was something menacing in her voice as she said:
âWhatâs all this?â
Elinor said:
âI donât know what you mean. Is she ill?â
Nurse Hopkins said:
âWhereâs the phone? Get hold of Dr. Lord as soon as you can.â
Elinor said:
âWhatâs the matter?â
âThe matter? The girlâs ill. Sheâs dying.â
Elinor recoiled a step.
âDying?â
Nurse Hopkins said:
âSheâs been poisonedâ¦.â
Her eyes, hard with suspicion, glared at Elinor.
One
H ercule Poirot, his egg-shaped head gently tilted to one side, his eyebrows raised inquiringly, his fingertips joined together, watched the young man who was striding so savagely up and down the room, his pleasant freckled face puckered and drawn.
Hercule Poirot said:
â Eh bien, my friend, what is all this?â
Peter Lord stopped dead in his pacing.
He said:
âM. Poirot. Youâre the only man in the world who can help me. Iâve heard Stillingfleet talk about you; heâs told me what you did in that Benedict Farley case. How every mortal soul thought it was suicide and you showed that it was murder.â
Hercule Poirot said:
âHave you, then, a case of suicide among your patients about which you are not satisfied?â
Peter Lord shook his head.
He sat down opposite Poirot.
He said:
âThereâs a young woman. Sheâs been arrested and sheâs going to be tried for murder! I want you to find evidence that will prove that she didnât do it!â
Poirotâs eyebrows rose a little higher. Then he assumed a discreet and confidential manner.
He said:
âYou and this young ladyâyou are affiancedâyes? You are in love with each other?â
Peter Lord laughedâa sharp, bitter laugh.
He said:
âNo, itâs not like that! She has the bad taste to prefer a long-nosed supercilious ass with a face like a melancholy horse! Stupid of her, but there it is!â
Poirot said:
âI see.â
Lord said bitterly:
âOh, yes, you see all right! No need to be so tactful about it. I fell for her straightaway. And because of that I donât want her hanged. See?â
Poirot said:
âWhat is the charge against her?â
âSheâs accused of murdering a girl called Mary Gerrard, by poisoning her with morphine hydrochloride. Youâve probably read the account of the inquest in the papers.â
Poirot said:
âAnd the motive?â
âJealousy!â
âAnd in your opinion she didnât do it?â
âNo, of course not.â
Hercule Poirot looked at him thoughtfully for a moment or two, then he said:
âWhat is it exactly that you want me to do? To investigate this matter?â
âI want you to get her off.â
âI am not a defending counsel, mon cher. â
âIâll put it more clearly: I want you to find evidence that will enable her counsel to get her off. â
Hercule Poirot said:
âYou put this a little curiously.â
Peter Lord said:
âBecause I donât wrap it up, you mean? It seems simple enough to me. I want this girl acquitted. I think you are the only man who can do it!â
âYou wish me to look into the facts? To find out the truth? To discover what really happened?â
âI want you to find any facts that will tell in her favour.â
Hercule Poirot, with care and precision, lighted a very tiny cigarette. He said:
âBut is it not a little unethical what you say there? To arrive at the truth, yes, that always interests me. But the truth is a two-edged weapon. Supposing that I find facts against the lady? Do you demand that I suppress them?â
Peter Lord stood up. He was very white. He said:
âThatâs impossible! Nothing that you could find could be more against her than the facts are already! Theyâre utterly and completely damning! Thereâs any amount of evidence against herblack and plain for
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