Chapter 21 Chapter Twenty

Poirot and I discussed the situation along the way, which was about ten miles from Harchester to Market Basing. "Poirot, do you have any basis for that opinion?" "You mean as to Miss Arundell's belief that she has destroyed that new will? mon ami,--I tell you frankly that I have no grounds. But, you should see, it is my duty to make certain opinions Mr. Purvis is a shrewd man, and he would suspect me of my inability to do anything in this matter, unless I made some observations like the ones I have advanced." "You know what you remind me of, Poirot?" I asked.

"I don't know, mon ami." "I think of a juggler with balls of different colors! All of a sudden, all the balls are thrown into the air." "Balls of different colors are all the different lies I tell—does that mean you?" "Almost the same thing." "Do you think someday these balls will all burst?" "But you can't keep them in the air forever," I pointed out. "That's true. But I'm sure there's going to be a big moment when I catch the balls one by one, bow to the audience, take a bow and exit the stage."

"You have to thank the audience for the thunderous applause." Poirot looked at me rather suspiciously and said: "Probably so, yes." "We don't know much from Mr. Purvis." I turned the subject away from the dangerous point. "It's not much, it just further confirms our general view." "He further corroborated Miss Lawson's statement that she only knew about the will after the old woman's death." "But I don't see him confirming it." "Purvis advised Miss Arundell not to tell Lawson, and Miss Arundell replied that she had no intention of doing so."

"Yes, it is very well done and clear. But my friend, the will is kept in a drawer, and the drawer has a lock, and one can put a key in the lock and open the locked drawer." "Do you really think Miss Lawson overhears conversations and asks for information?" I asked him, a little surprised. Poirot laughed and said: "Miss Lawson--she is not an educated person, mon cher (French: my dear), we know that she overheard a conversation which one would not have thought she would--I mean It was that conversation between Charles and his aunt, about how the murdered relatives who loved their money."

I admit this is true. "So you see, Hastings, she too could easily overhear a conversation between Mr. Purvis and Miss Arundell. Mr. Purvis has a loud voice and is easy to hear." "As for the habit of asking around," continued Poirot, "you would have no idea how many people do it. A cowardly and fussy person like Miss Lawson often has bad habits. That kind of thing is a great comfort and joy to them." "Really, Poirot!" I said dissentingly. He nodded frequently and said: "It's true, it's true." When we arrived at George's Inn, we rented two rooms.Then we walked to the little green house.

Bob responded to the challenge as soon as we rang the doorbell.Screaming wildly, it dashed across the hall to the front door. "I will take out your hearts, livers and lungs!" it roared, as if to say, "I will tear your limbs apart! You dare not enter this house! Wait for me to bite you." Along with the dog's barking, we hear a comforting murmur of the pup. "Okay, darling, okay, what a good puppy, come in." Bob was dragged by the neck and shut into the living room, of course he didn't want to. "What a disappointment," he seemed to be grumbling, "for the first time in a long time that I've had a chance to have a good fight with someone. I want to sink my teeth into their pant legs. Now without me Protect you, master, take care of yourself."

The living room door was closed, and Ellen unlatched the front door's bolt and bar, and opened the front door. "Oh, it's you, sir," she cried. She opened the door completely, with a very happy and excited look on her face. "Come in, sir." We walked into the drawing room.From the gap under the door of the living room on the left came the sound of strong breathing and occasional barking.Bob is trying to correctly "judge" who we really are. "You can let it out," I suggested. "Well, I'll let him out, sir. It's all right, really, except that he howls and jumps at people and makes a fright. He's a very good watch dog, though."

She opened the living room door and Bob came out like a cannonball. "Who's here? Where are they, oh, here! Why, I don't remember..." It sniffed, sniffed—and let out a drawn-out snort. "Of course I remember! We met!" "Hello, old man," I said, "how are you doing?" Bob wagged his tail casually. "Very well, thank you. Let me smell you again." It probed me again, and seemed to say, "You talked to a long-haired lap dog recently. I smell you wearing that Here comes the silly dog ​​smell. What is that smell? Is it a cat smell? That's funny. I wish I had that cat come to us, we rarely play together. Hmm - you still have a dog smell , that's a pretty good bulldog."

It correctly determined that I had recently been to some dog-loving friends.Then he turned his attention to Poirot, but he sniffed the petrol and walked away reproachfully. "Bob," I yelled. It looked back at me and seemed to say to me: "Well, I know what I'm doing. I'll be right back." "The shutters are all closed in the house. I hope you will forgive me..." Ellen hurried to the living room and opened the shutters. "Well, very well," said Poirot, going in with her, and sitting down. When I was about to follow him into the house, Bob emerged from a mysterious place with a ball in his mouth.It rushed up the stairs, stretching its limbs.It lies on the top step, holds the ball in its paws, and slowly wags its tail.

"Come on," it seemed to be saying to me, "Come on, let's play together." My interest in the detective was gone in an instant, I played with Bob for a while, and then I felt guilty and hurried into the living room. Poirot and Ellen seemed to have been talking for some time about the disease and the doctor. "Small white pills, sir, that's what she used to take. Two or three pills after each meal. That's what Dr. Granger ordered. Yes, she took them. They're small pills. And she's taking a drug that Miss Lawson trusts, which is a capsule. Dr. Love Barrow's capsule for hepatitis. You'll see it advertised on billboards everywhere."

"Does she take this drug too?" "Yes, it was Miss Lawson who gave it to her at first, because she felt that it was quite effective for the mistress." "Does Dr. Granger know about this?" "Oh, sir, he doesn't mind. 'If you think this medicine works, take it,' he said to his hostess. She replied: 'Well, you may laugh at me, but taking this medicine does Makes me feel pretty good. Much better than any medicine you've ever given me." Dr. Granger laughed when she finished, saying that spiritual belief in medicine is better than all the good medicines that have been invented. more curative." "Is she taking any other medicine?" "I don't agree. Miss Bella's husband, the foreign doctor brought her a bottle of medicine. Although she thanked him very politely, she still threw the medicine away. I know about it! I Think she's doing the right thing. You don't know how foreign medicine works." "Mrs. Tanios saw her throw it away, didn't she?" "Yes, I'm afraid she's distressed about it, the poor woman. I'm sorry, too, because Dr. Tanios must have meant well." "Yes, he must have meant well. I suppose after Miss Arundell's death the rest of the medicine was thrown away?" Ellen was a little surprised by the question, saying: "Oh, yes, sir. The nurse threw away some medicines, and Miss Lawson threw away all the old ones in the medicine cupboard in the bathroom." "Dr. Lovebarrow's hepatitis capsules - er - kept there too?" "No, those medicines are kept in the dining room cupboard so they can be taken after meals as prescribed by the doctor." "Which nurse attends Miss Arundell? Can you give me her name and address?" Ellen immediately gave Poirot the name and address of the nurse. Poirot asked some more questions about Miss Arundell's last illness. Ellen went on with relish, and she described Miss Arundell's disease, her condition, her sudden onset of jaundice, and finally her coma.I wonder if Poirot got anything to his liking from her talk.He listened patiently to her, and now and then asked little pertinent questions, generally asking how long Miss Lawson had been in the mistress's house.He was also particularly interested in the diets of his patients, and compared them with those of several of his own dead relatives (there were no such relatives). Seeing them talking so speculatively, I sneaked into the living room again.Bob had fallen asleep on the landing with the ball under his chin.I whistled at him, and he jumped up, immediately on alert.This time, it undoubtedly violated its dignity, and it was not so easy to pass the ball to me again. Several times, the moment the ball was about to roll down, it caught the ball back again. "You're disappointed, aren't you? Well, I'll throw the ball to you this time," it seemed to say to me. When I returned to the living room, Poirot was discussing the surprise visit by Dr. Tanios to the Little Green House on the Sunday before the old woman died. "Yes, sir, when Mr. Charles and Miss Theresa were out for a walk, we did not expect Dr. Tanios to come. The mistress was lying in bed, and she was surprised when I told her who it was. She said: 'Is that Dr. Tanios? Is Mrs. Tanios with him?' I told her no, sir came alone. She wanted me to tell him she'd come downstairs in a minute .” "Has he been here long?" "Not more than an hour, sir. He didn't look very happy when he left." "Do you know—er—what he came for?" Ellen blushed suddenly and said: "No, I didn't, sir, I've never overheard a conversation at a door, and whatever some might do--people will know all too well!" "Oh, you misunderstood me." Poirot apologized sincerely. "I just happened to think that perhaps you went in to deliver tea while Dr. Tanios was in the house, and if that was the case, you would naturally overhear what he was talking to your mistress." Ellen was calm this time, and she said: "I'm sorry, sir, but I misunderstood you. No, Dr. Tanios is not here for tea." Poirot looked up at her, his eyes twinkling with joy. "If I wanted to know why he came here—well, Miss Lawson might know, wouldn't she?" "If she doesn't know, sir, no one will," said Ellen contemptuously. "Let me see," said Poirot, frowning, as if trying to think of something, "Miss Lawson's bedroom—is it next to Miss Arundell's?" "No, sir. Miss Lawson's room is just at the top of the stairs. I can show you, sir." Poirot accepted the suggestion.When going upstairs, he walked close to the wall, and just when he reached the top of the stairs, he let out a cry of surprise, bent over and pulled the hem of his trousers. "Oh—a thread seems to trip me—oh, there's a nail in the corner board." "Yes, there's a nail, sir. I think it's loose. It caught my coat once or twice." "Has the nail been there long?" "Well, I think it's been a while, sir. I first saw it when the mistress was lying ill in bed--that is, after her accident, sir--and I wanted to pull the nail Come out, but I can't pull it." "I suppose a thread has been pulled from a nail before?" "Yes, sir, I remember a little ring of thread on the nail. I can't think of what to do with it, really can't." There was not the slightest doubt in Ellen's voice.To her, it was just a small incident in the family, one that people didn't bother to explain. Poirot entered the room at the top of the stairs.The room is medium in size.Facing the door, there are two windows.In the corner stood a dresser, and between the two windows stood a large cabinet with a long full-length mirror.The bed is placed behind the right door, facing the window, and against the left wall of the room is a large Philippine wooden chest of drawers and a marble-topped washbasin. Poirot looked round the room thoughtfully, then came to the landing.He walked down the corridor, past two other bedrooms, and finally came to Emily Arundell's large bedroom. "Nurses lived in a small room next door," Ellen explained. Poirot nodded thoughtfully. As we went downstairs, he asked if he could take a walk in the garden. "Oh, sir, of course. The garden is just looking good now." "Is the gardener still employed?" "You mean Angus? Oh, yes, Angus is still there. Miss Lawson wants to keep everything in this house in good condition, because she thinks it will fetch a good price that way." "I think she's very clever. It's not good when a place becomes a mess." The garden is peaceful and beautiful.Wide flower beds are filled with white lupine flowers, delphiniums and bright red poppies.There are also peonies that are about to bloom.We strolled through the garden and came to a tall, wrinkled old man busy under a pergola where the pots were placed.He greeted us very politely, and Poirot struck up a conversation with him.Poirot made the old man friendly to us by mentioning that we had seen Mr. Charles not long ago, and he became garrulous and chattering. "That's what he is! I know, he came here once with half a gooseberry pastry in his hand, and the cook was looking for the half, nowhere! But he went back behind the house , with such a nonchalant look on their faces that they cursed that the cat must have eaten the gooseberry pastry, though I never heard of cats eating gooseberry pastry! Oh, Mr. Charles is such a man! " "He came here in April, didn't he!" "Yes, he came both weekends, just before the mistress died." "How often do you see him?" "I see him a lot. As there's really not much for a young man to do around here, he used to go up to George's Inn and get very drunk. Then he'd hang around here and ask about it. Son, ask about that." "Did he ask about flowers?" "Yes—asked about the flowers—asked about the weeds, too," said the old man with a small chuckle. "About weeds?" Poirot's question was asked abruptly, and there was a tentative tone in his tone.He turned his head, his eyes searched along the shelf of flowers, and finally his eyes stopped on a tin box. "Perhaps he wants to know how you weed?" "He asked that question!" "I think it's the herbicide you use." Poirot turned the tin box gently and read the trademark on the box. "I use it," said Angus. "It's a handy thing to use." "Is this kind of thing dangerous?" "It's not dangerous if you use it right. It's arsenic, of course. There's another joke about that, a joke I made with Mr. Charles. He said if he got a wife and didn't like her, he'd He just came to me and asked for some arsenic to poison her! I said, if she was the one who tried to kill you first! Oh, I made him laugh a lot when I said that, which It's true, we made a good joke!" We had to laugh along with it.Poirot pried off the lid of the tin box. "Almost empty," he muttered. The old man glanced into the box and said: "Oh, it's gone. I didn't expect that. I didn't know I had used up so much. I'll have to order more." "Yes," said Poirot, laughing, "I am afraid that what you have left for me is not enough to poison my wife!" We all laughed again at the joke. "I suppose you are not married, sir?" "No," replied Poirot. "Oh, people who are not married always make jokes like this. People who are not married don't know that marriage is troublesome!" "I think, your wife...?" Poirot stopped to say anything, considering the emotion of caring for the elderly. "She's doing well—very well." Angus looked a bit frustrated by this. We said good-bye to him after we complimented him on his well done garden.