Countless proposals flooded in, sent by sources as august as the World Academy of Sciences and as humble as elementary schools.

Half an hour later when dad and I ventured into the lounge, mum glaring at us with a face like thunder, Kim was lying contentedly next to Armalade in front of the fire, a real con merchant if ever there was one, basking in all the attention.

"People are interested in the whodunit stuff, and we are often seen as khabris (informers).

This emphasis on the skilful feeling of the pulse made sphygmology one area of Renaissance medicine in which the much-vaunted theoretical division between physicians, who did not touch their patients, and surgeons, who routinely got their hands dirty, broke down in practice.