Later in the day Kolankiewicz called.
‘Coyn sent for me this morning.’
‘And?’
‘He stuck your medical certificate under my nose. “So? What’s up?” I said. He said, “It’s a standard Scotland Yard medical form type 006/C.” “So?” I said. “Read the signature,” he said. “Ladislaw Kolankiewicz,” I said. “You think I so dumb I don’t know my own name?” “And you see nothing wrong in this?” he said. So I said, “Quite right.” Took out a Biro and added MD after my name. He was still staring at it when I walked out.’
‘You’re shoving your retirement up his bum, aren’t you?’
‘I should care. However, that is not my reason for calling. I have the chemical analysis of your bits of fluff. The smaller bears the dust of your sleeping pills. The larger is, I presume, the one you’re interested in. I got lucky – there was a fairly large fragment of pill embedded in it. You ready? In descending order – Ascorbic Acid, Potassium, Sodium, Calcium, Magnesium, Manganese, Zinc, Carotene, Thiamine, Riboflavin, Niacin, Pyridoxine, Tocopherol, Cobalamine and minor quantities of stuff we will sum up with an et cetera. Now smartyarse – you tell me what that lot adds up to.’
It made no sense.
‘Ascorbic Acid. In what proportion?’
‘Granted even distribution over a pill I calculate at five-eighths of an inch diameter . . . I’d say about eight times the RDA .’
‘It’s a vitamin pill. Nothing more than a proprietary vitamin pill. Vitamin C, Vitamin A, the Vitamin B complex, Vitamin E, and a sprinkling of minerals on a chalk base. A shilling a packet at any branch of Boots.’
‘Congratulations. You win a major prize.’ ‘I don’t get it.’ ‘Nor I. Do you keep such stuff in the house?’ ‘No . . . no, I don’t.’ ‘Well, we know how it got into death’s jar. How did it get onto your carpet?’ ‘Just what I was thinking,’ said Troy.