“Good. What happens now?” He turned to the men. No one spoke for a moment. Roberts turned deferentially towards Phillips, who had moved across to Jane Harden. Jane and Phillips did not look at each other. Phillips appeared not to have heard Alleyn’s question. Thoms cleared his throat importantly.

“Well now, let’s see. If I’m not speaking out of my turn, I should say we got down to the job straight away. Roberts said he’d go along to the anæsthetic-room and Sir John, I believe, went into the theatre? That correct, sir?”

“Did you go into the theatre immediately, Sir John?” asked Alleyn.

“What? I? Yes, I believe so.”

“Before you washed?”

“Naturally.”

“Well, let’s start, shall we? Dr. Roberts, did you go alone to the anæsthetic-room?”

“No. Nurse—er—?” Roberts blinked at Banks. “Nurse Banks went with me. I looked at the anæsthetising apparatus and asked Nurse Banks to let Sir Derek’s nurse know when we were ready.”

“Will you go along, then? Fox, you take over with Dr. Roberts. Now, please, Sir John.”

Phillips at once went through into the theatre, followed by Alleyn. Boys broke off his subterranean humming and at a word from Alleyn took his place in the anteroom. Phillips, without speaking, crossed to the side table, which was set out as before with the three syringes in dishes of water. The surgeon took his hypodermic case from his pocket, looked at the first tube, appeared to find it empty, took out the second, and having squirted a syringeful of water into a measure-glass, dropped in a single tablet.

“That is what—what I believe I did,” he said.

“And then? You returned to the anteroom? No. What about Mr. Thoms?”

“Yes. Thoms should be here now.”

“Mr. Thoms, please!” shouted Alleyn.

The door swung open and Thoms came in.

“Hullo, hullo. Want me?”

“I understood you watched Sir John take up the hyoscine solution into the syringe.”

“Oh! Yes, b’lieve I did,” said Thoms, rather less boisterously.

“You commented on the amount of water.”

“Yes, I know, but—look here, you don’t want to go thinking—”

“I simply want a reconstruction without comment, Mr. Thoms.”

“Oh, quite, quite.”

Phillips stood with the syringe in his hand. He looked gravely and rather abstractedly at his assistant. At a nod from Alleyn he filled the syringe.

“It is now that Thoms remarks on the quantity of water,” he said quietly. “I snub him and go back into the anæstheticroom, where I give the injection. The patient is there with the special nurse.”

He took up the syringe and walked away. Thoms moved away with a grimace at Alleyn, who said abruptly:

“Just a moment, Mr. Thoms. I think you stayed behind in the theatre for a minute or two.”

“No, I didn’t—beg your pardon, inspector. I thought I went out to the anteroom before Sir John moved.”