Solution: Death at the Dinner Table

“So who did it?” asked Northrop rather bluntly. His friend smiled at him.

“First we must ask, how they did it,” said Sherlock.

“Well, it was cyanide poisoning – so the cake must have been laced with cyanide,” said Northrop.

“Yet, you admit that you ate the cake and were unaffected.”

“Well, yes.”

“And this cake was brought to the table, and cut into slices and placed onto plates and passed to the guests right in front of us.”

“Perhaps the slice of cake for Father Bishop was tainted with the stuff. Someone could have discreetly added the poison – ”

Sherlock shook his head.

“That would be far too risky,” said Sherlock. “No, it was much simpler than that.”

Northrop frowned.

“I wonder,” said Northrop, “the slice of cake Father Bishop ate was originally intended for Dr Patel. Do you suppose she was meant to be the victim?”

“My friend, you are changing the subject. You must first work out how the poison reached the victim.”

“Well, if it wasn’t by the cake, then it must…oh, it was the spoon that was poisoned!” exclaimed Northop.

“Yes, exactly. And how did the spoon come to be tainted with the poison?”

“Whoever laid out the table must have done so. So that must mean – ”

“Jeannie Goodwin. She laid the table before the guests arrived, and nobody accessed the dining room until dinner was served.”

“But why would she want to murder Father Bishop? Did she know something about the woman in India – Cedric’s fiancée? Perhaps the woman was actually a relative of Dr Patel – a sister perhaps? I feel as if the answer to this mystery lies in India.”

“My word, Northrop,” laughed Sherlock, “You do enjoy mystery novels don’t you. Such interesting tales you spin. What has India to do with this case at all? Just because Cedric’s fiancée was in India and Father Bishop was responsible for her death, and Dr Patel herself is Indian, does not mean that Jeannie Goodwin is connected to India. She herself has never even been to the country. No, for this mystery we must think more locally.”

“Let us review the suspects we have tonight and their respective occupations,” said Sherlock, “The hairdresser – he hears all about the love affairs and the gossip of his clients; the psychiatrist – she has patients who disclose their anxieties, fears and other stresses of the mind; and the priest,” said Sherlock looking intently at his friend, “he has people confess their darkest sins to him.

“Our suspects subsist on the secrets of others. People are willing to confide in them. But what about Jeannie Goodwin?” continued Sherlock, “She is a humble English teacher, teaching now at a local primary school in Melbourne. Who confides in her? Why, the students of course. The children. And what does she do when a child comes to her and tells her he has been wronged? That he has been taken advantage of?”

“You don’t mean – ”

“Father Bishop took advantage of one of her students,” explained Northrop, “She treated her students as if they were her own children – it could be seen by the way she described her class this evening. And her strong reaction to the rumours surrounding Father Bishop’s unsavoury behaviour merely highlighted that something was amiss.

“Jeannie Goodwin sought justice this evening. She knew that even if Father Bishop were found guilty and arrested for his crime, he would merely be jailed and rereleased into the community at a later date – yet that poor boy would remain scarred for the rest of his life. Your cousin had good intentions, Northrop. But unfortunately, such things pave the road to hell.”