"
"Any statement?" rapped Kerry.
"He was past it, Chief Inspector. According to the report of the
officer in charge, he mumbled something which sounded like: 'It
has bitten me,' just before he became unconscious."
"'It has bitten me,'" murmured Kerry. "The divisional surgeon
has seen him?"
"Yes, Chief Inspector. And in his opinion the man did not die
from drowning, but from some form of virulent poisoning."
"Poisoning?"
"That's the idea. There will be a further examination, of
course. Either a hypodermic injection or a bite."
"A bite?" said Kerry. "The bite of what?"
"That I cannot say, Chief Inspector. A venomous reptile, I
suppose."
Kerry stared down critically at the swollen face of the victim,
and then glanced sharply aside at Durham.
"Accounts for his appearance, I suppose," he murmured.
"Yes," said Durham quietly. "He hadn't been in the water long
enough to look like that." He turned to the local officer. "Is
there any theory as to the point at which he went in?"
"Well, an arrest has been made."
"By whom? of whom?" rapped Kerry.
"Two constables patrolling the Chinatown area arrested a man for
suspicious loitering. He turned out to be a well-known
criminal--Jim Poland, with a whole list of convictions against
him.
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