‘What does that matter? Arsenic would put poor Emily out of the way just as well as strychnine. If I’m convinced he did it, it doesn’t matter a jot to me how he did it.’
‘Exactly. If you are convinced he did it,’ said Poirot quietly. ‘I will put my question in another form. Did you ever in your heart of hearts believe that Mrs Inglethorp was poisoned by her husband?’
‘Good heavens!’ cried Miss Howard. ‘Haven’t I always told you the man is a villian? Haven’t I always told you he would murder her in her bed? Haven’t I always hated him like poison?’
‘Exactly,’ said Poirot. ‘That bears out my little idea entirely.’
‘What little idea?’
‘Miss Howard, do you remember a conversation that took place on the day of my friend’s arrival here? He repeated it to me, and there is a sentence of yours that has impressed me very much. Do you remember affirming that if a crime had been committed, and anyone you loved had been murdered, you felt certain that you would know by instinct who the criminal was, even if you were quite unable to prove it?’
‘Yes, I remember saying that. I believe it, too. I suppose you think it nonsense?’
‘Not at all.’
‘And yet you will pay no attention to my instinct against Alfred Inglethorp?’
‘No,’ said Poirot curtly. ‘Because your instinct is not against Mr Inglethorp.’
‘What?’
‘No. You wish to believe he committed the crime. You believe him capable of committing it. But your instinct tells you he did not commit it. It tells you more—shall I go on?’
She was staring at him, fascinated, and made a slight affirmative movement of the hand.
‘Shall I tell you why you have been so vehement against Mr Inglethorp? It is because you have been trying to believe what you wish to believe. It is because you are trying to drown and stifle your instinct, which tells you another name –’
‘No, no, no!’ cried Miss Howard, wildly, flinging up her hands. ‘Don’t say it! Oh, don’t say it! It isn’t true! It can’t be true. I don’t know what put such a wild—such a dreadful—idea into my head!’
‘I am right, am I not?’ asked Poirot.
‘Yes, yes; you must be a wizard to have guessed. But it can’t be so—it’s so monstrous, too impossible. It must be Alfred Inglethorp.’
Poirot shook his head gravely.
‘Don’t ask me about it,’ continued Miss Howard, ‘because I shan’t tell you. I won’t admit it, even to myself. I must be mad to think of such a thing.’
Poirot nodded, as if satisfied.
‘I will ask you nothing. It is enough for me that it is as I thought. And I—I, too, have an instinct. We are working together towards a common end.’
‘Don’t ask me to help you, because I won’t. I wouldn’t lift a finger to—to –’ She faltered.
‘You will help me in spite of yourself. I ask you nothing—but you will be my ally. You will not be able to help yourself. You will do the only thing that I want of you.’
‘And that is?’
‘You will watch!’
Evelyn Howard bowed her head.
‘Yes, I can’t help doing that. I am always watching—always hoping I shall be proved wrong.’
‘If we are wrong, well and good,’ said Poirot. ‘No one will be more pleased than I shall. But, if we are right? If we are right, Miss Howard, on whose side are you then?’
‘I don’t know, I don’t know –’
‘Come now.’
‘It could be hushed up.’
‘There must be no hushing up.’
‘But Emily herself –’ She broke off.
‘Miss Howard,’ said Poirot gravely, ‘this is unworthy of you.’
Suddenly she took her face from her hands.
‘Yes,’ she said quietly, ‘that was not Evelyn Howard who spoke!’ She flung her head up proudly. ‘This is Evelyn Howard! And she is on the side of Justice! Let the cost be what it may.’ And with these words, she walked firmly out of the room.
‘There,’ said Poirot, looking after her, ‘goes a very valuable ally. That woman, Hastings, has got brains as well as a heart.’
I did not reply.
‘Instinct is a marvellous thing,’ mused Poirot. ‘It can neither be explained nor ignored.’
‘You and Miss Howard seem to know what you are talking about,’ I observed coldly. ‘Perhaps you don’t realize that I am still in the dark.’
‘Really? Is that so, mon ami?’
‘Yes. Enlighten me, will you?’
Poirot studied me attentively for a moment or two. Then, to my intense surprise, he shook his head decidedly.
‘No, my friend.’
‘Oh, look here, why not?’
‘Two is enough for a secret.’
‘Well, I think it is very unfair to keep back facts from me.’
‘I am not keeping back facts. Every fact that I know is in your possession. You can draw your own deductions from them. This time it is a question of ideas.’
‘Still, it would be interesting to know.’
Poirot looked at me very earnestly, and again shook his head.
‘You see,’ he said sadly, ‘you have no instincts.’
‘It was intelligence you were requiring just now,’ I pointed out.
‘The two often go together,’ said Poirot enigmatically.
The remark seemed so utterly irrelevant that I did not even take the trouble to answer it. But I decided that if I made any interesting and important discoveries —as no doubt I should—I would keep them to myself, and surprise Poirot with the ultimate result.
There are times when it is one’s duty to assert oneself.
I had no opportunity as yet of passing on Poirot’s message to Lawrence. But now, as I strolled out on the lawn, still nursing a grudge against my friend’s high-handedness, I saw Lawrence on the croquet lawn, aimlessly knocking a couple of very ancient balls about, with a still more ancient mallet.
It struck me that it would be a good opportunity to deliver my message. Otherwise, Poirot himself might relieve me of it. It was true that I did not quite gather its purport, but I flattered myself that by Lawrence’s reply, and perhaps a little skilful cross-examination on my part, I should soon perceive its significance. Accordingly I accosted him.
‘I’ve been looking for you,’ I remarked untruthfully.
‘Have you?’
‘Yes. The truth is, I’ve got a message for you—from Poirot.’
‘Yes?’
‘He told me to wait until I was alone with you,’ I said, dropping my voice significantly, and watching him intently out of the corner of my eye.