Chapter 17 Chapter 16 Lady Tanios

"Ma'am, a gentleman wants to see you." A woman who was sitting at a table in a study in the Durham Hotel turning her head, who was sitting writing a letter, then rose and came toward us hesitantly. Mrs. Tanios was over thirty.She was a tall, thin woman with black hair, protruding eyes as large as "boiled gooseberries," and a sad face.On her head was a fashionable hat, but it was not fashionable at an angle, and she wore a cloth jacket of a dull, unpleasant colour. "I guess, I don't..." She started off vaguely. Poirot stooped slightly. "I have just come from your cousin, Miss Theresa Arundell."

"Oh! From Theresa? Is that so?" "Maybe I can talk to you alone for a few minutes?" Mrs. Tanios looked around casually.Poirot motioned her to the couch at one end of the room. As we made our way to the sofa, we heard a child shouting: "Mom, where are you going?" "I'll be back in a minute, keep writing, baby." The girl was about seven years old and looked thin.Now, she sat down again, apparently with a hard job to do.She parted her lips slightly and stuck out the tip of her tongue, trying her best to compose an article. This end of the room looked empty.Mrs. Tanios sat down, and we followed suit.She looked at Poirot questioningly.Poirot spoke first:

"I want to talk to you today about your aunt, the late Miss Emily Arundell." Was it me dreaming, or was there a sudden alertness in her protruding pale eyes? ! "This is it?" "Miss Arundell," said Poirot, "had amended her will shortly before her death. According to the new will, all her property went to Miss Lawson. What I want to know, Mrs. Tanios, is whether you would like Your cousin, Mr. Charles, and your cousin, Miss Theresa, have challenged the will?" "Oh!" Mrs. Tanios took a deep breath. "But I don't think it's possible, don't you? I mean, my husband went to a lawyer and he seems to think it's best not to do it."

"Ma'am, Nee knows that lawyers are prudent people. Often their advice is to stop at nothing. They are right, no doubt. But sometimes they are very different. Miss Theresa—I mean Miss Theresa Arundell—she's going to have a fight, how about you?" "I—oh! I really don't know what to do." She said, pinching her fingers together nervously. "I've got to talk to my husband about it." "Of course, you must consult with your husband before making any decision. But what do you think of the matter yourself?" "Well, I don't know." Mrs. Tanios looked more melancholy than ever. "It all depends on my husband."

"But what do you think of yourself?" Mrs. Tanios frowned, then said slowly: "I really don't like the idea of ​​it. It just seems—seems so unnatural, doesn't it?" "Is that how you see it, ma'am?" "Yes. If Aunt Emily wants to do that, and not leave money to her own relatives, I think we'll have to live with it." "Doesn't this matter make you angry?" "Oh, I'm angry." Her cheeks turned red instantly. "I think it's the most unfair, the most unfair! But no one thought it would be like this. Isn't it like Miss Emily Arundell's doing?"

"I think she's weird!" "So, is it possible that she didn't do it voluntarily? Do you think she might have been influenced?" Mrs. Tanios frowned again, and then she said, almost reluctantly, "The difficulty is, I don't see anyone influencing her! She's an old man with ideas." Poirot nodded in agreement. "Yes, what you say is true, and Miss Lawson is hardly a person of that tenacious character." "Yes. She's a really nice person—she's rather dumb, maybe—but she's very kind. That's what I think—" She paused, and Poirot said:

"Yes, ma'am, you?" Mrs. Tanios wrung her fingers nervously again, and she replied: "Well, that means overturning the will. I'm sure Miss Lawson has done nothing in the matter—I'm sure she's not capable of such intrigues..." "I agree with you, ma'am." "That's why I find the court ruling to be—not noble, and mean. Besides, it's expensive, isn't it?" "Yes, it costs a lot of money." "And it might be futile. But you've got to talk to my husband about it. My husband has a better brain than I do."

Poirot waited a minute or two, then said: "What do you think was the reason for writing that will?" Mrs. Tanios, blushing slightly again, muttered, "I don't know." "Ma'am, I told you I'm not a lawyer. You haven't asked me what I do?" She cast him a questioning look. "I am the detective. Miss Emily Arundell wrote me a letter shortly before her death." Mrs. Tanios leaned forward, her hands clasped together. "A letter?" she asked suddenly. "About my husband?" Poirot looked at her for a minute or two, then said slowly:

"I'm afraid I can't answer Nee's question casually." "That must be about my husband," she said, raising her voice a little. "What did she say? I assure you, sir—er—I don't know your name yet?" "My name is Poirot. My full name is Hercule Poirot." "I can assure you, Monsieur Poirot, that if anything bad is said about my husband in the letter, it is not true! I know who instigated that letter! That is why I did not act with Theresa and Charles. Makes sense! Theresa never liked my husband. She said some bad things! I know she did. Aunt Emily is prejudiced against my husband. Since he's not an Englishman, she probably believed Theresa Say something bad about him. But it's not true. M. Poirot, you may mark my words!"

"Mom, I've finished writing the letter." Mrs. Tanios turned quickly.She smiled kindly, and took the letter that the girl handed her. "Honey, nice letter, really, really nice. There's a nice picture of Mickey Mouse over there." "Mom, what do you want me to do?" "Did you buy me a postcard with a picture on it? You go to that gentleman in the hall and pick a postcard. Send it to Slim." The child is gone.I remembered what Charles said, Mrs. Tanios was a devoted wife and mother.At the same time, as Charles said, she is very good at coaxing children.

"You have a child like this, ma'am?" "No, I still have a boy. Out with his daddy now." "And when you call on the Little Green House, don't the children go with you?" "Oh, sometimes. But you know my aunt is old, and the children are a constant annoyance to her. But the old man is very kind. Gives my children nice presents every Christmas." "I wonder when you last saw Miss Arundell?" "I think the last time was exactly ten days before she died." "Your husband and wife, as well as your cousin and cousin are also there, right?" "No, it was the weekend before—at Easter." "Then you and your husband were there the weekend after Easter." "yes." "How was Miss Arundell, physically and mentally?" "Yes, it looks the same as usual." "She was not bedridden by illness?" "She was bedridden because of a fall and hunger. But when we got there, she came downstairs again." "Did she tell you about redoing the will?" "No, not at all." "Is her attitude the same as before?" This time Mrs. Tanios was silent for a long time, and then replied: "No change." I am sure that at this moment Poirot and I were equally convinced that: Mrs. Tanios is lying! Poirot paused, then said: "Perhaps I should explain that when I asked you about Miss Arundell's attitude, I did not refer to you, but to you personally?" Mrs. Tanios quickly replied: "Oh! I see. Aunt Emily was very kind to me. She gave me a little pearl and a diamond brooch, and ten shillings for each of the children." Now she is less restrained and pours out all the words at once. "As for your husband—hasn't she changed her attitude toward him?" Mrs. Tanios was stiff again.Avoiding Poirot's eyes, she replied: "No, of course not—why change?" "However, you mentioned that your cousin Teresa slandered your aunt and poisoned the old man's heart..." "She did it! I'm sure I did!" said Mrs. Tanios, leaning forward eagerly. "You're absolutely right. My aunt has changed again. She's suddenly estranged from my husband and behaves strangely." .He recommended her a special appetizer, and he even went out of his way to get her some, bought it at the pharmacy, and made it up for her herself. She thanked him. That was all—but sternly face, and later I saw her pour all the potions into the cesspool!" She was extremely angry. Poirot's eyes twinkled. "The course of events is very peculiar," said Poirot.He took care to keep his voice calm. "I think it's the most inhuman thing ever done," said Mrs. Tanios bitterly. "You don't often say that old ladies sometimes don't trust foreigners," said Poirot. "I'm sure they always think that English doctors are the only doctors in the world. It's all prejudice." .” "Yes, I think so." Mrs. Tanios seemed to soften a little. "Ma'am, when are you going back to Shimyna?" "In a few weeks. My husband—oh! My husband and youngest son Edward are back!"