Mornington had taken up medicine and practised it with great skill;
next, you said that he had given himself an injection which,
carelessly administered, set up inflammation and caused his death
within a few hours."

"Yes."

"Well, Monsieur le Préfet, I maintain that a man who practises medicine
with great skill and who is accustomed to treating sick people, as Cosmo
Mornington was, is incapable of giving himself a hypodermic injection
without first taking every necessary antiseptic precaution. I have seen
Cosmo at work, and I know how he set about things."

"Well?"

"Well, the doctor just wrote a certificate as any doctor will when there
is no sort of clue to arouse his suspicions."

"So your opinion is--"

"Maître Lepertuis," asked Perenna, turning to the solicitor, "did you
notice nothing unusual when you were summoned to Mr. Mornington's
death-bed?"

"No, nothing. Mr. Mornington was in a state of coma."

"It's a strange thing in itself," observed Don Luis, "that an injection,
however badly administered, should produce such rapid results. Were there
no signs of suffering?"