Cards on the Table - Agatha Christie [65]
He shook his head.
‘And that, madame, is not your type of crime at all. If you killed Mr Shaitana, it should have been a premeditated crime.’
‘I see.’ Her hand waved softly to and fro, keeping the heat of the fire from her face. ‘And, of course, it wasn’t a premeditated crime, so I couldn’t have killed him—eh, M. Poirot?’
Poirot bowed.
‘That is right, madame.’
‘And yet—’ She leaned forward, her waving hand stopped. ‘I did kill Shaitana, M. Poirot…’
Chapter 26
The Truth
There was a pause—a very long pause.
The room was growing dark. The firelight leaped and flickered.
Mrs Lorrimer and Hercule Poirot looked not at each other, but at the fire. It was as though time was momentarily in abeyance.
Then Hercule Poirot sighed and stirred.
‘So it was that—all the time…Why did you kill him, madame?’
‘I think you know why, M. Poirot.’
‘Because he knew something about you—something that had happened long ago?’
‘Yes.’
‘And that something was—another death, madame?’
She bowed her head.
Poirot said gently:
‘Why did you tell me? What made you send for me today?’
‘You told me once that I should do so some day.’
‘Yes—that is, I hoped…I knew, madame, that there was only one way of learning the truth as far as you were concerned—and that was by your own free will. If you did not choose to speak, you would not do so, and you would never give yourself away. But there was a chance—that you yourself might wish to speak.’
Mrs Lorrimer nodded.
‘It was clever of you to foresee that—the weariness—the loneliness—’
Her voice died away.
Poirot looked at her curiously.
‘So it has been like that? Yes, I can understand it might be…’
‘Alone—quite alone,’ said Mrs Lorrimer. ‘No one knows what that means unless they have lived, as I have lived, with the knowledge of what one has done.’
Poirot said gently:
‘Is it an impertinence, madame, or may I be permitted to offer my sympathy?’
She bent her head a little.
‘Thank you, M. Poirot.’
There was another pause, then Poirot said, speaking in a slightly brisker tone:
‘Am I to understand, madame, that you took the words Mr Shaitana spoke at dinner as a direct menace aimed at you?’
She nodded.
‘I realized at once that he was speaking so that one person should understand him. That person was myself. The reference to a woman’s weapon being poison was meant for me. He knew. I had suspected it once before. He had brought the conversation round to a certain famous trial, and I saw his eyes watching me. There was a kind of uncanny knowledge in them. But, of course, that night I was quite sure.’
‘And you were sure, too, of his future intentions?’
Mrs Lorrimer said drily:
‘It was hardly likely that the presence of Superintendent Battle and yourself was an accident. I took it that Shaitana was going to advertise his own cleverness by pointing out to you both that he had discovered something that no one else had suspected.’
‘How soon did you make up your mind to act, madame?’
Mrs Lorrimer hesitated a little.
‘It is difficult to remember exactly when the idea came into my mind,’ she said. ‘I had noticed the dagger before going into dinner. When we returned to the drawing-room I picked it up and slipped it into my sleeve. No one saw me do it. I made sure of that.’
‘It would be dexterously done, I have no doubt, madame.’
‘I made up my mind then exactly what I was going to do. I had only to carry it out. It was risky, perhaps, but I considered that it was worth trying.’
‘That is your coolness, your successful weighing of chances, coming into play. Yes, I see that.’
‘We started to play bridge,’ continued Mrs Lorrimer. Her voice cool and unemotional. ‘At last an opportunity arose. I was dummy. I strolled across the room to the fireplace. Shaitana