Sad cypress - Agatha Christie [50]
Peter Lord replied scornfully:
‘He wouldn’t have the guts!’
Poirot murmured:
‘I wonder. In some ways, mon cher, you underestimate that young man.’
‘Oh, he’s clever and intellectual and all that, I dare say.’
‘Exactly,’ said Poirot. ‘And he has charm, too…Yes, I felt that.’
‘Did you? I never have!’
Then Peter Lord said earnestly:
‘Look here, Poirot, isn’t there anything?’
Poirot said:
‘They are not fortunate so far, my investigations! They lead always back to the same place. No one stood to gain by Mary Gerrard’s death. No one hated Mary Gerrard – except Elinor Carlisle. There is only one question that we might perhaps ask ourselves. We might say, perhaps: Did anyone hate Elinor Carlisle?’
Slowly Dr Lord shook his head.
‘Not that I know of…You mean – that someone might have framed her for the crime?’
Poirot nodded. He said:
‘It is a very far-fetched speculation, that, and there is nothing to support it…except, perhaps, the very completeness of the case against her.’
He told the other of the anonymous letter.
‘You see,’ he said, ‘that makes it possible to outline a very strong case against her. She was warned that she might be completely cut out of her aunt’s will – that this girl, a stranger, might get all the money. So, when her aunt in her halting speech was asking for a lawyer, Elinor took no chances, and saw to it that the old lady should die that night!’
Peter Lord cried:
‘What about Roderick Welman? He stood to lose, too!’
Poirot shook his head.
‘No, it was to his advantage that the old lady should make a will. If she died intestate, he got nothing, remember. Elinor was the next of kin.’
Lord said:
‘But he was going to marry Elinor!’
Poirot said, ‘True. But remember that immediately afterwards the engagement was broken off – that he showed her clearly that he wished to be released from it.’
Peter Lord groaned and held his head. He said:
‘It comes back to her, then. Every time!’
‘Yes. Unless…’
He was silent for a minute. Then he said:
‘There is something…’
‘Yes?’
‘Something – some little piece of the puzzle that is missing. It is something – of that I am certain – that concerns Mary Gerrard. My friend, you hear a certain amount of gossip, of scandal, down here. Have you ever heard anything against her?’
‘Against Mary Gerrard? Her character, you mean?’
‘Anything. Some bygone story about her. Some indiscretion on her part. A hint of scandal. A doubt of her honesty. A malicious rumour concerning her. Anything – anything at all – but something that definitely is damaging to her…’
Peter Lord said slowly:
‘I hope you’re not going to suggest that line…Trying to rake up things about a harmless young woman who’s dead and can’t defend herself…And, anyway, I don’t believe you can do it!’
‘She was like the female Sir Galahad – a blameless life?’
‘As far as I know, she was. I never heard anything else.’
Poirot said gently:
‘You must not think, my friend, that I would stir the mud where no mud is…No, no, it is not like that at all. But the good Nurse Hopkins is not an adept at hiding her feelings. She was fond of Mary, and there is something about Mary she does not want known; that is to say, there is something against Mary that she is afraid I will find out. She does not think that it has any bearing on the crime. But, then, she is convinced that the crime was committed by Elinor Carlisle, and clearly this fact, whatever it is, has nothing to do with Elinor. But, you see, my friend, it is imperative that I should know everything. For it may be that there is a wrong done by Mary to some third person, and in that case, that third person might have a motive for desiring her death.’
Peter Lord said:
‘But surely, in that case, Nurse Hopkins would realize that, too.’
Poirot said:
‘Nurse Hopkins is quite an intelligent woman within her limitations, but her intellect is hardly the equal of mine. She might not see, but Hercule Poirot would!’
Peter Lord said, shaking his head:
‘I’m sorry. I don’t know anything.’
Poirot said thoughtfully: