Two minute mysteries. See if you know the answers!
By: Donald J. Sobol
Arthur Maxim sagged in an easy chair. His right hand lay on his lap, clutched about a bottle of cyanide.
"He's been dead about fifteen minutes," Dr. Haledjian told Carter. "Have you called the police?"
"Yes --- but I called you first. I knew you were at the hotel. Arther was depressed, but --- good heavens! --- I never dreamed
he'd kill himself!"
"You knew him well?" asked Haledjian.
"We were kids together, " replied Carter. "Since his wife divorced him, he's been despondent. I suggested this vacation. He
seemed better yesterday. We played golf and fished.
"Half an hour ago I went down to the lobby for a newspaper. Just as I returned, he drank that bottle in his hand."
Inspector
Winters arrived. Haledjian summed up his findings.
"You'll notice how lax the body is," said the sleuth, pointing to the drooping position the corpse had assumed in the chair.
"Cyanide kills instantly, and the muscles go limp.
"Maxim appears to have commited suicide by drinking cyanide. But no conclusion is possible till we know for certain the cause
of death."
Two days later the inspector told Haledjian: "The lab confirms that Maxim's death was due to cyanide."
"That clinches it!" was the reply. "Arrest Carter on suspicion of murder!"
