Later, much later -- long after the case was solved -- Shirley revealed what went through her mind that night as she ate her usual dinner of bread, raw fruit and vegetables. That night it was honey wheat berry, a nectarine, and sliced tomatoes. Plenty of water to drink, of course. Portland's Bull Run, right out of the tap. Still the country's cleanest water source.

    As she chewed, she thought about what was happening to her. She had actually speculated aloud, in front of me. Sherlock Holmes would never have done that in a million years. Of course, Sherlock never faced a situation where one of the suspects was the lesbian lover of the victim. That might have thrown him a bit. He was certain to have had some fear of being or becoming homosexual; he never dated and he frequently dressed...

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