Blake. Very awkward for them.’
‘Their accounts of the scene agree?’
‘Near enough—you never got two witnesses to remember a thing exactly alike. You know that just as well as I do, M. Poirot.’
Poirot nodded. He said thoughtfully:
‘Yes, it will be interesting to see—’ He stopped with the sentence unfinished.
Hale went on: ‘I instituted a search of the house. In Mrs Crale’s bedroom I found in a bottom drawer, tucked away underneath some winter stockings, a small bottle labelled jasmine scent. It was empty. I finger-printed it. The only prints on it were those of Mrs Crale. On analysis it was found to contain faint traces of oil of jasmine, and a strong solution of coniine hydrobromide.
‘I cautioned Mrs Crale and showed her the bottle. She replied readily. She had, she said, been in a very unhappy state of mind. After listening to Mr Meredith Blake’s description of the drug she had slipped back to the laboratory, had emptied out a bottle of jasmine scent which was in her bag and had filled the bottle up with coniine solution. I asked her why she had done this and she said: “I don’t want to speak of certain things more than I can help, but I had received a bad shock. My husband was proposing to leave me for another woman. If that was so, I didn’t want to live. That is why I took it.” ’
Hale paused.
Poirot said: ‘After all—it is likely enough.’
‘Perhaps, M. Poirot. But it doesn’t square with what she was overheard to say. And then there was a further scene on the following morning. Mr Philip Blake overheard a portion of it. Miss Greer overheard a different portion of it. It took place in the library between Mr and Mrs Crale. Mr Blake was in the hall and caught a fragment or two. Miss Greer was sitting outside near the open library window and heard a good deal more.’
‘And what did they hear?’
‘Mr Blake heard Mrs Crale say: “You and your women. I’d like to kill you. Some day I will kill you.” ’
‘No mention of suicide?’
‘Exactly. None at all. No words like “If you do this thing, I’ll kill myself.” Miss Greer’s evidence was much the same. According to her, Mr Crale said: “Do try and be reasonable about this, Caroline. I’m fond of you and will always wish you well—you and the child. But I’m going to marry Elsa. We’ve always agreed to leave each other free.” Mrs Crale answered to that: “Very well, don’t say I haven’t warned you.” He said: “What do you mean?” And she said: “I mean that I love you and I’m not going to lose you. I’d rather kill you than let you go to that girl.” ’
Poirot made a slight gesture.
‘It occurs to me,’ he murmured, ‘that Miss Greer was singularly unwise to raise this issue? Mrs Crale could easily have refused her husband a divorce.’
‘We had some evidence bearing on that point,’ said Hale. ‘Mrs Crale, it seems, confided partly in Mr Meredith Blake. He was an old and trusted friend. He was very distressed and managed to get a word with Mr Crale about it. This, I may say, was on the preceding afternoon. Mr Blake remonstrated delicately with his friend, said how distressed he would be if the marriage between Mr and Mrs Crale was to break up so disastrously. He also stressed the point that Miss Greer was a very young girl and that it was a very serious thing to drag a young girl through the divorce court. To this Mr Crale replied, with a chuckle (callous sort of brute he must have been): “That isn’t Elsa’s idea at all. She isn’t going to appear. We shall fix it up in the usual way.” ’
Poirot said: ‘Therefore even more imprudent of Miss Greer to have broken out the way she did.’
Superintendent Hale said:
‘Oh, you know what women are! Have to get at each other’s throats. It must have been a difficult situation anyhow. I can’t understand Mr Crale allowing it to happen. According to Mr Meredith Blake he wanted to finish his picture. Does that make sense to you?’
‘Yes, my friend, I think it does.’
‘It doesn’t to me. The man was asking for trouble!’
‘He was probaby seriously annoyed with his young woman for breaking out the way she did.’
‘Oh, he was. Meredith Blake said so. If he had to finish the picture I don’t see why he couldn’t have taken some photographs and worked from them. I know a chap—does watercolours of places—he does that.’
Poirot shook his head.
‘No—I can understand Crale the artist. You must realize, my friend, that at that moment, probably, his picture was all that mattered to Crale. However much he wanted to marry the girl, the picture came first. That’s why he hoped to get through her visit without its coming to an open issue. The girl, of course, didn’t see it that way. With women, love always comes first.’
‘Don’t I know it?’ said Superintendent Hale with feeling.
‘Men,’ continued Poirot, ‘and especially artists—are different.’
‘Art!’ said the Superintendent with scorn. ‘All this talk about Art! I never have understood it and I never shall! You should have seen that picture Crale was painting. All lopsided. He’d made the girl look as though she’d got toothache, and the battlements were all cock-eyed. Unpleasant looking, the whole thing. I couldn’t get it out of my mind for a long time afterwards. I even dreamt about it. And what’s more it affected my eyesight—I began to see battlements and walls and things all out of drawing. Yes, and women too!’
Poirot smiled. He said:
‘Although you do not know it, you are paying a tribute to the greatness of Amyas Crale’s art.’
‘Nonsense. Why can’t a painter paint something nice and cheerful to look at? Why go out of your way to look for ugliness?’
‘Some of us, mon cher, see beauty in curious places.’
‘The girl was a good looker, all right,’ said Hale. ‘Lots of make-up and next to no clothes on. It isn’t decent the way these girls go about. And that was sixteen years ago, mind you. Nowadays one wouldn’t think anything of it. But then—well, it shocked me. Trousers and one of those canvas shirts, open at the neck—and not another thing, I should say!’
‘You seem to remember these points very well,’ murmured Poirot slyly.
Superintendent Hale blushed. ‘I’m just passing on the impression I got,’ he said austerely.
‘Quite—quite,’ said Poirot soothingly. He went on:
‘So it would seem that the principal witnesses against Mrs Crale were Philip Blake and Elsa Greer?’
‘Yes. Vehement, they were, both of them. But the governess was called by the prosecution too, and what she said carried more weight than the other two. She was on Mrs Crale’s side entirely, you see. Up in arms for her. But she was an honest woman and gave her evidence truthfully without trying to minimize it in any way.’
‘And Meredith Blake?’
‘He
