Green for Danger Page #5

She's not well, and like the rest of us

she's been up half the night.

There's nothing to tell.

I was just leaving when Sister Bates

stopped the gramophone and spoke to everyone.

- It upset me, rather. It was all, well...

- Highly embarrassing?

- Where did you go?

- Straight to the coach house.

- She was in bed when I got back.

- [Eden] Obviously she couldn't have done it.

Unless she was fully dressed under

the bedclothes. Then she might have had time.

That's preposterous.

Naturally.

Now, then, Dr. Barnes,

what about you?

- I went after Eden.

- Me?

Why? Because you thought he might be

the murderer suggested by the late Sister Bates?

That's a charming supposition.

[Chuckles]

Well?

- Thank you.

- What on earth are you suggesting, Barnes?

- Did you catch him up?

- No.

- What did you do then?

- Went for a walk.

- Where?

- In the garden.

Why did you want the key

for the operating theatre?

I didn't.

You told Sergeant McCoy last night

that Dr. Barnes wanted the key, didn't you?

- Yes.

- Why? You're not a theatre nurse, are you?

- No.

- Then why did you go to the theatre?

- Just a minute.

- She discovered the body, Inspector.

Some of our most celebrated criminals

have made a particular point of doing the same.

Sister Bates

said she'd hidden something.

I thought the theatre

was the most likely place.

- I see. Just feminine curiosity.

- Why not?

Not the desire to remove that something

before Sister Bates could use it...

to incriminate anyone...

Dr. Barnes, for instance?

- Or Mr. Eden.

- That's more like it.

You're positively excelling

yourself this morning, Barnes.

- You're the young lady's fianc, I believe.

- I was.

- Do you agree with his use of the past tense?

- I couldn't agree more.

Ah.

Another punctured romance.

Well, it comes to this... all of you had time,

yet none of your stories is corroborated.

[Chuckles]

Perhaps we all did it!

I wonder if you realize

exactly the sort of person we're dealing with.

Let me tell you

how I think Sister Bates died.

She hurried into the operating theatre,

unlocked the cupboard...

stooped down to get the evidence

she had hidden there.

- What was it?

- I don't know... yet.

Then she heard something.

She turned and saw a figure standing in the dark,

masked and gowned and gloved.

I imagine she just stayed

where she was, staring.

Then the murderer came slowly

over to her and stabbed her...

dressed her in this soiled theatre gown...

and stabbed her again.

Through it, to make it look as if

she'd been killed wearing the gown.

- But why?

- [Cockrill] I don't know that either.

But what we do know is that

the second wound was made after death...

and that the murderer was in a hurry.

As you see,

he tore the gown somewhat.

Now, there's one other thing.

This bottle of tablets was taken

from the poison cupboard.

Dr. White has checked the contents,

and there are four missing.

A lethal dose.

The murderer has them and

will not hesitate to use them.

Four of you are in mortal danger

from the fifth.

Above all, don't trust your neighbor,

your roommate, your fianc...

or your friend.

He or she may be the murderer.

Come instead...

to me.

Sister Bates died because she knew

something and was foolish enough to say so.

I beg of you... all of you...

not to make the same mistake.

[Screams]

I'm sorry.

[Sobbing]

[Laughing]

[Laughing Continues]

[Sobbing]

Thank you, Nurse Woods.

You showed great presence of mind.

- [Sobbing Continues]

- Take her back.

[Sobbing Continues]

I shouldn't do that again

if I were you, Inspector.

Why not?

Because Nurse Sanson

is on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

Actual or assumed?

Perhaps you would prefer

to judge that for yourself.

Three months ago her mother was buried

under the ruins of her house in a raid.

The rescue squad dug for her for three days

and then gave it up.

Next day she was found, still alive.

She died an hour later.

Esther was there the whole time.

I could scarcely be expected

to know that.

So, without bothering to inquire,

you scare the life out of her...

like any flat-footed copper off the beat.

The police force has not a monopoly

of fallen arches, Dr. Barnes.

Ask any chiropodist.

Thank you, Mr. Eden.

Before the war you had a house

in Heron's Park, I believe.

- Yes.

- And you had a practice in the district?

- I did.

- Good.

Well, then, Dr. Barnes, would you care

to accompany me to the theatre?

- You gave Higgins the anesthetic.

- What's that got to do with it?

That's what I'm hoping to find out.

Did you know him?

- Only by sight.

- Nurse Woods is a remarkable woman.

- Absolutely first-class.

- Ever live in Heron's Park?

Not so far as I know.

She used to live the other side of London.

- She took up nursing when her sister died.

- When?

1940, on the Continent.

- Funny.

- What is?

Oh, it's nothing. It's just that Higgins

thought he knew her voice. That's all.

Indeed.

Have you any views on nasal catarrh?

Nothing in particular. Why?

Just wondering.

I often suffer from it in the mornings.

[Blows]

That's the machine I used.

- I see.

- They brought Higgins in here.

I examined him.

He was quite fit. So we went ahead.

- In here?

- No. I gave it to him in the theatre.

- The coup de grce?

- The anesthetic.

- Is that usual?

- Not really. It's up to me.

Naturally.

In that case, in we go.

I gave nitrous oxide at first

to get him under.

Oh, yes. The stuff the dentist

gives you, hmm?

Commonly known as laughing gas?

Used to be. Actually, the impurities

caused the laughs.

Oh. Just the same as our music halls.

Then I added oxygen.

When he failed to respond...

Doctor, my ignorance is simply staggering.

Please demonstrate.

Black and white, oxygen.

Black, nitrous oxide.

Green, carbon dioxide.

The rest are spares.

I began the nitrous oxide.

So.

The flowmeter registered correctly.

- [Gas Hissing]

- When I got him under, I added oxygen.

Like this.

I didn't like the look of him, so I cut down

the nitrous oxide and increased the oxygen.

To my surprise, he didn't respond.

So I turned off the nitrous oxide altogether,

put him on pure oxygen.

- And then?

- He simply collapsed.

I injected adrenaline, and Nurse Woods

gave Coramine as a last resort.

Nurse Woods. Hmm.

- Could these have been tampered with?

- I don't see how.

In any event, the damage

had been done before then.

- What about this fellow?

- Carbon dioxide?

- Mmm.

- We sometimes use a little

to stimulate respiration.

- Isn't it poisonous?

- Without oxygen, yes.

- Use any in Higgins?

- None at all.

You couldn't have coupled up

the wrong cylinder by mistake?

These machines are as foolproof

as they can make them.

Besides, we checked everything.

It wouldn't be possible to fill, say,

an empty oxygen cylinder with carbon dioxide?

- Good heavens, no. It takes terrific pressure.

- Just supposing.

Well, the patient would be getting

carbon dioxide instead of oxygen.

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