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Page 25
"Doubtless he did not realize how much in earnest you were on the
subject. This may well prove as impossible to understand as the
nurse's death. I do not say it will; but I suspect it will. A
perfectly healthy creature cut off in a moment and nothing to show
us why--absolutely nothing."
"A death without a cause--a negation of science surely?"
"There is a cause, but I do not think this dreadful tragedy will
reveal it," answered the doctor. "I pray it may, however, for all
our sakes," he continued. "It is impossible to say how deeply I
feel this for her, but also for you, and myself, too. He was one
of the best, a good sportsman and a good man."
"And a great loss to the Service," added Sir Walter. "I have not
considered all this means yet. My thoughts are centred on Mary."
"You must let me spare you all I can, my friend. There will be an
inquest, of course, and an inquiry. Also a post-mortem. Shall I
communicate with Dr. Mordred to-day, or would you prefer that
somebody else--"
"Somebody else. The most famous man you know. From no disrespect
to Dr. Mordred, or to you, Mannering. You understand that. But I
should like an independent examination by some great authority,
some one who knew nothing of the former case. This is an appalling
thing to happen. I don't know where to begin thinking."
"Do not put too great a strain upon yourself. Leave it to those
who will come to the matter with all their wits and without your
personal sorrow. An independent inquirer is certainly best, one
who, as you say, knows nothing about the former case."
"I don't know where to begin thinking," repeated the other. "Such
a thing upsets one's preconceived opinions. I had always regarded
my aversion to this room as a human weakness--a thing to be
conquered. Look round you. Would it be possible to imagine an
apartment with less of evil suggestion?"
The other made a perfunctory examination, went into every corner,
tapped the walls and stared at the ceiling. The clean morning
light showed its intricate pattern of interwoven circles
converging from the walls to the centre, and so creating a sense
of a lofty dome instead of a flat surface. In the centre was a
boss of a conventional lily flower opening its petals.
"The room should not be touched till after the inquest, I think.
Indeed, if I may advise, you will do well to leave it just as it
is for the police to see."
"They will want to see it, I imagine?"
"Unless you communicate direct with Scotland Yard, ask for a special
inquiry, and beg that the local men are not employed. There is
reason in that, for it is quite certain that nobody here would be
of any greater use to you than they were before."
"Act for me then, please. Explain that money is no object, and
ask them to send the most accomplished and experienced men in the
service. But they are only concerned with crime. This may be
outside their scope."
"We cannot say as to that. We cannot even assert that this is not
a crime. We know nothing."
"A crime needs a criminal, Mannering."
"That is so; but what would be criminal, if human agency were
responsible for it, might, nevertheless, be the work of forces to
which the word criminal cannot be applied."
Sir Walter stared at him.
"Is it possible you suggest a supernatural cause for this?"
The doctor shook his head.
"Emphatically not, though I am not a materialist, as you are aware.
My generation of practitioners has little difficulty in reconciling
our creed with our cult, though few of the younger men are able to
do so, I admit. But science is science, and not for a moment do I
imagine anything supernatural here. I think, however, there are
unconscious forces at work, and those responsible for setting those
forces in action would be criminals without a doubt, if they knew
what they were doing. The man who fires a rifle at an animal, if
he hits and kills it, is the destroyer, though he may operate from
half a mile away. On the other hand, the agents may be unconscious
of what they are doing."
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