A saintly murder method

[ffutures]

I'm trying to identify one of Leslie Charteris' Saint stories in which Templar murders an abusive husband (I think in Italy) by poisoning him with the vapour from carbon tetrachloride dry cleaning fluid in a small sealed room - the murder method is suggested by a London doctor who says it's the perfect crime, but if anyone turns up killed that way he will have to report it to the police, unaware that Templar doesn't intend to use the method anywhere that he will hear about it.

Ring any bells with anyone?

Now identified Thanks to heliograph; The Cleaner Cure in Trust the Saint

Comments

[stevegreen.livejournal.com]

No, but it's a useful reminder of the gulf between the original Templar and the sanitised version depicted in movies and on tv. I'd love to see a proper movie, set in the right period and featuring the original cast of characters,

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

Definitely - 1920s Saint was up there with Dexter for body count.

[ggreig]

This. So disappointing that it always gets updated.

[dandello.livejournal.com]

While I'm not up on the Saint (sanitized or not), I suspect a better mode of murder in more modern times would be dry ice in a sealed room. Harder to trace and no chemical residue in the tissues. VBG

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

CSI have done it.

[dandello.livejournal.com]

CSI's science is so bad it's ludicrous. I do recall working in a restaurant (many many moons ago) when the walk-in freezer when kaput and when the suggestion was made to buy some dry-ice to save the more delicate perishables, the manager got really upset. Apparently he knew of a death due to exactly those circumstances.

Forensic science can detect elevated levels of Co2 in the blood, but if the body's found someplace that needs to be kept cold - like a walk-in freezer with a problem - then I suspect there's a good chance the death would be written off to mis-adventure or accident.

BTW, as a writer's tidbit - taking a breath when there's no oxygen is rather startling - you actually try to take deeper breaths.

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

Well aware of it - I was a guinea pig for some physiology experiments when I was in technical college, didn't actually pass out but came close a couple of times. It's also the reason they recommend breathing in and out of a paper bag for anxiety attacks, it gets the breathing reflex working properly again.

[dandello.livejournal.com]

It's doubly disconcerting when you're not expecting it. VBG

I had a dead refrigeration unit blow a pipe right in front of my face a number of years ago. It was weird.

[heliograph.livejournal.com]

I believe it is "The Saint and the Cleaner Cure", but I'd need to dig out my copy of TRUST THE SAINT to be sure, and it's buried in a box somewhere.

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

That sounds plausible - I'll see if I can find mine. Many thanks!

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

Yes, that's the one - many thanks!