Free The Golden Goose by Ellery Queen Page B

(Prin thought it had much likelier been Peet’s), he had trudged upstairs and talked to Prin in her room before going to his own room and biting his fingernails for an hour or so (he placed his fingertips in evidence). Twig had been out of sorts, he said. He had considered going into town to a movie, but he had decided against it because neither feature was a horror picture; and all in all he had just drifted around the premises, in and out and downstairs and upstairs. He had noticed Peet, yes, and Brady, too—Peet on the terrace and Brady swatting golf balls, but he had avoided them (as too obvious targets for his malice). Prin told about faking the little-girl’s lunar complaint shamelessly and coming home and the rest of it, some for the second and third time.
    It was Lieutenant Grundy’s opinion that they had all had plenty of opportunity to abridge Uncle Slater’s constitutional right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness; and he said so snidely.
    â€œWith your permission, Lieutenant,” said Coley Collins, “I should like to make a point, to wit: There is absolutely no evidence to indicate that Uncle Slater’s constitutional right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness was abridged.”
    â€œNo evidence to prove it, maybe,” said Grundy, “but plenty to indicate it.”
    â€œIs that so?” said Prin with interest. “Would you be kind enough to tell us what? And you listen, Coley—maybe you’ll learn a thing or two about the science of detection.”
    â€œOf course,” said Coley. “It is always instructive to pay heed to the words of a professional.”
    â€œOh, I don’t know,” said Lieutenant Grundy handsomely, “we make our mistakes. But I would have you note—if my understanding of the point is correct—that anyone who dies while awake, with his eyes open, will be found after death with his eyes still open. Slater O’Shea died with his eyes shut. From this we may conclude that he died while asleep or in a comatose condition. And this leads us to the crucial question: Was he naturally asleep or unnaturally unconscious at the time of death? I would doubt the former, since it seems extremely unlikely that Mr. O’Shea enjoyed lying down on the floor for his nap when there was a bed available a foot away for the purpose. Unconscious—let us say from simple overindulgence in spirits? That will be determined by the percentage of alcohol found in his blood measured against his normal capacity, and other scientific considerations. But it is my preliminary view that mere overindulgence will not explain his position on the floor. Because there is something very rotten in the state of this bourbon we found at his bedside, or I miss my guess.”
    Until Lieutenant Grundy had launched into his analysis, Prin had thought of him as a small-time cop of nasty personality and mere brute intelligence. It seemed to her the grossest deception for him now to prove himself otherwise.
    â€œWell, I’ll be damned,” said Prin.
    â€œSomeone here will,” smiled Grundy, “if I’m not mistaken. However! I’m through for the present, although it’s likely I shall see you all again after the autopsy. Boatner, phone for an ambulance and then join me upstairs. We’ll wait on the scene of the suspected crime till the meat wagon comes.”
    The lieutenant turned to follow Boatner out when Cousin Twig stopped him. “Excuse me, Lieutenant,” he said. “I understand why you want to take Uncle Slater’s bottle of bourbon with you—after all, if it’s full of poison it isn’t any good to us anyway—but why are you taking the glass?”
    â€œBecause,” said Grundy, “it’s the connecting link between the bottle of bourbon and your uncle’s tummy. Not an indispensable point, perhaps,” he said modestly, “but we like to be