Chapter 19 Chapter Nineteen

"Mrs. Leaman." Poirot wrote down the name as he read it. "Yes, Harriet, Liman. The other witness seems to be James, Jenkins, who hasn't heard from him since he went to Australia. Olga, Miss Semilov seems to have only heard of returning to Czechoslovakia or something The place, her hometown, seems to be gone." "Do you think Mrs. Leman is reliable?" "I don't think she's making it all up. That's what you're asking. I think she was very curious when she signed it, and she looked for it every chance she got." "Can she read and write?"

"Probably, but I think sometimes it's difficult to read the old lady's handwriting, and it's hard to distinguish the crooked ones. When talking about the rumors about the additional clauses, she might think it's because it's too difficult to read, so She was mistaken." "There is such a document," said Poirot, "but there is a forgery." "Who told you that?" "Lawyers." "Maybe it wasn't faked at all." "Lawyers are very careful about these matters, and they are prepared to ask experts to testify in court."

"Well, then," said Mrs. Oliver, "it seems easy to see what's going on." "Easy? What's going on?" "Well, the next day, maybe a few days later, maybe even a week later, Mrs. Llewellyn Smythe got into an argument either with her devoted girl, or with her nephew Hugo or his niece Roy Na was completely reconciled, and she tore up the will, and either removed the riders, or burned it all." "and after?" "Afterwards, I think, Mrs. Llewellyn Smythe died, and the girl seized the opportunity to rewrite a rider in Mrs. Llewellyn Smythe's handwriting, copying as much as possible the two Maybe she is not familiar with Mrs. Leaman's handwriting. Maybe Mrs. Leaman's signature is on the health card or something, so she writes on it. When it is done, she thinks it will Someone confessed to be a witness to the will, and everything was fine, but she didn't quite like it, and it caused trouble."

"Ma'am, can I use your phone?" "I approve your use of Judith Butler's phone." "Where is your friend?" "Oh, she's got her hair done. Miranda's walking, go, through the French windows, right in that room." Poirot entered the room and returned ten minutes later. "Come back? Who did you call?" "Come back? Who did you call?" "Mr. Fullerton, attorney, I tell you, that proviso, that forged witness was not Harriet Leaman, but a woman named Mary Doughty, who had died and was formerly in Lou Mrs. Erin Smythe's servant, not long after her death. The other witness is James, Jenkins, who went to Australia, as your friend Mrs. Leaman says."

"One copy appears to be a forgery," said Mrs. Oliver, "and one copy appears to be genuine. Poirot, you see, isn't it getting a little too complicated?" "It's inconceivably complicated," said Hercule Poirot. "It can be said that there is a flood of forged documents." "Maybe the original copy is still in the study of the Quarry Mansion, in the book "The Mysteries of the World Are Inside"." "As far as I know, after Mrs. Llewellyn Smythe's death, Stonefield House was sold with all its belongings except a few pieces of furniture and photographs."

"What we need now," said Mrs. Oliver, "is something like 'All the Mysteries of the World' to guide us. It's a good title, isn't it? I remember my grandmother had one." .Almost everything can be found in the middle. Some legal knowledge, recipes, how to wash off ink stains on clothes, etc., and how to make homemade powder without hurting the skin, can’t be counted. Are you right now? Wish there was such a book?" "That goes without saying," said Hercule Poirot. "It will tell me how to cure a sore foot." "There are many ways to be sure. But why don't you wear shoes suitable for walking in the country?"

"Ma'am, I want to look decent." "Then, you deserve to wear this kind of shoes. You're grinning in pain, so bear with it." Mrs. Oliver replied, "I still don't understand. Was what Mrs. Leaman told me just now a lie?" "The possibility is always there." "Could someone tell her to lie?" "Also a possibility." "Will someone pay her to tell her to lie?" "Go on," replied Poirot. "Go on. It makes sense." "I suppose," said Mrs. Oliver, "that Mrs. Llewellyn Smythe, like many other rich old ladies, was a keen will-maker. I see she made quite a few wills in her life, you know, sometimes to It's good for this, it's good for that sometimes. It's back and forth, but the Drakes are rich too. I guess she usually leaves them a good fortune, as for the others, does she leave as much Suspicious, like those left for Olga on Mrs. Leaman and bogus riders, I gotta say I wanted to get to know the girl better, and it looks like she managed to slip away."

"I hope to learn more about her quickly," said Hercule Poirot. "How to find out?" "I'll have news soon." "I know you've been looking for news here." "Not only here, I have an assistant in London who is in charge of getting me information at home and abroad. I may soon have news from Herzegovina." "Can you find out if she has returned home?" "That's one of the things I'd like to know, but I'm more likely to get something different—perhaps letters from her stay here that might mention what friends she made here, with whom. Relatively familiar."

"Where's the primary school teacher?" asked Mrs. Oliver. "Which one are you talking about?" "I mean the one that got strangled—Elizabeth, did Whittaker tell you about it?" She added, "I don't like Elizabeth very much, Whittaker, annoying, but very clever. She added in a daze, "I have a murder in my mind, and it's her." "Strangled the other teacher, didn't you?" "I have to exhaust every possibility." "As always, I'm going to follow your instincts, ma'am." While meditating, Mrs. Oliver put another date into her mouth.