Chapter 19 Chapter 19 A Play Directed by Poirot

The party at the Cliff House that night was rather strange. I did not see Poirot almost all day, and when he was out to dinner he left me a note telling me to be at Cliff House at nine o'clock.He also added a special sentence to the note, telling me not to wear evening clothes. The whole process is like a well-directed absurd farce. After I arrived at the Cliff Villa, I was let into the living room.I looked around and noticed that everyone on Poirot's list of suspects from one to ten was present (the tenth, of course, was not present, which would have been Mr. Nothing).Even Mrs. Croft came, sitting in a crippled chair, smiling and nodding at me.

"Wouldn't you think I'd come too?" she said cheerfully. "It's quite a change for me, and I think I should be more active, and that's M. Poirot's idea too. Come and sit beside me, Captain Hastings, for some reason, I always feel that what happened tonight is a bit tingling, and it was all thought up by Mr. Weiss." "Mr. Weiss?" I was quite surprised. Charles Weiss was standing by the mantelpiece, and Poirot was beside him talking gravely to him in low tones.I looked around the room again, yes, all these people are here, and after I was ushered in (I was a minute or two late), Ellen sat down on a chair by the door, another chair Sitting upright was her panting husband, and the child, Alfred, squirmed uncomfortably between his parents.

The rest were seated around the table, Frederica in her black gown, Lazarus at one side, George Challenger and Croft on the other side of the table, and I at a little distance from the table, in the Mrs. Croft.Now Charles Weiss gave a final nod and took his place at the head of the table.Poirot sat quietly beside Lazarus. The young lawyer coughed and stood up, still looking serious and expressionless. "We have a very unusual meeting this evening," he said, "and a very special place, I mean, of course, where my late cousin, Miss Barkley, lived. Of course, there will be an inquest. She is undoubtedly Poisoned to death. The purpose of the poison was to poison her. But this is the business of the police, I don't intend to talk about it, and the police don't want me to do it.

"Under normal circumstances, the will of the deceased is not read until after the funeral, but due to M. Poirot's request, I will read the will before the funeral. In fact, I will read it here and now. This is what you The reason for being called, as I said earlier, is that, in the unusual circumstances, I think I have a good reason for doing so. "This will is a bit unusual. It was signed last February, but it didn't arrive in the post office until this morning. It was written by my cousin - I have no doubts about it. It's not in the right format, but it's formal. Witnesses, for it is perfectly valid."

He paused, cleared his throat again, and kept every eye on him. From a long envelope in his hand he drew a piece of paper, which we all saw to be an ordinary Cliff House note. "Quite short," Weiss said, paused appropriately, and began to read: This is the last will of me, Magdalene Buckley, in which I appoint all expenses of my funeral to be paid in full, and appoint my cousin Charles Weiss as executor, in order to repay Mildred C. By the unrepayable kindness of Croft to my father Philip Buckley, I leave to Mildred Croft all that I own at death. Signed: Magdalene Buckley Witness: Ellen Wilson

william wilson I was taken aback, and I guess everyone was taken aback, except Mrs. Croft nodded knowingly. "Yes, it's true," she said calmly. "I don't mean to bring up the past, but Philip Buckley was in Australia at the time, and if I hadn't—never mind. I won't say it, it was a secret, No need to reveal it, but obviously she knew the secret, I mean Nick of course, her father must have told her. We came here from Australia to see the place. I used to listen to Philip When Buckley talked about this cliff villa, he was full of curiosity. The dear good girl knew everything, and she always felt that she could not express her gratitude. She wanted us to live with her, but we were unwilling to do so. Later She insisted that we live in the porter's cottage, and wouldn't take a penny for rent, and of course, to prevent gossip, we pretended to pay her rent, and she secretly paid us back. And now—and so on A will! Well, if anyone thinks the world is ungrateful, I'll tell them they're wrong! Here's the proof."

In a silence full of astonishment, Poirot looked at Wes and said: "Do you know about this?" Wes shook his head. "I know Philip Barkley has been to Australia but haven't heard any rumors of him being there." He looked questioningly at Mrs. Croft. She shook her head: "No, you won't get a word from me. I've never told anyone about it, and never will. The secret will go to the grave with me." Wes fell silent.He sat there quietly, tapping a pencil on the table. "I think, Monsieur Weiss," said Poirot, leaning forward, "that you, as the next of kin of the deceased, may protest against this will, because, I know that when it was made, the testator did not Knowing the current value of this will, due to Seton's death, the property has increased thousands of times at once!"

Weiss looked at him coldly. "This will is in full force and effect. In no way will I take issue with the way my cousin has handled her estate." "You're a good man," said Mrs. Croft appreciatively, "and you'll know you've been worth it." Charles recoiled uncomfortably from this remark and this kindness. "Oh, mother," said Mr. Croft, in a voice of undisguised excitement, "that's incredible! Nick never told me that's what she did." "My dear girl," murmured Mrs. Croft, wiping the corners of her eyes with her handkerchief, "I wish she could look down on us from the sky now, and perhaps she could indeed see us—who knows?"

"Possibly," agreed Poirot. He looked back, forth, left, and right as if he suddenly remembered something. "I have an idea! Now that we're all sitting at the table, how about a spiritual session?" "Spiritualism!" Croft wondered why, "but undoubtedly—" "Ah, ah, it's sure to be very interesting. Hastings has a spell that bridges the two worlds (why brings it to my head), and can call back ghosts from the other world-a rare opportunity, and I think the location is also Well, do you think so, Hastings?" "Yes." I replied resolutely, ready to go all out.

"Okay, I see, quick, turn off the lights!" As he said he got up himself and turned off all the lights, so quickly that no one had time to protest, as a matter of fact they--I think--haven't recovered from the astonishment of the will. The room was not completely dark, the curtains were drawn, and the windows were open because of the warm weather.There was a dim light from the window, we sat in silence, and after a minute or two I could already make out the vague outlines of the furniture.I was in such a panic that I had no idea what to do next, since Poirot hadn't given me any notice beforehand.

I closed my eyes and pretended to snore. At this moment Poirot rose, went on tiptoe to my chair, then returned to his own seat, and said to himself: "Ah, she has already emerged from the primordial spirit, we will see it soon..." Sitting in the dark waiting for an unknowable mysterious event can be heart-rending, my nerves were on edge, and I think everyone else's too, and at last I guessed what was going to happen because I knew An important fact that no one else knows. Even so, my heart jumped in my throat when I saw the dining room door being pushed open soundlessly.The door must have been oiled, which created a terribly ghostly atmosphere, and as the door was slowly pushed open, it seemed that a cold and eerie wind was blowing into the room.I thought it was the night air from the garden coming in from the window, but at this moment it was as creepy as the wind in the ghost novels I had read. We all saw it!There was a white figure at the door, it was Nick Buckley... She moved soundlessly, with a ghostly gait. That's when I really realized what an amazing actress our world has lost, and Nick had long wanted to do a play at Cliff House, and now she got it.And I'm sure she revels in the role she plays, she couldn't have played it better. She floated slowly into the room. From the invalid's chair next to me there came a horrific moan. It was Mrs. Croft's voice.Challenger exclaimed "My God" in his horror.And Charles Weiss, I think, moved his chair back a bit.Lazarus leaned forward, eyes wide.Only Frederica sat quietly and without making a sound. Then there was a scream, and Ellen jumped to her feet. "It's her!" she cried. "She's alive! She's walking! That's the way a dead man walks. It's her, it's her!" At this moment, there was a "click", and the lights came back on. I saw Poirot standing there with the smile of a circus master waiting for the audience to applaud after he has directed a masterpiece.Nick stood in the middle of the room in a white gown. Frederica was the first to speak, reaching out to touch her friend dubiously. "Nick," she said, "are you, are you really human?" The words were as soft as a whisper. Nick laughed, and she came forward and said: "Yes, I really am." Then turning to Mrs. Croft, said, "I am grateful all my life for what you have done for my father, Mrs. Croft, but I am afraid you will cannot enjoy the benefits provided by that will." "Oh, my God," gasped Mrs. Croft, "my God!" she writhed and swayed in her chair, "take me away, Pat, take me back. They're open A big joke, my dear—a big joke, really, that's what it is." "Quite kind of a joke," Nick said. The door opened again, and a man came in, walking so lightly that I didn't hear him.I was surprised to find that it was Japp, who nodded quickly to Poirot with a look on his face as if he knew that this nod would surely satisfy Poirot. Then his face suddenly brightened, and he walked quickly to the uncomfortable lady in the disabled chair. "Hello, hello, hello!" said he. "Who is this? An old friend! Tell you all, this is Millie Merton, and doing her old business, my dears." Ignoring Mrs. Croft's objections, he explained to them all: "Here's the most talented forger we've ever come across, Millie Merton. They got away last time because of a traffic accident, and look, she won't get over it even with a broken back. She's an artist." , the real deal." "Is this will a forgery?" Weiss asked.His voice was full of surprise. "It's a forgery, of course," said Nick mockingly. "You don't think I'm going to make such an absurd will. I leave the estate to you, Charles, and the rest to Frederica." She said walking to her girlfriend.That's when something went wrong. There was a flash of fire in the window, a bullet whistled in, and another shot, and we heard someone outside the window fall to the ground with a groan. Frederica stood dumbfounded, with a stream of bright red blood running down her arm...