David Brawn – The Adventuress (страница 11)

I listened in amazement at the fiendish nature of his discovery.

‘Marshall Maddox was overcome by the poison gas contained in a thin-shelled bomb that was thrown through his state-room window. The corrosion of the metal in the room gave me a clue to that. Then—’

‘But what is this poison gas?’ I demanded, horrified.

Kennedy looked at me fixedly a moment. ‘Chlorine,’ he replied simply; adding, ‘the spectroscope shows that there is a total absence of pigment in the blood. You can readily see that it is no wonder, if it has this action, that death is sometimes so rapid as to be almost instantaneous. Why, man alive, this thing destroys without the possibility of reconstitution! It is devilish in the quantity he inhaled it.’

I could only gasp with surprise at the discovery.

‘But how was it done?’ I repeated. ‘You think a bomb was thrown through the open port?’

‘Without a doubt. Perhaps, as you guessed, from a boat outside, the roof of a cruiser, anything, as far as that end of it goes. Whoever did it might also have entered the room in the same way.’

‘Entered the room?’ I asked.

‘Yes, wearing a mask composed of several layers of gauze impregnated with glycerinated solution of sodium hypophosphate. That is one of many substances used. All that was necessary was to wet the mask with water and adjust it. It would have served a double purpose—to protect the wearer’s life as well as his identity.’

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