Now let me give you some information about the influenza. The
patient's temperature rises several degrees above normal, and he has a
fever. When the malady has run its course, the temperature falls to
three-quarters of a degree below normal. These facts are unknown to
you, I imagine, because you are a doctor.'
I admitted such was the case.
'Well, the consequence of this fall in temperature is that the
convalescent's mind turns towards thoughts of suicide. Then is the
time he should be watched by his friends. Then was the time Mr. Barrie
Kipson's friends did _not_ watch him. You remember the 21st, of
course. No? It was a most depressing day. Fog all around and mud under
foot. Very good. He resolves on suicide. He wishes to be unidentified,
if possible, but forgets his season ticket. My experience is that a
man about to commit a crime always forgets something.'
'But how do you account for the disappearance of the money?'
'The money has nothing to do with the matter. If he was a deep man,
and knew the stupidness of Scotland Yard, he probably sent the notes
to an enemy. If not, they may have been given to a friend. Nothing is
more calculated to prepare the mind for self-destruction than the
prospect of a night ride on the Scotch express, and the view from the
windows of the train as it passes through the northern part of London
is particularly conducive to thoughts of annihilation.
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