Chapter 13 Chapter 2 The Life of Meredith Black

My dear M. Poirot, I am writing here what I remember in connection with the tragedy that occurred sixteen years ago, as I have promised you.The first thing I want to say is that I have thought over everything that was said to me during our meeting, and the more I think about it, the more I think it is absolutely impossible for Caroline Currier to poison her husband.This kind of statement is inappropriate, but on the one hand, there is no other explanation, and on the other hand, her attitude makes me blindly follow other people's statements—that is, if it wasn't her who did it, then who else?

After meeting with you, I carefully considered the defense put forward by the defendant at that time—An Ya.Currel committed suicide.Although this seems improbable so far as I know him, I now feel that I should revise my opinion, first and foremost, because Catherine believes that if we believe the charming And if a refined lady is judged unjustly, her beliefs must carry great weight.She knew Anya better than anyone else, and if she believed that Anya might have committed suicide, no matter how much his friends suspected it, it was possible that he had committed suicide. So, I trust Anya.Currel may finally commit suicide under the condemnation of conscience, subconscious regret, and even excessive disappointment, but only his wife knows his remorse.I think this kind of assumption is not impossible, maybe only she knows and has seen his side.Although this is not in line with what I have heard him say in the past, most people who save people do have a side that surprises even those closest to them. A respected and strict person may have a rude side, but Outsiders do not know.A vulgar businessman may secretly have an artistic eye.A ruthless person may also have a latent kindness, and a generous and cheerful person may have a mean and cruel side.

Therefore, there may be an unhealthy self-blame in Anya Currell's heart. The more he puts on an egoistic appearance, the deeper his underlying conscience blames him. Although it seems very unlikely on the surface, but I now believe that it must be so. I repeat, since Kai Ruolin insists on that view, she must have her reasons. Now look at the facts, or rather my memory of them, in this new light. The following passage, which I had with Caroline in the weeks before the tragedy, may have something to do with it.That was when Elsa Gary first came to Audbury. As I said, Caroline knew that I had a deep affection and friendship for her, so I was her most reliable friend.She didn't seem very happy, but one day she suddenly asked me if I thought Anya really liked the girl he brought back, I was a little surprised.

I said, "He likes to take portraits of her, and you know Anya." She shook her head and said, "No, he's in love with her." "Maybe a little of that." "I think he loves her very much." I said: "I admit, she is indeed very attractive, and we all know that Anya's feelings are very fragile. But, by now, you must know, my dear, that there is only one person Anya really loves──you. He often cheats emotionally , but it didn’t last long. He only has you in his heart, even if he doesn’t behave well, it doesn’t affect his feelings for you.” Kai Ruolin said: “I always think so.”

"Believe me, Caroline," I said, "that's just the way it is." She said, "But I'm a little scared this time, Meredith, that girl is...too serious. She's so young...so eager. I have a feeling this time—he's really in love with her." .” I said, "But as you said, she's too young and too serious, and this will protect her. Generally speaking, women are only the objects of pursuit of Anya, but this girl is different." "Yeah, my concern is that this time will be different," she said. She added: "You know, I'm thirty-four years old, Meredith, and we've been married for ten years. Outwardly, I'm certainly not as good as Elsa's child, and I know it myself."

I said: "Caroline, you know Anya really loves you." She said: "Who can be so sure of any man?" Then she smiled sadly and said. "I'm a straight woman. Meredith, I'd like to take an ax to that girl." I told her that maybe the child didn't understand what she was doing at all, but just loved and admired Anya very much, maybe she didn't expect Anya to fall in love with her at all. Caroline just said, "My dear Meredy!" and then turned the conversation to the garden, and I hope she'll stop worrying about it. A little while later, Elsa came back to London and Anya was away for a few weeks, and I really completely forgot about it.But then I heard that Elsa went back to Oldbury again so Anya could finish the painting.

This news made me feel a little uneasy, but when I saw Caroline, she didn't seem to want to talk, she looked exactly as usual--not worried or disturbed at all.I think probably everything is fine. So when I found out what was going on, it was a big surprise. I told you about my conversation with Corell and Aisha. I didn't have a chance to talk with Kai Ruolin in detail, I only exchanged a few words, and I have already told you that. To this day, I can still see her face, the big black eyes, very tense, and I can hear her say, "It's all over..." I really can't describe the despair she expressed in those few words.What she said was indeed the truth, and when Anya left her, everything was over for her, and I think that's why she took the methamphetamine.It was a form of relief, and it was because I explained to them the efficacy of the drug phenadamine and read to them a passage about dying gracefully.

My current thinking is that she took the methamphetamine and was going to take her own life when Anya left her.He might have seen her steal it—maybe he found out later that she had it. The discovery came as a shock to him, and he was terrified that he had made her think that way.But despite his fear and regret, he still couldn't give up Elsa.I can understand his feelings. Once any man falls in love with Di, he will feel inseparable. He couldn't live without Aisha, and knew that Kai Ruolin couldn't live without him, so he decided to take the only way—suicide. I think this attitude is also in line with his personality.Painting is the most important thing in his life, so he held the paintbrush in his hand when he died, and the last thing he saw was the face of the girl he loved so much, maybe he felt that only he died, best for her...

I admit that there are several difficulties with this theory.For example, why is there only Kai Ruolin's fingerprints on the empty methaline bottle? I think it may be that after Anya touched it, the fingerprints on the bottle were all mixed up, or were wiped off by the cushion placed next to the bottle. After he died , Kai Ruolin touched to see if anyone touched it.Of course it's possible, isn't it?As for the fingerprints on the beer bottles, the defendant's lawyers believe that after a person takes poison, the hands may indeed be twisted into a completely unnatural position.

There's one more thing that needs to be explained - the attitude of Caroline herself during the trial, but I think I've figured out why now, in fact, it was she who took the poison from my lab and she was determined to end herself However, she did not expect her husband to commit suicide out of necessity. She felt that "although I did not kill Boren, Boren died because of me", so she thought she was the murderer. I think these are all possible things, if so, you can tell these facts to little Kara, let her know that her mother's only fault is trying to end her life, then she can get married in peace, these are not What you want me to write, I have already told you in detail what happened the day before Anya's death, let me talk about the day of the tragedy.

I didn't sleep well all night, worrying about my friend's unfortunate turn.I lay in bed for a long time, trying to save his marriage crisis, until around six o'clock in the morning, I fell asleep.So I woke up dizzy at around 9:30. After a while, I seemed to hear movement in the room downstairs, which was my laboratory. In fact, those noises were probably made by the cat, as I found that the window sash was pulled up a bit, just big enough to let the cat through.Just because I heard a sound, I walked into the laboratory to have a look. I walked into the lab as soon as I got dressed, for a while.I noticed that the bottles of methamphetamine were not neatly placed on the shelf, and when I took a closer look, the solution in the bottle was missing more than half, and I was terrified.The bottle was almost full yesterday, but now it is almost empty. I closed the window, locked it, went out, and locked the door.I feel very restless and sleepy, and whenever I am frightened, my thoughts are very slow. I was uneasy at first, then worried, and finally wary.I asked family members, and they all denied being in the lab.So I thought about it again, and finally decided to call my brother and ask his opinion. Philip's mind is more flexible than mine. He saw the seriousness of the matter and asked me to discuss it immediately. On my way out I met Miss William, who was looking for a skipper.I promise I didn't see Angela, and she didn't come to my house. I think Miss William probably noticed something was wrong and looked at me strangely.But I didn't want to tell her what happened.I asked her to look in the garden, as Angela liked an apple tree there.I myself hastened to the shore, and rowed quickly to Oldbury. My brother is already waiting for me over there. We walked to the house along the same path you and I walked that day.You know that when you pass under the walls of Batley Park you cannot avoid hearing conversations inside. Since Caroline and Anya were upset, I didn't pay much attention to what they were saying. Of course I didn't hear Caroline say anything threatening.What they were talking about was about Angela. I guess Kai Ruolin asked Anya not to send Angela to school.Anya was very persistent, and angrily said loudly that everything was decided, and he would pay attention to packing her luggage. When we were almost at the gate of Batley Park, the gate opened and Caroline came out. She looked disturbed, smiled at me absently, and said they had just been discussing Angela.At this time, Aisha came over from the path. Anya obviously wanted to continue painting and didn't want to be disturbed, so we went up. Philip blamed himself very much afterwards for not taking immediate action, but I disagree with him.We have no right to assume that anyone wants to murder someone else (and I now believe that nobody wants to murder anyone).We should obviously take some action, but I still think it's best to discuss it carefully first.We have to do the right thing - and once or twice I wonder if I've made a mistake.Was that bottle really full the day before?I'm not one to be absolutely sure about things.Memory can often deceive people. For example, you sometimes think that something is in one place, only to find out that it is in a completely different place.The more I tried to recall exactly how much solution was in the bottle the previous afternoon, the less sure I was.This irritated Philip, and he began to lose patience with me. We couldn't continue talking for a while, so we agreed to wait until after lunch. (With all due respect, I can stop at Oldbury for lunch whenever I like.) Later, Angela and Caroline brought us beers, and I asked Angela why she was skipping class, and told her that Miss William was at Looking around for her, she says she's off to sunbath, and why spend time mending that horrible old dress when she's going to be packing so many new clothes for school? Since I had no chance of speaking with Philip again alone, I was anxious to have some meditation by myself, so I walked alone to the path leading to Batley Park.I showed you a clearing in the bush above Batley Park with an old chair in it. I just sat there smoking a cigarette and meditating, occasionally watching Elsa pose for Anya's painting. In my memory, she was always the same as that day, with a very upright posture, wearing a yellow shirt and dark blue trousers, and a red coat over her shoulders to keep warm. Her face was full of lightness, she was full of life, health and vitality, and she talked about future plans in a cheerful voice. It sounds like I'm spying on them, but I'm not.Elsa can see me clearly and both she and Anya know where I am.She also waved to me, saying that Anya was so energetic that morning, and she didn't let her rest at all. Her whole body ached like hell, and she was about to go numb. Anya yelled that she was not as serious as him, and his whole body was stiff—muscle rheumatism.Elsa taunts him: "Poor old man!" He says she's about to take in a useless cripple. You know, I'm amazed that they're making other people suffer so much and yet I can talk about their future as if nothing had happened, but I can't argue with her.She's so young, so confident, so loving, and she doesn't really know what she's doing.She doesn't know what suffering is, she just childishly believes that Kai Ruolin will be fine, and she will soon forget about it.She couldn't see anything, she only wanted Anya to be happy with herself.He said my ideas were too trite.She had no qualms, no unease--no pity, but who would expect sympathy from a young man in full bloom?Only older, wiser people have it. Of course, they didn’t talk much, and the painter didn’t want to chat with people when he was painting. Maybe Elsa would say a word every ten minutes or so, and Anya would answer casually. Once she said: “I think you are interested in Spanish Good idea, we should go there first, you must take me to the bullfight, I think it will be awesome. But I hope the bull kills the man, not the man kills the bull. I can understand the Roman women see How a man feels when he dies. Men are nothing, animals are." I felt like a beast herself—young, primitive, devoid of human pathos and skeptical wisdom.I believe Elsa doesn't know "thinking" yet - she only knows "gut feeling".But she was very alive - more alive than anyone I've ever known.... that was the last time I saw her active and confident - as if on top of the world. The lunch bell rang and I got up and walked down the path to the Batley Park gate, where Elsa and I left together.Stepping from the shady bushes into the bright sunlight, I could barely see for a moment, Anya leaned back in her chair, her hands hanging down.He was gazing at the painting, as I had seen him so often, so how could it possibly have occurred to him that the poison had set in and stiffened his limbs? He's very disease averse and never admits he has any disease, I'm sure he must feel like he's being overexposed to the sun because the symptoms are pretty much the same.But he would never complain. Elsa says: "He won't go to lunch." I thought he was very smart, so I said, "Then see you later." He moved his eyes from the painting to me, and there was something in his eyes that… How should I put it... as if resentful, she just looked at me with resentment. Of course I didn't understand at the time—because whenever he didn't draw well, he often seemed like he was going to kill someone.I thought that was the case, and he also made a sound like a grunt. Elsa and I didn't see anything wrong with him, thought it was just an artist's tendency to be moody. So we left him alone, and she and I walked back into the house, talking and laughing. If only she knew she would never see Anya alive again, poor child... oh well, thank God she didn't know, and could laugh a little longer. At lunchtime, Caroline was normal—just a little distracted, nothing else.Doesn't that prove that she had nothing to do with Anya's death?She can't be that good at acting. She found him as she went down with the governess after lunch.I met Miss William coming back, and she told me to call the doctor, and then went back to Caroline. The poor child - I mean Elsa - was crazy and sad like a child, and couldn't believe that fate could do such a cruel thing to them. Caroline was quite calm, yes, she was quite calm.Of course, she can control herself better than Aisha. She didn't mean to regret at all, but said that he must have committed suicide. We couldn't believe it. Aisha cried and pointed at her nose and called her a murderer. Of course, she may have thought that others would doubt her, yes, that's why her attitude is that way. Philip was convinced that she must have killed him. The governess was very helpful, telling Elsa to lie down and giving her a tranquilizer.When the police came, she took Angela away again.Yes, that woman is really bold. The whole thing was like a nightmare, the police searched the house and asked some questions. Then there are reporters, flying around like flies, snapping cameras and interviewing family members. like a nightmare... After all these years, it's still a nightmare.After you tell little Carla the truth; may God help us to forget it and never think about it again. No matter how improbable it seemed on the surface—Anja must have committed suicide.