‘Not a bad summing up, m’Lud,’ said William with a grin. ‘So in order to decide who is the guilty party, the jury must first consider the evidence. Flora took Hamish’s flask and passed it on to the doctor like a baton in a relay race, and when the chairman sent it back down the table, the same exercise was carried out in reverse. Simple and well planned, except the accomplices made two mistakes. First—’ William stopped mid-sentence as Franco reappeared to clear their plates.
‘Would you like to see the dessert menu?’ he asked.
‘No, thank you,’ said Catherine, not even looking up.
‘A digestif, perhaps?’ ventured Franco.
‘No, thank you,’ repeated the judge a little more firmly, his eyes still fixed on the place settings on James’s drawing. Franco left, having served no purpose.
William waited to see if anyone had worked out what those mistakes were.
‘Whose fingerprints did you find on Hamish’s hip flask?’ asked the judge. ‘And, more important, whose fingerprints were missing? Because that will tell us who switched the flasks.’
William acknowledged the judge with a slight bow, as if they were in court. ‘The only fingerprints I could identify on Hamish’s flask were Flora’s, who was seated next to him, the not so good doctor Lockhart, and of course Hamish’s.’
‘Got it,’ said Beth.
‘Then you’ll be able to explain what they were up to,’ said William.
‘It had to be Dr Lockhart who carried out the switch both times,’ said Beth. ‘Otherwise, the chairman’s fingerprints would also have been on Hamish’s flask when it was passed back to him.’
‘As well as those of James’s mother, who was sitting between the doctor and the chairman, and passed the flask to him.’
‘Have you found the second flask?’ asked the judge. ‘The one Fraser Buchanan must have drunk from?’
‘Yes,’ said William. ‘I first saw the other flask in Dr Lockhart’s bag when I questioned him last night, and then again this morning when I searched his cabin while he was at breakfast. But the only fingerprints I found on that particular flask were his.’
‘He’d had more than enough time to wipe it clean,’ said the judge, ‘leaving just his fingerprints for you to find. But what about the contents?’
‘The ship’s doctor confirmed it was nothing more than a mild sedative, just as Hamish had claimed,’ replied William.
‘They saw you coming,’ said the judge, ‘and have made it almost impossible for you to prove that Hamish Buchanan and Dr Lockhart were working together as a team.’
‘That would have been the case, if it hadn’t been for the resourceful and observant James Buchanan, who some of them still think of as a child, rather than a young man who plans to become the Director of the FBI, not chairman of the Pilgrim Line.’
‘And what did he observe?’ asked Catherine.
‘Before I answer that, you need to take another look at the seating plan that night. You’ll see that young James was placed opposite his uncle Hamish, from where he had a perfect view of everything that was going on, including when Hamish drank from his hip flask. But it was only later that “the penny dropped”， to quote him, when he realized his uncle wasn’t drinking from the same hip flask as his grandfather.’
‘What made him think that?’ asked Beth.
‘Hamish had placed his flask on the table during dinner for everyone to see,’ said William. ‘A foolish mistake, because James noticed the initials “HB” engraved on one side, whereas the one the chairman drank from had no such engraving, as I was able to confirm when later I found it in the doctor’s cabin.’
‘Bright young man,’ said the judge. ‘However, it still may not be enough to convict them.’ He stopped and pondered for a moment. ‘If I was representing Hamish Buchanan, I would suggest to the jury that they could not rely simply on missing fingerprints, and the uncorroborated testimony of a minor, to send two men down for a life sentence.’
‘I agree,’ said William. ‘But don’t forget we still have the body of the late Fraser Buchanan. I’ve already called ahead to the NYPD to let them know I have reason to suspect a murder has been committed, and they’ve agreed to meet me on the quayside when we dock tomorrow morning. I’m confident an autopsy will show the chairman was poisoned, and end up convicting both of them.’