“Exactly. I certainly agree that Miss Atwater might have inadvertently added the wrong ingredient when she was preparing the treats, but since no one else became ill it does suggest that the poisonous ingredient was added after she brought some six or seven of them to her room as a nighttime snack. I wonder if I may look over her room.”

It seemed to Livingston that Philip’s expression changed from distress to annoyance. “I thought the search your people made last evening was very thorough.”

“Professor Whitcomb, when we get a report from hospital that poison was found in a patient’s system, we must investigate most thoroughly. The laboratory confirmed this morning that the crackers found in her bed contain traces of arsenic. Now, if you don’t mind, I’d like to have a look for myself.”

“Of course, of c-c-c-course.” Philip opened the door and called for Emma.

It was a bit of luck, Livingston decided, that neither Whitcomb nor Twyler chose to accompany him. He climbed the winding staircase to the second floor, puffing a bit at the effort. He observed that the aging carpet was threadbare and sections of the wallpaper in the spacious hallway were completely missing. “A proper mess this house has become,” Emma Home said reprovingly. “Herself has wanted to keep it the way it was when Sir Gilbert was alive, and Philip is just as bad. He doesn’t notice that it’s falling down around him.”

At the top of the staircase she led the way to the right. “All the bedrooms they use are in this wing,” Home announced. “Lady Exner’s is the first, then Philip’s, a guest room after that, and the end one is Penelope’s. The door past that is the W.C.”

“The W.C!” Livingston exclaimed. “Doesn’t Lady Exner have a private bath?”

“No,” Emma said shortly as she led the way to Penelope’s room. “Anyone else would have converted one of these huge closets or maybe a guest room into a bath, but what was good enough for Sir Gilbert is good enough for her. Doesn’t really matter. She and Penelope share. There are two loos in the other wing and two on the main floor, but at present this is the only working one. Her Ladyship’s finally arranged to have the plumbing repair started, but it will be several months before the new fixtures are delivered.”

They were at the door of Penelope’s bedroom. The bed had been remade. The luggage Penelope had planned to take on the trip was stacked in a corner. The top of the dresser was littered with odds and ends, making Livingston think of an abandoned gift shop. Scattered around the room were teddy bears of various shapes and sizes. The bed and the night table beside it were in full view from the entrance.