They call it Royal Medley, and there's a mixture in it, fruits, nuts, chocolates and so on.
Before I turned it over to the chemist I got Bailey's factory on the phone and asked if all Royal Medley boxes were uniform.
They said yes, they were packed strictly to a list, and they read the list to me.
Then for a check I sent out for a couple of boxes of Royal Medley and spread them out and compared them with the list. Okay.
By doing the same with the box Molly Lauck ate from, I found that three pieces were gone from it: candied pineapple, a candied plum, and a Jordan almond.
That agreed with the Mitchell girl's story.”
Wolfe nodded.
“Fruits, nuts, chocolates-were there any caramels?”
“Caramels?” Cramer stared at him. “Why caramels?”
“No reason.
I used to like them.”
Cramer grunted.
“Don't try to kid me.
Anyhow, there aren't any caramels in a Bailey's Royal Medley.
That's too bad, huh?”
“Perhaps.
It certainly decreases the interest, for me.
By the way, these details regarding the candy-have they been published?
Has anyone been told?”
“No.
I'm telling you.
I hope you can keep a secret.
It's the only one we've got.”
“Excellent.
And the chemist?”
“Sure, excellent, and what has it got me?
The chemist found that there was nothing wrong with any of the candy left in the box, except four Jordan almonds in the top layer.
The top layer of a Royal Medley box has five Jordan almonds in it, and Molly Lauck had eaten one.
Each of the four had more than six grains of potassium cyanide in it.”
“Indeed.
Only the almonds were poisoned.”
“Yeah, it's easy to see why they were picked.
Potassium cyanide smells and tastes like almonds, only more so.
The chemist said they would taste strong, but not enough to scare you off if you liked almonds. You know Jordan almonds?
They're covered with hard candy of different colors.
Holes had been bored in them, or picked in, and filled with the cyanide, and then coated over again so that you'd hardly notice it unless you looked for it.”
Cramer hunched up his shoulders and dropped them again. “You say the box of candy was a starting-point? Well, I started, and where am I?
I'm sitting here in your office telling you I'm licked, with that damn Goodwin pup there grinning at me.”
“Don't mind Mr. Goodwin. Archie, don't badger him!
But, Mr. Cramer, you didn't start; you merely made the preparations for starting.
It may not be too late.
If, for instance…”
Wolfe, leaning back, closed his eyes, and I saw the almost imperceptible movement of his lips-out and in, a pause, and out and in again.
Then again…
Cramer looked at me and lifted his brows.
I nodded and told him,
“Sure, it'll be a miracle, wait and see.”
Wolfe muttered,
“Shut up, Archie.”
Cramer glared at me and I winked at him.