Part 6: The Hand Sandwich - End

Yes, thanks for all the effort you put in, Lucy.

Oh, you know....It were nowt.

Open Office spell check recognises nowt as a correctly spelt word.

It's a rather exciting place to work, wouldn't you agree?

Aye, a bit too exciting.



What? You mean I passed your little test?

There's one condition: You have to be willing to learn. I have a lot to teach you.

Run away, Lucy. As fast as you can, and don't look back.

Always happy to learn, me. Thanks very much, Prof!

In that case, for the second time...

Welcome to London's New Scotland Yard Serious Crime Division Classified Investigation Agency Headquarters.

That's almost on par with Japanese Undercover Neuro-Kinetic Elimination Ranger.

By 'eck, that's a bit of a mouthful!

I couldn't agree more. It's a highly inefficient name. That's why I prefer to call it...



Ee, that sounds dead good, that does. Heh heh. I work int' Mystery Room!

Aye, I'm raring to go now. Chuck all your crimes at me, and I'll bat them down one by one!

That's just the sort of attitude you need, Lucy. Keep that up, and you'll do very well.



Oh, a brother, you say?

Yes, I'll introduce you one day.

Music stops.












Hints:



Do you really think he wouldn't have noticed her int' room? Sounds like he's lying to me.

It was around the time the victim was killed that he was there, which does make it a little hard to swallow.

But we can't exclude the possibility that the timing was nothing more than a coincidence.

Maybe not, but...

Let's continue with our investigation. The truth will come out, Lucy. It always does.

Fox Mulder would probably approve of this.



Carrière's aftershave...?

That'll be because he'd been in the room delivering the sandwich she'd ordered just before, no?

Yes, indeed. But I think there's a little more to it than that, actually.

Where do people apply aftershave usually, Lucy?

On their necks, I'd say. Or their wrists, maybe.

Yes...

There are probably better examples, but this is why I decided to cover the hints at the end of each case; you can get this hint before you've even started investigating.



I thought he looked quite dashing, as it happens, but it turns out he's a stuck-up little so-and-so, eh?

Certainly he seems somewhat haughty.

He's clearly into fashion in a big way, and how he looks and that.

I mean, that neckerchief's a bit of a bold statement, eh? Never seen one tied like that before.

No, you're quite right. It's a very unusual way of wearing one.

Is that what's considered 'cool' nowadays?

Ee, I wouldn't like to say, Prof.

Some hints are a little more subtle than others.



She looks like a proper jolly old farmer's wife, doesn't she?

She has a certain all-encompassing quality, yes.

But her husband works away from home? Oh, poor lass.

I can't imagine how any one person can look after ten kids, can you?

No, she could never have done it. She wouldn't have had the time!

Some might say that people who have very difficult lives are driven to crime, Lucy.

Investigators like ourselves rely on logic. We cannot let ourselves by swayed by emotion.

Sorry, Prof.



A nice fillet of white fish and smoked salmon sarnie...

I'd die for one of them right now. I'm famished!

I think I'd rather have the two separately.

Oh, go on, Prof, live a little! You can be daring every once in a while, can't you?

The fish fillet doesn't appear to actually be in the sandwich with the other ingredients in any case.

Oh, no. Perhaps Aldwich didn't like white fish.

You'd have expected her to simply leave it on the plate if that were the case.

No, I think the fact that the fried fish fillet was discarded like this could be very significant.



There doesn't seem to be anything particularly fishy about the table itself.

No. Apart from the fried fish on it.



What on earth is her hand doing stuffed into the sandwich like that?

Not stuffed. See how the pickles have been carefully placed back on top?

That shows how deliberate this was. Her hand wasn't just thrust in there carelessly.

You mean, there's some deeper meaning in this somewhere?



I'm not a big fan of pickles myself. I can't get past the smell.

Yes, it can be quite overwhelming, can't it? I think it's something one just has to get used to.

No, I can't be that pragmatic, I'm afraid, Prof! Even if you take them out, everything else still stinks of them.

Death to pickles, I say!

Then I'll see you in court. I like them.



It's been hard-boiled to within an inch of its life, eh, this egg?

Mm. Is there something about that fact that's relevant?

Er, no. Not really.

I just prefer a soft-boiled egg myself.

I see. Well, shall we get back to work?



The leaves are starting to brown at the edges, look.

Yes, it was sliced with a knife.

The lettuce reacts with the metal of the blade, you see. It stays fresher for longer if you rip it up by hand.

Well I never!

You enjoy cooking, do you, Prof?

Me? No, no. Home cooking is far too inefficient.

Inefficient?

Absolutely. Individuals catering for themselves is a waste of time and energy. Pizza delivery is the answer.

Right...



I'm not sure about the idea of putting pineapple in sandwiches.

Especially tinned; isn't this supposed to be a five-star hotel?

Oh, I think it's a grand idea. I'm quite partial to it in sweet and sour pork as well.

No no no. No, that makes no sense at all.

Well, pardon me for living!



They didn't stint on the expensive stuff, eh?

And with the fried fish in there next to the salmon, it would have been a very voluminous sandwich indeed.

And very messy, by the sound of it.

Maybe the lass had a fierce hunger on her, then.

Yet she didn't take a single bite of the sandwich.

That could mean she were killed straight after she had the sandwich sent up to her.

Yes, quite possibly. But we can't prove that, sadly.

Best have a look at some of the other evidence then, eh?

There's going to be a bit of a delay starting case 2; I'm going out of town for a few days.