Dumb Witness - Agatha Christie [97]
“It is hardly to be wondered at that lying there and brooding over the occurrence, Miss Arundell came definitely to the conclusion that it was Charles Arundell who had made an attempt upon her life.
“The sequence of events is perfectly clear. The conversation with Charles. The accident. The letter written to me in great distress of mind. The letter to the lawyer. On the following Tuesday, the 21st, Mr. Purvis brings the will and she signs it.
“Charles and Theresa Arundell come down the following weekend and Miss Arundell at once takes the necessary steps to safeguard herself. She tells Charles about the will. She not only tells him but she actually shows it to him! That, to my mind, is absolutely conclusive. She is making it quite clear to a would-be murderer that murder would bring him nothing whatever!
“She probably thought that Charles would pass on that information to his sister. But he did not do so. Why? I fancy that he had a very good reason—he felt guilty! He believed that it was his doing that the will had been made. But why did he feel guilty? Because he had really attempted murder? Or merely because he had helped himself to a small sum of ready cash? Either the serious crime or the petty one might account for his reluctance. He said nothing, hoping that his aunt would relent and change her mind.
“As far as Miss Arundell’s state of mind was concerned I felt that I had reconstructed events with a fair amount of correctness. I had next to make up my mind if her suspicions were, in actual fact, justified.
“Just as she had done, I realized that my suspicions were limited to a narrow circle—seven people to be exact. Charles and Theresa Arundell, Dr. Tanios and Mrs. Tanios. The two servants, Miss Lawson. There was an eighth person who had to be taken into account—namely, Dr. Donaldson, who dined there that night, but I did not learn of his presence until later.
“These seven persons that I was considering fell easily into two categories. Six of them stood to benefit in a greater or lesser degree by Miss Arundell’s death. If any one of those six had committed the crime the reason was probably a plain matter of gain. The second category contained one person only—Miss Lawson. Miss Lawson did not stand to gain by Miss Arundell’s death, but as a result of the accident, she did benefit considerably later!
“That meant that if Miss Lawson staged the so-called accident—”
“I never did anything of the kind!” Miss Lawson interrupted. “It’s disgraceful! Standing up there and saying such things!”
“A little patience, mademoiselle. And be kind enough not to interrupt,” said Poirot.
Miss Lawson tossed her head angrily.
“I insist on making my protest! Disgraceful, that’s what it is! Disgraceful!”
Poirot went on unheeding.
“I was saying that if Miss Lawson staged that accident she did so for an entirely different reason—that is, she engineered it so that Miss Arundell would naturally suspect her own family and become alienated from them. That was a possibility! I searched to see if there were any confirmation or otherwise and I unearthed one very definite fact. If Miss Lawson wanted Miss Arundell to suspect her own family, she would have stressed the fact of the dog, Bob, being out that night. But on the contrary Miss Lawson took the utmost pains to prevent Miss Arundell hearing of that. Therefore, I argued, Miss Lawson must be innocent.”
Miss Lawson said sharply:
“I should hope so!”
“I next considered the problem of Miss Arundell’s death. If one attempt to murder a person is made, a second attempt usually follows. It seemed to me significant that within a fortnight of the first attempt Miss Arundell should have died. I began to make inquiries.
“Dr. Grainger did not seem to think there was anything unusual about his patient’s death. That was a little damping to