"Tragedy in the Bathroom"

Minnie Verbermockle called the doctor and said, "My husband had a fall and he's lying unconscious on the bathroom floor. I think he must have been taking a shower and slipped on a cake of soap. I did not move him. I threw a blanket over him and called you immediately."

When the doctor arrived, he saw the scene as depicted and pronounced Horace Verbermockle dead as the result of a fracture at the rear of his skull. Can you tell what happened?

Questions Were the Verbermockles compatible? Had Horace finished brushing his teeth?

Had the shower been running? Had the soap fallen out of the soap holder?

Did the soap puddle come from the dripping shower or the washstand?

Had Minnie been in the shower? Did Horace slip on the soap?

'Had the bottle been knocked over before Horace allegedly fell?

Is there a possible murder weapon in the bathroom?

Has evidence been planted to give a false impression of what happened?

Horace was leaning over, about to brush his teeth (note the toothpaste still on the brush), when Minnie hit him on the head with the bathroom scales, which are out of balance, indicating a heavy jar. She turned on the shower and doused Horace's head (but not his feet, which would have been wet if he had really been in the shower). Then she stepped into the shower stall to get the soap and plant it on the floor (mark her footprints). Horace knocked the bottle off the sink as he fell, because he never would have stood barefoot by the broken glass if he had been conscious. Minnie was arrested and confessed. "I never could stand his neatness," she said. (Note his towel and hers.)

from Lawrence Treat's Crime and Puzzlemen-Richard