Dutch Shoe Mystery by Ellery Queen Read Free Book Online Page A

Room.
    Ellery turned swiftly to Dr. Minchen. “John, who was in the Anæsthesia Room this morning? Was it being used?”
    Minchen looked blank. Miss Price volunteered, “There was a patient being anæsthetized there, Mr. Queen. I think Miss Obermann and Dr. Byers were there. …”
    “Very well.”
    “This man who came in limping, with surgical clothing on, closed the door—”
    “Quickly?”
    “Yes, sir. He immediately closed the door behind him and approached the wheel-table over there on which Mrs. Doorn was lying. He bent over her, then looked up and sort of absent-mindedly made a washing motion with his hands.”
    “Mum, eh?”
    “Oh, yes, sir; he didn’t say a word—just rubbed his hands together. Of course I understood immediately what he wanted. It’s a very familiar, well, gesture with Dr. Janney. It signified he wanted to disinfect his hands—probably because he meant to give the patient a last examination before the operation. So I went into the Sterilizing Room there”—she pointed to the cubicle at the northeast corner of the room—“and prepared a bichloride of mercury solution and an alcohol wash. I—”
    Ellery looked pleased. “How long, do you judge, were you in the Sterilizing Room?”
    The nurse hesitated. “Oh, it was three minutes or so. I can’t recall exactly. … I came back into the Anteroom and placed the disinfectants on the washbowl there. Dr. Janney—I mean the man, whoever he was—rinsed his hands quickly—”
    “More quickly than usual?”
    “Yes, I noticed that, Mr. Queen,” she replied, keeping her head averted from the surgeon, who leaned his elbow on his knee and stared steadily at her. “Then he dried his hands on a surgical towel I had ready and waved the bowls away. As I was taking them back into the Sterilizing Room I noticed that he went back to the wheel-table and again leaned over the patient. When I returned he was just straightening up, patting the sheet back into place.”
    “Very clear, Miss Price,” said Ellery. “A few questions, if you please. … When you stood near him as he disinfected himself, did you notice his hands?”
    She knit her brows. “Why—not particularly. You see, I wasn’t suspicious about anything and naturally took all his actions as a matter of course.”
    “Too bad you didn’t notice his hands,” murmured Ellery. “I have great faith in the character of hands. … Miss Price, tell me this. How long were you gone the second time—when you restored your materials to the Sterilizing Room?”
    “Not more than a minute. I just poured out the bichloride and alcohol solutions, rinsed the basins, and came out again.”
    “How soon after you returned did this man leave?”
    “Oh, immediately!”
    “Through the same door by which he entered—the Anæsthesia Room door?”
    “Yes, sir.”
    “I see. …” Ellery took a short turn about the room, tapping his pince-nez thoughtfully against his chin. “From what you say, Miss Price, there seems to have been an astonishing dearth of conversation. Didn’t your mysterious visitor say anything at all during the entire proceedings—a word, just one all-important word?”
    The nurse looked faintly surprised. Her clear eyes stared into space. “Do you know, Mr. Queen—why, he never opened his mouth all the time he was here!”
    “Scarcely amazing,” said Ellery dryly. “Ingenious, the whole thing. … Didn’t you say anything either, Miss Price? Didn’t you greet him when he entered the room?”
    “No, I didn’t greet him, sir,” she said quickly, “but I did call out to him while I was in the Sterilizing Room the first time.”
    “Exactly what did you say?”
    “Nothing terribly important, Mr. Queen. I know Dr. Janney’s nature quite well—he’s a little impatient some times.” A smile hovered about her lips. It faded quickly as the surgeon grunted. “I—I called out: ‘I’ll have it ready in a moment, Dr. Janney!’”
    “You actually called him ‘Dr.