Chapter 25 Chapter 24 Theresa Denies

Theresa Arundell was getting ready to go out when we found her. She looks so charming.A curiously stylish little hat looked pretty slanted over the forehead over one eye.In this enchanting moment, I remembered that Bella Tanios had worn a cheap imitation hat yesterday, and that she had it on—as George described—on the back of her head, Instead of wearing it on the front top.I distinctly remember how she pushed the hat further and further back behind her disheveled hair. Poirot said politely: "Miss, can I take a moment of your time? This won't delay your business too much, will it?"

Teresa smiled and said: "Oh, it's all right. I'm always late forty or fifty minutes to anything. So it doesn't matter if I'm an hour late this time." She took him to the drawing room.To my surprise, I saw Dr. Donaldson rising from a chair by the window. "Rikes, you've seen M. Poirot before, haven't you?" "We met at Market Basing," Donaldson said primly. "You're pretending to be writing about my drinking grandfather, and I understand your motives," Theresa said. "Ricks, my angel, can you leave us for a while?"

"Thank you, Theresa, but in any case, I think it would be more appropriate for me to be present at this meeting." They exchanged quick glances.Theresa's gaze is commanding and commanding; Donaldson is unmoved.She got angry and said: "Well, you stay here, damn it!" Dr. Donaldson looked unperturbed. He sat down again in the chair by the window and put the book on the arm of the chair.I noticed that it was a book about the hypocerebral gland. Theresa sat on her favorite low stool and looked impatiently at Poirot. "Well, have you seen Mr. Purvis? How's that going?"

Poirot replied tactfully: "It's...possible, miss." She looked at Poirot thoughtfully.Then she glanced very timidly in the doctor's direction.This glance was a warning to Poirot not to talk too deeply. Poirot went on: "I think it would be better to report to you when my plan is more complete." A smile appeared on Teresa's face for an instant. Poirot went on: "I came from Market Basing today, where I spoke to Miss Lawson. Please tell me, miss, that the night of the thirteenth of April, the night of the Easter Bank Holiday, was before everyone went to bed. After that, did you ever kneel on the stairs?"

"My dear Hercule Poirot, what a strange question! Why should I kneel on the stairs?" "Miss, the question is not why you knelt on the stairs, but whether you knelt on the stairs." "I'm sure I didn't. I don't think that's an absolute possibility." "You know, miss, Miss Lawson said you were kneeling on the stairs." Theresa shrugged her charming shoulders and said, "Does it matter?" "It matters a lot." She gazed at him very affectionately.Poirot returned her glance. "Crazy!" Theresa said. "Sorry, what did you say?"

"Crazy for sure!" Theresa said. "Ricks, don't you think so?" Donaldson coughed. "Excuse me, M. Poirot, please tell me why you ask this question?" My friend spread out his hands and said: "It couldn't have been easier! Someone had driven a nail into a vantage point on the top of the stairs. The nail was painted brown, the same color as the corner boards." "Is this a new kind of magic trick?" Theresa asked. "No, ma'am, it's much simpler than that. On the following evening, on Tuesday, a thread or rope was drawn from a nail to the banister of the banister, so that when Miss Arundell came out of the bedroom, she caught her foot and she rolled headfirst down the stairs."

Teresa took a sudden breath and said: "She tripped over Bob's ball!" "Sorry, it wasn't Bob's ball that tripped." There was a momentary silence in the house.Donaldson broke the silence by saying in a calm and clear voice: "Excuse me, do you have any proof for saying that?" Poirot said quietly: "By the nails, by Miss Arundell's own words, and finally by the eyes of Miss Lawson!" Teresa went on to say: "She said I was kneeling on the stairs, didn't she?" Poirot made no answer, but bowed his head. "This, this is a lie! I have nothing to do with it!"

"Have you ever knelt on a staircase for an entirely different reason?" "I didn't kneel on the stairs at all!" "Think again, miss." "I wasn't on the stairs at all! During the nights I lived in the Little Green House, I never went out of the bedroom after going to bed." "Miss Lawson recognized you." "It's likely she saw Bella Tanios, or another maid." "But she said it was you." "What a nasty liar she is!" "She recognized your morning coat and the brooch you wore." "A brooch—what brooch?"

"A brooch with your initials on it." "Oh, I know the brooch! How smooth and true she lies!" "Are you still denying it's you?" "If I were to speak ill of her..." "Then you're a better liar than she is, aren't you?" Teresa said calmly: "That's quite possible. But for that matter, I'm telling the truth. I didn't set a trap on the stairs, or kneel there to pray, or pick up bullion, or silver, or anything." "Do you have that brooch she spoke of?" "Maybe. Would you like to see it?"

"Please show it to me, miss." Teresa stood up and walked out of the room.There was another awkward silence in the room.Dr. Donaldson's eyes fixed on Poirot as if he were looking at a dissected specimen. Theresa is back. "here." She almost threw the ornament at Poirot.It was a large, striking round brooch, either chrome or stainless steel, with the letters TA on it.I have to admit that the brooch is big enough and conspicuous enough to be seen easily in Miss Lawson's glass. "I don't wear the brooch anymore. I'm sick of it," Theresa said. "London is full of them. Every little maid has one."

"But when you bought it, it was quite expensive, wasn't it?" "Oh, yes. It was very fashionable at first." "When was that?" "I think it was around last Christmas. Yeah, around that time." "Have you ever lent it to anyone else?" "No." "Did you pin it when you lived in the Little Green House?" "I think I pinned it. Yes, I pinned it. I remember." "Did you keep it somewhere? Did the brooch ever leave you when you were at the Little Green House?" "No, no. I remember pinning it to a smock. I wear this smock every day." "And at night?" "It's still on the smock." "Where's the blouse?" "Well, the smock's on the damn chair!" "Are you sure no one took the brooch and put it back the next day?" "If you like, I'll say so in court—if you think I'm telling a big lie! I'm sure it never happened! It's a clever plan to set me up— But I don't think that's true." Poirot frowned.Then, standing up, and carefully pinning the brooch on the lapel of his coat, he walked across the room and stood in front of a mirror that stood on a table.He stood facing the mirror, then slowly backed away, looking into the mirror from a distance to see what would happen. Then he snorted, "What a fool of me! Of course it is!" He came back, bowed to Theresa, and handed her the brooch. "You're right, miss. The brooch never left you! I'm pitifully stupid." "I do like humble people," Theresa said.She fastened the brooch casually. She looked up at Poirot and said: "Is there anything else? I should go." "Let's talk about it later." Teresa walked towards the door.At this moment Poirot continued in a calm tone: "There's an exhumation problem. It's true..." Teresa stopped, transfixed.The brooch fell from her hand to the floor. "What did you say?" Poirot said word for word: "Miss Emily Arundell's body may be exhumed from her grave." Theresa stood motionless, her hands twisted together.She said in a low, angry voice: "Is that what you do? Applications without families can't do that!" "You're wrong, miss. An order from the Home Office." "my God!" She turned and sprinted back and forth. Donaldson said quietly: "I don't think you need to be so disturbed, Theresa. I daresay the thought is quite unpleasant to a bystander, but..." She interrupted him: "Don't be silly, Ricks!" Poirot asked: "Does this thought trouble you, Mademoiselle?" "Of course it disturbs me! It's outrageous. Poor old Aunt Emily. Why on earth should her body be exhumed?" "I suppose," said Donaldson, "that there are doubts about the cause of death?" He looked at Poirot tentatively.He went on, "I confess that I am surprised by the news. I think Miss Arundell died of natural causes from a long illness." "Once you told me about rabbits and liver disease," Theresa said. "I forget the details now. But I remember that you injected the blood of a patient with icteric hepatic A rabbit has liver disease. You inject the blood of this diseased rabbit into another rabbit, and then inject the blood of the second rabbit into a person, and that person has liver disease. That’s what it means.” "That's a metaphor to illustrate what serum therapy is," Donaldson explained patiently. "It's a shame there are so many rabbits in the story!" said Theresa, laughing. "None of us have any rabbits." Then she turned to Poirot and changed her voice. "Mr. Poirot, is the grave to be opened?" she asked. "It is true, but—there are ways of avoiding it, miss." "Then avoid it!" Her voice was almost a whisper.But the voice seemed urgent, as if forcing people to agree. "Please avoid it at all costs!" Poirot stood up. "Is this your will?" he asked solemnly. "It's my will." "But, Theresa..." Donaldson cut her off. She turned sharply to face her fiancé, and said: "Shut up! She's my aunt, isn't she? Why are you digging up my aunt's body? Don't you know it's going to be in the papers, and there's going to be a lot of gossip, and it's going to make everyone unhappy?" She turned around again. To Poirot, said: "You should stop it! I give you carte blanche. Do what you like, but stop it." Poirot bowed politely. "I will do my best. Au revoir, mademoiselle, au revoir, doctor (French: goodbye, miss, goodbye, doctor.)." "Oh, let's go!" Teresa cried. "Please put your St. Leonards (formerly known as: St. Leonards, a famous British jurist, born 1781, died 1875. He is famous for changing the law about wills and trusteeship. .Theresa is making a mockery of Hastings by comparing him to St. Leonard.) Take it away, and I hope never to see either of you again." We left the house.Poirot did not put his ear to the crack of the door on purpose this time, but he stopped and listened for a moment--yes, he stopped and listened for a while. He didn't stop in vain, he heard Teresa's clear and contemptuous words: "Don't look at me like that, Ricks." Then the voice suddenly stopped, and only one voice was heard - "My dear." Then Dr. Donaldson answered her in a clear voice, saying very clearly: "That man is full of tricks." Poirot grinned suddenly.He pulled me out the front door. "Come on, St. Leonard," said he, "this fellow is ridiculous! I personally think it's too inappropriate for Poirot to make such a joke."