Death in the Clouds hp-12 Page 19

  "At this point Mr Clancy came forward and made the statement that it was a thorn shot from a blowpipe after the manner of some native tribe. Later, as you all know, the blowpipe itself was discovered.

  "By the time we reached Croydon, several ideas were working in my mind. Once I was definitely on the firm ground, my brain began to work once more with its normal brilliance."

  "Go it, M. Poirot," said Japp, with a grin. "Don't have any false modesty."

  Poirot threw him a look and went on:

  "One idea presented itself very strongly to me – as it did to everyone else – and that was the audacity of a crime being committed in such a manner, and the astonishing fact that nobody noticed its being done!

  "There were two other points that interested me. One was the convenient presence of the wasp. The other was the discovery of the blowpipe. As I remarked after the inquest to my friend Japp, why on earth did the murderer not get rid of it by passing it out through the ventilating hole in the window? The thorn itself might be difficult to trace or identify, but a blowpipe which still retained a portion of its price label was a very different matter.

  "What was the solution? Obviously, that the murderer wanted the blowpipe to be found.

  "But why? Only one answer seemed logical. If a poisoned dart and a blowpipe were found, it would naturally be assumed that the murder had been committed by a thorn shot from a blowpipe. Therefore, in reality the murder had not been committed that way.

  "On the other hand, as medical evidence was to show, the cause of death was undoubtedly the poisoned thorn. I shut my eyes and asked myself: 'What is the surest and most reliable way of placing a poisoned thorn in the jugular vein?' And the answer came immediately: 'By hand.'

  "And that immediately threw light on the necessity for the finding of the blowpipe. The blowpipe inevitably conveyed the suggestion of distance. If my theory was right, the person who killed Madame Giselle was a person who went right up to her table and bent over her.

  "Was there such a person? Yes, there were two people. The two stewards. Either of them could go up to Madame Giselle, lean toward her, and nobody would notice anything unusual.

  "Was there anyone else?

  "Well, there was Mr Clancy. He was the only person in the car who had passed immediately by Madame Giselle's seat – and I remember that it was he who had first drawn attention to the blowpipe-and-thorn theory."

  Mr Clancy sprang to his feet.

  "I protest!" he cried. "I protest! This is an outrage!"

  "Sit down," said Poirot. "I have not finished yet. I have to show you all the steps by which I arrived at my conclusion.

  "I had now three persons as possible suspects. Mitchell, Davis and Mr Clancy. None of them at first sight appeared like murderers, but there was much investigation to be done.

  "I next turned my mind to the possibilities of the wasp. It was suggestive, that wasp. To begin with, no one had noticed it until about the time coffee was served. That in itself was rather curious. I constructed a certain theory of the crime. The murderer presented to the world two separate solutions of the tragedy. On the first or simplest, Madame Giselle was stung by a wasp and had succumbed to heart failure. The success of that solution depended on whether or not the murderer was in a position to retrieve the thorn. Japp and I agreed that that could be done easily enough – so long as no suspicion of foul play had arisen. There was the particular coloring of the silk which I had no doubt was deliberately substituted for the original cerise so as to simulate the appearance of a wasp.

  "Our murderer, then, approaches the victim's table, inserts the thorn and releases the wasp! The poison is so powerful that death would occurr almost immediately. If Giselle cried out, it would probably not be heard, owing to the noise of the plane. If it was just noticed, well, there was a wasp buzzing about to explain the cry. The poor woman had been stung.

  "That, as I say, was Plan No. 1. But supposing that, as actually happened, the poisoned thorn was discovered before the murderer could retrieve it. In that case, the fat is in the fire. The theory of natural death is impossible. Instead of getting rid of the blowpipe through the window, it is put in a place where it is bound to be discovered when the plane is searched. And at once it will be assumed that the blowpipe was the instrument of the crime. The proper atmosphere of distance will be created, and when the blowpipe is traced it will focus suspicion in a definite and prearranged direction.

  "I had now my theory of the crime, and I had three suspects, with a barely possible fourth – M. Jean Dupont who had outlined the Death-by-a-wasp-sting theory, and who was sitting on the gangway so near Giselle that he might just possibly have moved from his seat without being noticed. On the other hand, I did not really think he would have dared to take such a risk.

  "I concentrated on the problem of the wasp. If the murderer had brought the wasp onto the plane and released it at the psychological moment, he must have had something in the nature of a small box in which to keep it.

  "Hence my interest in the contents of the passengers pockets and hand luggage.

  "And here I came up against a totally unexpected development. I found what I was looking for – but, as it seemed to me, on the wrong person. There was an empty small-sized Bryant May's match box in Mr Norman Gale's pocket. But by everybody's evidence, Mr Gale had never passed down the gangway of the car. He had only visited the wash-room compartment and returned to his own seat.

  "Nevertheless, although it seems impossible, there was a method by which Mr Gale could have committed the crime – as the contents of his attaché case showed."

  "My attaché case?" said Norman Gale. He looked amused and puzzled. "Why, I don't even remember now what was in it."

  Poirot smiled at him amiably.

  "Wait a little minute. I will come to that. I am telling you my first ideas.

  "To proceed, I had four persons who could have done the crime – from the point of view of possibility. The two stewards, Clancy and Gale.

  "I now looked at the case from the opposite angle – that of motive; if a motive were to coincide with a possibility – well, I had my murderer! But alas, I could find nothing of the kind. My friend Japp has accused me of liking to make things difficult. On the contrary, I approached this question of motive with all the simplicity in the world. To whose benefit would it be if Madame Giselle were removed? Clearly, to her unknown daughter's benefit, since that unknown daughter would inherit a fortune. There were also certain persons who were in Madame Giselle's power – or shall we say, who might be in Giselle's power for aught we knew? That, then, was a task of elimination. Of the passengers in the plane I could only be certain of one who was undoubtedly mixed up with Giselle. That one was Lady Horbury.

  "In Lady Horbury's case the motive was clear. She had visited Giselle at her house in Paris the night before. She was desperate and she had a friend, a young actor, who might easily have impersonated the American who bought the blowpipe, and might also have bribed the clerk in Universal Air Lines to insure that Giselle traveled by the twelve o'clock service.

  "I had, as it were, a problem in two halves. I did not see how it was possible for Lady Horbury to commit the crime. And I could not see for what motive the stewards, Mr Clancy or Mr Gale should want to commit it.

  "Always, in the back of my mind, I considered the problem of Giselle's unknown daughter and heiress. Were any of my four suspects married, and if so, could one of the wives be this Anne Morisot? If her father was English, the girl might have been brought up in England. Mitchell's wife I soon dismissed – she was of good old Dorset country stock. Davis was courting a girl whose father and mother were alive. Mr Clancy was not married. Mr Gale was obviously head over ears in love with Miss Jane Grey.

  "I may say that I investigated the antecedents of Miss Grey very carefully, having learned from her in casual conversation that she had been brought up in an orphanage near Dublin. But I soon satisfied myself that Miss Grey was not Madame Giselle's daughter.

  "
I made out a table of results. The stewards had neither gained nor lost by Madame Giselle's death, except that Mitchell was obviously suffering from shock. Mr Clancy was planning a book on the subject by which he hoped to make money Mr Gale was fast losing his practice. Nothing very helpful there.

  "And yet, at that time I was convinced that Mr Gale was the murderer – there was the empty match box, the contents of his attaché case. Apparently he lost, not gained, by the death of Giselle. But those appearances might be false appearances.

  "I determined to cultivate his acquaintance. It is my experience that no one, in the course of conversation, can fail to give themselves away sooner or later. Everyone has an irresistible urge to talk about themselves.

  "I tried to gain Mr Gale's confidence. I pretended to confide in him, and I even enlisted his help. I persuaded him to aid me in the fake blackmailing of Lady Horbury. And it was then that he made his first mistake.

  "I had suggested a slight disguise. He arrived to play his part with a ridiculous and impossible outfit! The whole thing was a farce. No one, I felt sure, could play a part as badly as he was proposing to play one. What, then, was the reason for this? Because his knowledge of his own guilt made him chary of showing himself to be a good actor. When, however, I had adjusted his ridiculous make-up, his artistic skill showed itself. He played his part perfectly and Lady Horbury did not recognize him. I was convinced then that he could have disguised himself as an American in Paris and could also have played the necessary part in the 'Prometheus.'

  "By this time I was getting seriously worried about Mademoiselle Jane. Either she was in this business with him, or else she was entirely innocent; and in the latter case she was a victim. She might wake up one day to find herself married to a murderer.

  "With the object of preventing a precipitate marriage, I took Mademoiselle Jane to Paris as my secretary.

  "It was whilst we were there that the missing heiress appeared to claim her fortune. I was haunted by a resemblance that I could not place. I did place it in the end, but too late.

  "At first, the discovery that she had actually been in the plane and had lied about it seemed to overthrow all my theories. Here, overwhelmingly, was the guilty person.

  "But if she were guilty, she had an accomplice – the man who bought the blowpipe and bribed Jules Perrot.

  "Who was that man? Was it conceivably her husband?

  "And then, suddenly, I saw the true solution. True, that is, if one point could be verified.

  "For my solution to be correct, Anne Morisot ought not to have been on the plane.

  "I rang up Lady Horbury and got my answer. The maid Madeleine, traveled in the plane by a last-minute whim of her mistress."

  He stopped.

  Mr Clancy said:

  "Ahem – but I'm afraid I'm not quite clear."

  "When did you stop pitching on me as the murderer?" asked Norman.

  Poirot wheeled round on him.

  "I never stopped. You are the murderer… Wait. I will tell you everything. For the last week Japp and I have been busy. It is true that you became a dentist to please your uncle, John Gale. You took his name when you came into partnership with him, but you were his sister's son, not his brother's. Your real name is Richards. It was as Richards that you met the girl Anne Morisot at Nice last winter when she was there with her mistress. The story she told us was true as the facts of her childhood, but the later part was edited carefully by you. She did know her mother's maiden name. Giselle was at Monte Carlo; she was pointed out and her real name was mentioned. You realized that there might be a large fortune to be got. It appealed to your gambler's nature. It was from Anne Morisot that you learned of Lady Horbury's connection with Giselle. The plan of the crime formed itself in your head. Giselle was to be murdered in such a way that suspicion would fall on Lady Horbury. Your plans matured and finally fructified. You bribed the clerk in Universal Air Lines so that Giselle should travel on the same plane as Lady Horbury. Anne Morisot had told you that she herself was going to England by train; you never expected her to be on the plane, and it seriously jeopardized your plans. If it was once known that Giselle's daughter and heiress had been on the plane, suspicion would naturally have fallen upon her. Your original idea was that she should claim the inheritance with a perfect alibi, since she would have been on a train or a boat at the time of the crime! And then you would have married her.

  "The girl was by this time infatuated with you. But it was money you were after, not the girl herself.

  "There was another complication to your plans. At Le Pinet you saw Mademoiselle Jane Grey and fell madly in love with her. Your passion for her drove you on to play a much more dangerous game.

  "You intended to have both the money and the girl you loved. You were committing a murder for the sake of money and you were in no mind to relinquish the fruits of the crime. You frightened Anne Morisot by telling her that if she came forward at once to proclaim her identity, she would certainly be suspected of the murder. Instead you induced her to ask for a few days' leave and you went together to Rotterdam, where you were married.

  "In due course you primed her how to claim the money. She was to say nothing of her employment as lady's maid and it was very clearly to be made plain that she and her husband had been abroad at the time of the murder.

  "Unfortunately, the date planned for Anne Morisot to go to Paris and claim her inheritance coincided with my arrival in Paris where Miss Grey had accompanied me. That did not suit your book at all. Either Mademoiselle Jane or myself might recognize in Anne Morisot the Madeleine who had been Lady Horbury's maid.

  "You tried to get in touch with her in time, but failed. You finally arrived in Paris yourself and found she had already gone to the lawyer. When she returned, she told you of her meeting with me. Things were becoming dangerous and you made up your mind to act quickly.

  "It had been your intention that your new-made wife should not survive her accession to wealth very long. Immediately after the marriage ceremony, you had both made wills leaving all you had one to the other! A very touching business.

  "You intended, I fancy, to follow a fairly leisurely course. You would have gone to Canada – ostensibly because of the failure of your practice. There you would have resumed the name of Richards and your wife would have rejoined you. All the same, I do not fancy it would have been very long before Mrs Richards regrettably died, leaving a fortune to a seemingly inconsolable widower. You would then have returned to England as Norman Gale, having had the good fortune to make a lucky speculation in Canada! But now you decided that no time must be lost."

  Poirot paused and Norman Gale threw back his head and laughed.

  "You are very clever at knowing what people intend to do! You ought to adopt Mr Clancy's profession!" His tone deepened to one of anger: "I never heard such a farrago of nonsense. What you imagined, M. Poirot, is hardly evidence!"

  Poirot did not seem put out. He said:

  "Perhaps not. But then I have some evidence."

  "Really?" sneered Norman. "Perhaps you have evidence as to how I killed old Giselle when everyone in the aeroplane knows perfectly well I never went near her?"

  "I will tell you exactly how you committed the crime," said Poirot. "What about the contents of your dispatch case? You were on a holiday. Why take a dentist's linen coat? That is what I asked myself. And the answer is this: Because it resembled so closely a steward's coat.

  "This is what you did: When coffee was served and the stewards had gone to the other compartment, you went to the wash room, put on your linen coat, padded your cheeks with cotton-wool rolls, came out, seized a coffee spoon from the box in the pantry opposite, hurried down the gangway with the steward's quick run, spoon in hand, to Giselle's table. You thrust the thorn into her neck, opened the match box and let the wasp escape, hurried back into the wash room, changed your coat and emerged leisurely to return to your table. The whole thing took only a couple of minutes.

  "Nobody notices a steward p
articularly. The only person who might have recognized you was Mademoiselle Jane, but you know women! As soon as a woman is left alone – particularly when she is traveling with an attractive young man – she seizes the opportunity to have a good look in her hand mirror, powder her nose and adjust her make-up."

  "Really," sneered Gale, "a most interesting theory, but it didn't happen. Anything else?"

  "Quite a lot," said Poirot. "As I have just said, in the course of conversation a man gives himself away. You were imprudent enough to mention that for a while you were on a farm in South Africa. What you did not say, but what I have since found out, is that it was a snake farm."

  For the first time, Norman Gale showed fear. He tried to speak, but the words would not come.

  Poirot continued:

  "You were there under your own name of Richards: a photograph of you transmitted by telephone has been recognized. That same photograph has been identified in Rotterdam as the man Richards who married Anne Morisot."

  Again Norman Gale tried to speak and failed. His whole personality seemed to change. The handsome vigorous young man turned into a rat-like creature with furtive eyes looking for a way of escape and finding none.

  "It was haste ruined your plan," said Poirot. "The superior of the Institut de Marie hurried things on by wiring to Anne Morisot. It would have looked suspicious to ignore that wire. You had impressed it upon your wife that unless she suppressed certain facts either she or you might be suspected of murder, since you had both, unfortunately, been in the plane when Giselle was killed. When you met her afterwards and you learned that I had been present at the interview, you hurried things on. You were afraid I might get the truth out of Anne. Perhaps she herself was beginning to suspect you. You hustled her away out of the hotel and into the boat train. You administered prussic acid to her by force and you left the empty bottle in her hand."