Dumb Witness hp-16

by Agatha Christie

  "Minnie Lawson is a thoroughly good woman. And so unworldly. It isn't as though she had ever thought about money. She was never grasping."

  "Still, she has never thought of refusing to accept the legacy?"

  Isabel drew back a little.

  "Oh, well – one would hardly do that."

  Poirot smiled.

  "No, perhaps not…"

  "You see, Mr Parrot," put in Julia, "she regards it as a trust – a sacred trust."

  "And she is quite willing to do something for Mrs Tanios or for the Tanios children," went on Isabel. "Only she doesn't want him to get hold of it."

  "She even said she would consider making Theresa an allowance."

  "And that, I think, was very generous of her – considering the off-hand way that girl has always treated her."

  "Indeed, Mr Parrot, Minnie is the most generous of creatures. But there now, you know her, of course!"

  "Yes," said Poirot. "I know her. But I still do not know – her address."

  "Of course! How stupid of me! Shall I write it down for you?"

  "I can write it down."

  Poirot produced the invariable notebook.

  "17 Clanroyden Mansions, W.2. Not very far from Whiteleys. You'll give her our love, won't you? We haven't heard from her just lately."

  Poirot rose and I followed suit.

  "I have to thank you both very much," he declared, "for a most charming talk, as well as for your kindness in supplying me with my friend's address."

  "I wonder they didn't give it to you at the house," exclaimed Isabel. "It must be that Ellen! Servants are so jealous and so small-minded. They used to be quite rude to Minnie sometimes."

  Julia shook hands in a grande dame manner.

  "We have enjoyed your visit," she declared graciously. "I wonder -"

  She flashed a glance of inquiry at her sister.

  "You would, perhaps -" Isabel flushed a little. "Would you, that is to say, stay and share our evening meal? A very simple one – some shredded, raw vegetables, brown bread and butter, fruit."

  "It sounds delicious," Poirot said hastily. "But alas! my friend and I have to return to London."

  With renewed handshaking and messages to be delivered to Miss Lawson, we at last made our exit.

  Chapter 12

  POIROT DISCUSSES THE CASE

  "Thank goodness, Poirot," I said with fervour, "you got us out of those raw carrots! What awful women!"

  "Pour nous, un bon bifteck – with the fried potatoes – and a good bottle of wine. What should we have had to drink there, I wonder?"

  "Well water, I should think," I replied with a shudder. "Or non-alcoholic cider. It was that kind of place! I bet there's no bath and no sanitation except an earth closet in the garden!"

  "Strange how women enjoy living an uncomfortable life," said Poirot thoughtfully. "It is not always poverty, though they are good at making the best of straitened circumstances."

  "What orders for the chauffeur now?" I asked as I negotiated the last bend of the winding lanes, and we emerged on the road to Market Basing. "On what local light do we call next? Or do we return to The George and interrogate the asthmatic waiter once more?"

  "You will be glad to hear, Hastings, that we have finished with Market Basing -"

  "Splendid."

  "For the moment only. I shall return!"

  "Still on the track of your unsuccessful murderer?"

  "Exactly."

  "Did you learn anything from the fandango of nonsense we've just been listening to?"

  Poirot said precisely:

  "There were certain points deserving of attention. The various characters in our drama begin to emerge more clearly. In some ways it resembles, does it not, a novelette of olden days. The humble companion, once despised, is raised to affluence and now plays the part of lady bountiful."

  "I should imagine that such a patronage must be very galling to people who regard themselves as the rightful heirs!"

  "As you say, Hastings. Yes, that is very true."

  We drove on in silence for some minutes. We had passed through Market Basing and were now once more on the main road. I hummed to myself softly the tune of "Little Man, You've Had a Busy Day."

  "Enjoyed yourself, Poirot?" I asked at last.

  Poirot said coldly:

  "I do not know quite what you mean by 'enjoyed yourself,' Hastings."

  "Well," I said, "it seemed to me you've been treating yourself to a busman's holiday!"

  "You do not think that I am serious?"

  "Oh, you're serious enough. But this business seems to be of the academic kind. You're tackling it for your own mental satisfaction. What I mean is – it's not real."

  "Au contraire, it is intensely real."

  "I express myself badly. What I mean is, if there were a question of helping our old lady, of protecting her against further attack – well, there would be some excitement then. But as it is, I can't help feeling that as she is dead, why worry."

  "In that case, mon ami, one would not investigate a murder case at all!"

  "No, no, no. That's quite different. I mean, then you have a body… Oh, dash it all."

  "Do not enrage yourself. I comprehend perfectly. You make a distinction between a body and a mere decease. Supposing, for instance, that Miss Arundell had died with sudden and alarming violence instead of respectably of a long-standing illness – then you would not remain indifferent to my efforts to discover the truth?"

  "Of course I wouldn't."

  "But all the same, some one did attempt to murder her?"

  "Yes, but they didn't succeed. That makes all the difference."

  "It does not intrigue you at all to know who attempted to kill her?"

  "Well, yes, it does in a way."

  "We have a very restricted circle," said Poirot musingly. "That thread -"

  "The thread which you merely deduce from a nail in the skirting-board!" I interrupted. "Why, that nail may have been there for years!"

  "No. The varnish was quite fresh."

  "Well, I still think there might be all sorts of explanations of it."

  "Give me one."

  At the moment I could not think of anything sufficiently plausible. Poirot took advantage of my silence to sweep on with his discourse.

  "Yes, a restricted circle. That thread could only have been stretched across the top of the stairs after every one had gone to bed. Therefore we have only the occupants of the house to consider. That is to say, the guilt lies between seven people. Dr Tanios. Mrs Tanios. Theresa Arundell. Charles Arundell. Miss Lawson. Ellen. Cook."

  "Surely you can leave the servants out of it."

  "They received legacies, mon cher. And there might have been other reasons – spite – a quarrel – dishonesty – one cannot be certain."

  "It seems to me very unlikely."

  "Unlikely, I agree. But one must take all possibilities into consideration."

  "In that case, you must allow for eight people, not seven."

  "How so?"

  I felt I was about to score a point.

  "You must include Miss Arundell herself. How do you know she may not have stretched that thread across the stairs in order to trip up some other member of the house-party?"

  Poirot shrugged his shoulders.

  "It is a bétise you say there, my friend. If Miss Arundell laid a trap, she would be careful not to fall into it herself. It was she who fell down the stairs, remember."

  I retired crestfallen.

  Poirot went on in a thoughtful voice:

  "The sequence of events is quite clear – the fall – the letter to me – the visit of the lawyer – but there is one doubtful point. Did Miss Arundell deliberately hold back the letter to me, hesitating to post it? Or did she, once having written it, assume it was posted?"

  "That we can't possibly tell," I said.

  "No. We can only guess. Personally, I fancy that she assumed it had been posted. She must have been surprised at getting no reply…"
/>
  My thoughts had been busy in another direction.

  "Do you think this spiritualistic nonsense counted at all?" I asked. "I mean, do you think, in spite of Miss Peabody's ridiculing of the suggestion, that a command was given at one of these seances that she should alter her will and leave her money to the Lawson woman?"

  Poirot shook his head doubtfully.

  "That does not seem to fit in with the general impression I have formed of Miss Arundell's character."

  "The Tripp women say that Miss Lawson was completely taken aback when the will was read," I said thoughtfully.

  "That is what she told them, yes," agreed Poirot.

  "But you don't believe it?"

  "Mon ami – you know my suspicious nature! I believe nothing that any one says unless it can be confirmed or corroborated."

  "That's right, old boy," I said affectionately. "A thoroughly nice, trustful nature."

  "'He says,' 'she says,' 'they say.' Bah! what does that mean? Nothing at all. It may be absolute truth. It may be useful falsehood. Me, I deal only with facts."

  "And the facts are?"

  "Miss Arundell had a fall. That nobody disputes. The fall was not a natural one – it was contrived."

  "The evidence for that being that Hercule Poirot says so!"

  "Not at all. There is the evidence of the nail. The evidence of Miss Arundell's letter to me. The evidence of the dog having been out that night. The evidence of Miss Arundell's words about the jar and the picture and Bob's ball. All these things are facts."

  "And the next fact, please?"

  "The next fact is the answer to our usual question. Who benefits by Miss Arundell's death? Answer – Miss Lawson."

  "The wicked companion! On the other hand, the others thought they were going to benefit. And at the time of the accident they would have benefited."

  "Exactly, Hastings. That is why they all lie equally under suspicion. There is also the little fact that Miss Lawson took pains to prevent Miss Arundell learning that Bob had been out all night."

  "You call that suspicious?"

  "Not at all. I merely note it. It may have been natural concern for the old lady's peace of mind. That is by far the most likely explanation."

  I looked at Poirot sideways. He is so confoundedly slippery.

  "Miss Peabody expressed the opinion that there was 'hanky-panky' about the will," I said. "What do you suppose she meant by that?"

  "It was, I think, her way of expressing various nebulous and unformulated suspicions."

  "Undue influence, it seems, can be washed out," I said thoughtfully. "And it certainly looks as though Emily Arundell was much too sensible to believe in any tomfoolery like spiritualism."

  "What makes you say that spiritualism is tomfoolery, Hastings?"

  I stared at him in astonishment.

  "My dear Poirot – those appalling women -"

  He smiled.

  "I quite agree with your estimate of the Misses Tripp. But the mere fact that the Misses Tripp have adopted with enthusiasm Christian Science, vegetarianism, theosophy and spiritualism does not really constitute a damning indictment of those subjects! Because a foolish woman will tell you a lot of nonsense about a fake scarab which she has bought from a rascally dealer, that does not necessarily bring discredit on the general subject of Egyptology!"

  "Do you mean you believe in spiritualism, Poirot?"

  "I have an open mind on the subject. I have never studied any of its manifestations myself, but it must be accepted that many men of science and learning have pronounced themselves satisfied that there are phenomena which cannot be accounted for by – shall we say the credulity of a Miss Tripp?"

  "Then you believe in this rigmarole of an aureole of light surrounding Miss Arundell's head?"

  Poirot waved a hand.

  "I was speaking generally – rebuking your attitude of quite unreasoning scepticism. I may say that, having formed a certain opinion of Miss Tripp and her sister, I should examine very carefully any fact they presented for my notice. Foolish women, mon ami, are foolish women, whether they are talking about spiritualism or politics or the relation of the sexes or the tenets of the Buddhist faith."

  "Yet you listened to what they had to say very carefully."

  "That has been my task today – to listen. To hear what every one has got to tell me about these seven people – and mainly, of course, the five people primarily concerned. Already we know certain aspects of these people. Take Miss Lawson. From the Misses Tripp we learn she was devoted, unselfish, unworldly and altogether a beautiful character.

  From Miss Peabody we learn that she was credulous, stupid, without the nerve or the brains to attempt anything criminal. From Dr Grainger we learn that she was downtrodden, that her position was precarious, and that she was a poor 'frightened, fluttering hen,' were, I think, the words he used. From our waiter we learned that Miss Lawson was 'a person,' and from Ellen that Bob, the dog, despised her! Every one, you see, saw her from a slightly different angle. That is the same with the others. Nobody's opinion of Charles Arundell's morals seems to have been high, but nevertheless they vary in their manner of speaking of him. Dr Grainger calls him indulgently 'an irreverent young devil.' Miss Peabody says he would murder his grandmother for twopence' but clearly prefers a rascal to a 'stick.' Miss Tripp hints not only that he would do a criminal action but that he has done one – or more. These sidelights are all very useful and interesting. They lead to the next thing."

  "Which is?"

  "To see for ourselves, my friend."

  Chapter 13

  THERESA ARUNDELL

  On the following morning we made our way to the address given us by Dr Donaldson. I suggested to Poirot that a visit to the lawyer, Mr Purvis, might be a good thing, but Poirot negatived the idea strongly.

  "No, indeed, my friend. What could we say – what reason could we advance for seeking information?"

  "You're usually pretty ready with reasons, Poirot! Any old lie would do, wouldn't it?"

  "On the contrary, my friend, 'any old lie,' as you put it, would not do. Not with a lawyer. We should be – how do you say it? – thrown out with the flea upon the ear."

  "Oh, well," I said. "Don't let us risk that!"

  So, as I have said, we set out for the flat occupied by Theresa Arundell.

  The flat in question was situated in a block at Chelsea overlooking the river. It was furnished expensively in the modern style, with gleaming chromium and thick rugs with geometric designs upon them.

  We were kept waiting a few minutes and then a girl entered the room and looked at us inquiringly.

  Theresa Arundell looked about twenty-eight or nine. She was tall and very slender, and she looked rather like an exaggerated drawing in black and white. Her hair was jet black – her face heavily made-up, dead pale. Her eyebrows, freakishly plucked, gave her an air of mocking irony. Her lips were the only spot of colour, a brilliant gash of scarlet in a white face. She also conveyed the impression – how I do not quite know, for her manner was almost wearily indifferent – of being at least twice as much alive as most people. There hung about her the restrained energy of a whiplash.

  With an air of cool inquiry she looked from me to Poirot.

  Wearied (I hoped) of deceit, Poirot had on this occasion sent in his own card. She was holding it now in her fingers, twirling it to and fro.

  "I suppose," she said, "you're M. Poirot?"

  Poirot bowed in his best manner.

  "At your service, mademoiselle. You permit me to trespass for a few moments of your valuable time?"

  With a faint imitation of Poirot's manner, she replied: "Enchanted, M. Poirot. Pray sit down."

  Poirot sat, rather gingerly, on a low square easy-chair. I took an upright one of webbing and chromium. Theresa sat negligently on a low stool in front of the fireplace. She offered us both cigarettes. We refused and she lighted one herself.

  "You know my name perhaps, mademoiselle?"

  She nodded.

/>   "Little friend of Scotland Yard. That's right, isn't it?"

  Poirot, I think, did not much relish this description. He said with some importance:

  "I concern myself with problems of crime, mademoiselle."

  "How frightfully thrilling," said Theresa Arundell in a bored voice. "And to think I've lost my autograph book!"

  "The matter with which I concern myself is this," continued Poirot. "Yesterday I received a letter from your aunt."

  Her eyes – very long, almond-shaped eyes – opened a little. She puffed smoke in a cloud.

  "From my aunt, M. Poirot?"

  "That is what I said, mademoiselle."

  She murmured:

  "I'm sorry if I'm spoiling sport in any way, but really, you know, there isn't any such person! All my aunts are mercifully dead. The last died two months ago."

  "Miss Emily Arundell?"

  "Yes, Miss Emily Arundell. You don't receive letters from corpses, do you, M. Poirot?"

  "Sometimes I do, mademoiselle."

  "How macabre!"

  But there was a new note in her voice – a note suddenly alert and watchful.

  "And what did my aunt say, M. Poirot?"

  "That, mademoiselle, I can hardly tell you just at present. It was, you see, a somewhat -" he coughed – "delicate matter."

  There was silence for a minute or two.

  Theresa Arundell smoked. Then she said:

  "It all sounds delightfully hush-hush. But where exactly do I come in?"

  "I hoped, mademoiselle, that you might consent to answer a few questions."

  "Questions? What about?"

  "Questions of a family nature."

  Again I saw her eyes widen.

  "That sounds rather pompous! Supposing you give me a specimen."

  "Certainly. Can you tell me the present address of your brother Charles?"

  The eyes narrowed again. Her latent energy was less apparent. It was as though she withdrew into a shell.

  "I'm afraid I can't. We don't correspond much. I rather think he has left England."

  "I see."

  Poirot was silent for a minute or two.

  "Was that all you wanted to know?"

  "Oh, I have other questions. For one – are you satisfied with the way in which your aunt disposed of her fortune? For another – how long have you been engaged to Dr Donaldson?"