SIMON WHELAN—The contradictions continue to mount. On April 17, the UK government’s Department of Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) announced that the nerve agent supposedly used to poison the Skripals was delivered “in a liquid form,” with only “a very small amount” used. Only days earlier, police said the nerve agent had been deployed by smearing it on the front door handle of Sergei’s house. No explanation was offered as to how this amateurish and unsophisticated ruse remained undiscovered for weeks or why no one other than the Skripals and a police officer had been apparently affected.