylpso. He tried to get up and run out -but was

held back by his amazed companions. "

itl"Get off me you Ftupid, arrogant fools. I'm glad I did itl He deservedIt's a pity it couldn't have been a slower death like he gave me."

"You never did forgive him, did you, WaIter? You kept a secret hate all

these years. I suppose you planned this murder before you came. It was a

very good murder really, especia~ly because Edward Pearson helped you byselling everyone a dummy."

"Would somebody please tell me what's going on?" pleaded Straker.

"It's quite simple really. If ;you look closely at the body you will see

a sn~ll pin prick in the neck. WaIter Jones works in toxicology - thedevelopment of new ~isonous chemicals. He discovered a new poison a fewmonths ago, totally undetectable in the human body. Nobody would be able to

find any trace, apart from the pin prick. Jo~~ Stevens was the ideal guinea-

pig. When WaIter went into-his room he was still unconscious after faintingwhen Edward Pearson stabbed him. WaIter thought he was asleep and carried out

his plan to perfection; he must have, been overjoyed when the murder was j

attributed to a stab wou~d, but if you look closely, the wound is only super-Ificial, not more than half an inch deep. If you look in WaIter's notes you

~ill find one set with a d~fferent handwriting; these were obviously done j

~n great haste when he cop1ed out the papers he thought were on cancer. In I

fact, those papers were at the bottom of' the waste basket, the place where

nobody would look for important notes, and all were consequently burnt with

the notes on earlier cancer aids, which WaIter copied."

"But why would Walter Jones want to kill John Stevens? He's so weak and

helpless; no life in him at all ever sinco he swallowed caustic soda at

university."

"Did it never strike you as peculiar that he should suddenly drink about

half a beaker of caustic soda? Walter thought it was wnter. Ho had put a

beaker of water there a fe~1 minutes before, but John Stevens, vlhilst tidying

things away, put down the beaker of caustic soda he was using and took the

beaker of water to throwaway as excess chemical waste. When he came back

WaIter had already drunk the caustic soda and there was nothing he could do.

Walter had never forgiven Stevens for what only he knew he had done, and the

conference was an id8al time to get his own back."

There was a faint moan and Metcalfe turned just in time to see Walter Jones

slump forward on his chair. What was good enough for John Stevens was good

enough for him. It was a quick merciful end to his miserable ten years ofillness and failure. Unfortunately he had also ended the production of a

cancer cure for a while, but, no doubt, somebody elseviould develop it soonand claim the credit.

Paul Metcalfe left them all deep in thought. There would certainly besome life in the science conference~ He called the police on his way out.

It was nine o'clock when he jumped into his faithful car and headed home.He thought about the money he would not get for his brilliant piece of

deduction - scientists never had any money. Perhaps he could now get somewell-earned rest, and be fortunate enough not to get cancer before sdmeone

managed to develop another cure.

Helen Taylor. U.VI.Sc.

'****************-i'*********

A DAY IN THE SUN

As I walk on a bright sunny day

Along a country lane,I see horses in the meadows,

With the wind rustling their manes.

I see lush green grass,

Which sways gently in the breeze.

Sheep are cropping grass,

With their lambs by their sides.

As I pass the farmThe farmer's wife is washing,

Her husband is feeding the chickens

And everything is peaceful.Until suddenly along comes a car,

It blares its horn,

Horses run, sheep trot away and the

Then again everything is peaceful.

chickens squawk.

Helen Tomlinson lG.

*************