Dumb Witness - Agatha Christie [101]
“She had at that time two objects, to detach herself and her children from Dr. Tanios and to obtain her share of the money. Then she would have what she wanted—a rich contented life in England with her children.
“As time went on she could no longer conceal her dislike for her husband. In fact, she did not try to. He, poor man, was seriously upset and distressed. Her actions must have seemed quite incomprehensible to him. Really, they were logical enough. She was playing the part of the terrorized woman. If I had suspicions—and she was fairly sure that that must be the case—she wished me to believe that her husband had committed the murder. And at any moment that second murder which I am convinced was already planned in her mind might occur. I knew that she had a lethal dose of chloral in her possession. I feared that she would stage a pretended suicide and confession on his part.
“And still I had no evidence against her! And then, when I was quite in despair, I got something at last! Miss Lawson told me that she had seen Theresa Arundell kneeling on the stairs on the night of Easter Monday. I soon discovered that Miss Lawson could not have seen Theresa at all clearly—not clearly enough to recognize her features. Yet she was quite positive in her identification. On being pressed she mentioned a brooch with Theresa’s initials—T.A.
“On my request Miss Theresa Arundell showed me the brooch in question. At the same time she absolutely denied having been on the stairs at the time stated. At first I fancied someone else had borrowed her brooch, but when I looked at the brooch in the glass the truth leaped at me. Miss Lawson waking up had seen a dim figure with the initials T.A. flashing in the light. She had leapt to the conclusion it was Theresa.
“But if in the glass she had seen the initials T.A.—then the real initials must have been A.T. since the glass naturally reversed the order.
“Of course! Mrs. Tanios’ mother was Arabella Arundell. Bella is only a contraction. A.T. stood for Arabella Tanios. There was nothing odd in Mrs. Tanios possessing a similar type of brooch. It had been exclusive last Christmas but by the spring they were all the rage, and I had already observed that Mrs. Tanios copied her cousin Theresa’s hats and clothes as far as she was able with her limited means.
“In my own mind, at any rate, my case was proved.
“Now—what was I to do? Obtain a Home Office order for the exhumation of the body? That could doubtless be managed. I might prove that Miss Arundell had been poisoned with phosphorus though there was a little doubt about that. The body had been buried two months, and I understand that there have been cases of phosphorus poisoning where no lesions have been found and where the postmortem appearances are very indecisive. Even then, could I connect Mrs. Tanios with the purchase or possession of phosphorus? Very doubtful, since she had probably obtained it abroad.
“At this juncture Mrs. Tanios took a decisive action. She left her husband, throwing herself on the pity of Miss Lawson. She also definitely accused her husband of the murder.
“Unless I acted I felt convinced that he would be her next victim. I took steps to isolate them one from the other on the pretext that it was for her safety. She could not very well contradict that. Really, it was his safety I had in mind. And then—and then—” He paused—a long pause. His face had gone rather white.
“But that was only a temporary measure. I had to make sure that the killer would kill no more. I had to assure the safety of the innocent.
“So I wrote out my construction of the case and gave it to Mrs. Tanios.”
There was a long silence.
Dr. Tanios cried out:
“Oh, my God, so that’s why she killed herself.”
Poirot said gently:
“Was it not the best way? She thought so. There were, you see, the children to consider.”
Dr. Tanios buried his face in his hands.
Poirot came forward and laid a hand on his shoulder.
“It had to be. Believe me it was necessary. There would have been more deaths. First yours—then possibly, under certain circumstances, Miss