Book Three: An Experimetal Man, Chapters 1-4 Summary

Dr. Lorrimer and his elderly father shared Postmill Cottage. Inspectors Dalgliesh and Massingham intend to both interview the elderly Lorrimer and search Postmill Cottage for any useful evidence. The first person they meet outside the cottage is Winifred Swaffield, the country rector's wife, who is watching after Mr. Lorrimer. She gives the two men a brief run-down of Mr. Lorrimer's condition. Mrs. Swaffield talks non-stop about what the village believes happened, Angela Foley being there earlier, Mr. Lorrimer's lack of emotional affect, and a bit about the father and son and their tendency toward being reclusive.

Mr. Lorrimer talks as if his son is alive, and yet also seems to be aware that he is dead. Mr. Lorrimer tells the detectives that Stella Mawson rummaged through the upstairs earlier in the...