It was not difficult to determine how he had died. Dr Canham-Page had fallen back against the edge of the desk and cracked his head. His body lay twisted on the floor and from its position I imagined that his right arm and collarbone were likely to be broken. Underdoing a few of the studs on the front of his dress shirt enabled me to see that there was severe bruising all over his neck and upper arms consistent with a heavy fall. That left only one question - did he fall or was he pushed?

A cursory look over the rest of the body revealed only one other oddity. The archeologist appeared to be wearing black carpet slippers. Holmes had evidently noted my interest. “Yes, Watson. I also thought the footwear to be out of keeping with the formality of his evening attire; the dinner jacket, black trousers and bow tie. The other curious feature you may have noticed is that he still has in his right hand some rolled up sheets of foolscap - most likely the notes he planned to use for the lecture.”

Lestrade interjected at this point. “Yes, Mr Holmes. That is most likely, as he does not seem to have brought anything else with him. If you look around the room, there is no case or bag of any kind.”

“Quite so, Lestrade. But it would be as well to check his pockets.” Holmes stooped to join me on the floor and began to search the pockets of the trousers, finding an assortment of coins and a set of keys. Retrieving only a small jar of pen ink from one of the two outside pockets of the jacket, he then turned his attention to the inside. From one of the hidden pockets he retrieved a black fountain pen, and from the other he pulled out a leather bound wallet, inside of which were two loose and separate pieces of paper.

“What have you found?” I asked.

“A wallet, containing... five pounds, a couple of Drury Lane theatre tickets and what looks like two notes or letters.” He placed the wallet on the desk above us and scrutinised each note in turn. “Now, that is fascinating!”

Both Lestrade and I looked up keenly.

“We have one document which looks to contain a list of strange symbols and signs - probably one of the Doctor’s academic pursuits. But the other document is more significant. At first glance, it appears to be a suicide note.”

“A suicide note!” exclaimed Lestrade. “Now, I thought you said this wouldn’t be an odd or unusual death, Mr Holmes.”

“We will see, my friend. It suggests that there was some degree of mystery attached to this first document.” He passed the note to Lestrade. “But the suicide note is addressed to a ‘Dr Eversley’, possibly one of Canham-Page’s academic colleagues. In it he says, ‘I know I can’t go on like this. At times, the pain is just too acute.’” He passed the second document across to the inspector.

Lestrade studied both documents but looked confused. “Very strange, I’d say. But this list of hieroglyphics means nothing to me. And what does he mean when he talks about the ‘first cuneiform’?”

I smiled and could not help interrupting. “A question similar to the one I asked of Holmes only half an hour ago, Inspector! Cuneiform is a type of symbolic alphabet I’m told.”

There was a loud knock on the door and all three of us turned sharply. Brendan Stevens entered the room and announced, apologetically, that a local doctor had arrived to examine the body. Lestrade took it upon himself to leave the room and explain to the doctor that his services would not be required after all. While he was absent, Holmes was candid in his observations. “I do not know what conclusions you may have drawn, Doctor, but for me, the case seems straightforward until we get to the question of these two notes in the wallet.”

I agreed wholeheartedly and added, “Yes, this does not strike me as any sort of suicide. It is quite clear that he cracked his head on the edge of the desk. There is a mark and a few strands of hair still on the desk to indicate where he fell and I would say that he has broken bones down his right side which suggest that he fell with some force. Do you think he could have been pushed?”

“Not a chance, Watson. You are right - he did fall heavily against the desk. In fact, he fell from the height of the chair. I would suggest that he lost his balance while on the chair and fell backwards.”

“He was on the chair?” I asked incredulously.

“Yes, in the process of swatting a bee. Hence the reason he had his lecture notes rolled up in his hand. And it appears that he was successful.” He withdrew from his pocket the small matchbox he had used earlier. Inside I could see the crushed dead body of a honey bee.

“Remarkable! Perhaps he suffered from the effects of bee and wasp stings,” I added. “I seem to remember that last year two physiologists, Paul Portier and Charles Richet, wrote papers describing the phenomenon of anaphylaxis, or the allergic - sometimes life-threatening - reaction that humans can have to foreign proteins they are exposed to. If he did suffer from it, his fear of bees would have been exaggerated. But why would he have fallen? He looks to have been physically fit and of no great age, and I am sure that his archaeological fieldwork would have kept him active. Would he really have lost his balance?”

Holmes was quick to respond. “Yes, Watson. All of what you say is likely to be true, but then you are forgetting the curious feature we both noted earlier.”

“The carpet slippers?”

“Indeed. Now, why would he choose such footwear, not just to travel in, but to deliver a high profile public lecture?”

“It can only be for want of comfort,” I replied, seeing where he was heading.

“Exactly! Now, let us examine his feet to see what may have been ailing him.”

Responding to Holmes’ lead, I knelt once more beside the body and carefully removed the black carpet slippers and the thin pair of black socks underneath. Looking at the two bare feet alongside each other, it was readily apparent that Dr Canham-Page did indeed have a foot condition. While his left foot showed no apparent deformities, the top of his right foot was swollen to an extent which rendered it much larger than the other.

“Interesting, Holmes. See the prominent bump along the top of the arch? Our man was suffering from saddle bone deformity. A condition caused by the excessive growth of bone material on the top of the foot. There is a gradual onset of the deformity which can afflict sufferers from their mid-twenties. Of itself, the condition does not produce much sensitivity, but the excessive rubbing of the skin on the top of stiff shoes would be extremely painful. Looking at the extent of this growth, I would say that Canham-Page has suffered with this for many years, and can only wear loose or soft-fitting footwear.”

“So, potentially, the tightening of the slippers on his feet as he reached up and out to swing at the bee would have been excessively painful, causing his legs to buckle underneath him.”

“I would say that is entirely possible.”

At that point Lestrade re-entered the room and looked at us quizzically. “Now, now, Mr Holmes. You have that look on your face which suggests that you know something I don’t. What have you discovered in my absence?”

Holmes chortled. “There is no keeping anything from you, Lestrade. I was just saying that I am firmly of the belief that this death was an accident. Dr Canham-Page appears to have fallen from the chair while in the process of killing a bee. Watson was suggesting that he may have had a deep-seated fear of bee stings and possibly even a severe medical reaction to them.”

Lestrade looked unconvinced. “I see. But I thought we were talking about a possible suicide. What about this suicide note? It looks pretty convincing to me.”

“Inspector, it strikes me that falling off a chair backwards in an attempt to hit one’s head on the edge of a desk is just too far-fetched for anyone contemplating suicide. And as for the note, I think it has some other meaning or significance which has not yet become clear. I have studied the list of cuneiform symbols and the first in particular. I am not an expert, but this appears to be an obscure offshoot from the primary list of symbols developed over time by the Sumerian people. From the one or two symbols I do recognise, this looks to be a simple list of the key ingredients required for a good harvest - water, barley, long days and warm sunshine.