"Praise be God and bless Sweet Prophet," the faithful said.

"Jesus Christ, do these people have to be here?" Ratigan said, gritting his teeth. "They are interfering with the questioning, obstructing the police and loitering, all of which is against the law."

"They are humble, very humble," Sweet Prophet said. He tossed a handful of bread crumbs onto the floor, touching off a mad scramble. "See how humble we all are," he stated to the bug-eyed detectives. "We will even eat off the floor for Sweet Prophet."

Many of the faithful were lapping the crumbs from the thick purple carpet.

"All right, all right, stop feeding them crumbs and let's get back to the killing," Sergeant Ratigan said harshly.

"There was no killing," Sweet Prophet denied. "No killing and no death. There was a departure. A saint departed for heaven."

"The question is, did any human dispatch her on her way?" Ratigan said.

"None! No human hand was raised against her," Sweet Prophet said.

"Who poisoned the bottle of water?" Sergeant Ratigan asked.

"The water was not poisoned," Sweet Prophet denied. "I blessed it with my own hand."

"How is it then that she died after drinking it?" Ratigan asked.

"If you think she died from drinking that water, bring me a gallon of it and I will drink it all," Sweet Prophet said.

"What did she do for a living?" the sergeant asked.

"She was a cook for a white family in Westchester County," Sweet Prophet said.

"What kind of woman was she?" Ratigan asked.

"An upright, God-fearing, Christian woman," Sweet Prophet said.

"Do you have any idea why someone might want to poison her?" Ratigan asked.

"No one would have ever wanted to poison her," Sweet Prophet stated emphatically. "She was a great cook and a steady wage-earner. No one on God's green earth would poison that type of woman."