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Flynn didn’t respond.
‘I think he was cleaning his shotguns when he was murdered,’ Poe continued. ‘That’swhy his office smelled of linseed oil. It isn’t the oil we used in the army, but it will be the oil used on the woodwork of antique shotguns.’
‘So?’
‘Elcid Doyle will have been cleaning shotgun barrels for decades – he wouldn’t have cut his cleaning patches with scissors. He’d have torn them off. That’s why there were loose threads on the carpet for someone to stand in.’
‘Someone like Frederick Beck? You think the two cases are linked?’
‘I absolutely do. For reasons unknown, Beck killed Elcid Doyle while he was cleaning his shotguns. Tried to frame Estelle to conceal the fact he’s been operating up north as well. During the commission of the murder he gets some cleaning cloth threads stuck in the treads of his shoes and unwittingly drags them back to London.’
‘Why though? It doesn’t fit at all with his need for attention.’
‘It doesn’t, does it? Elcid Doyle’s murder is part of his plan, but for some reason it’s not something he wants the public to know about.’
‘It’s pretty thin, Poe.’
‘It is.’
‘It’s just a couple of threads.’
‘Agreed.’
‘Elcid Doyle may not even have kept shotguns.’
‘He did. Trust me on this.’
‘Then where are they?’
‘Don’t know.’
‘You’re going up there, aren’t you?’
‘I am, boss,’ Poe said. ‘To catch the Botanist, we first have to solve Elcid Doyle’s murder.’
