CHAPTER 8
THE OBSERVATIONS OF MR CHEETOOEven the ineffable ‘sacred rite’ atmosphere which distinguishes any afternoon tea in Cambridge failed to make the little gathering any but a gloomy and dispirited affair on this occasion. After the Inspector’s departure the company had assembled in Marcus’s office and tea was brewed and sipped in silence. Two murders in the family have a sobering effect upon the most light-hearted, and even the irrepressible Miss Held was thoughtful and subdued. However, it was she who introduced the subject of Mr Cheetoo.
‘Mr Campion,’ she said, ‘I don’t want to put up any idea that isn’t useful, and if I’m making a monkey of myself you mention it. But concerning that Indian student who discovered the body; he has told his story to the police, of course, but it oc
