Hercule Poirot's Casebook (hercule poirot) Read online

  'Well, she's particular - always poking round in cornen and looking for dust. And then there's the lodger, or paying guest as he's always called. But that's only breakfast and dinner, same as Master. They're out all day in the City.'

  'You like your master?'

  'He's all right - very quiet and a bit on the stingy side.'

  'You can't remember, I suppose, the last thing Eliza said before she went out?'

  'Yes, I can. "If there's any stewed peaches over from The dining-room," she says, "we'll have them for supper, and a bit of bacon and some fried potatoes." Mad over stewed peaches, she was. I shouldn't wonder if they didn't g her that way.'

  'Was Wednesday her regular day out?'

  'Yes, she had Wednesdays spa I had Thursdays.'

  Poirot asked a few more questions, then declared himself satisfied. Annie departed, and Mrs Todd hurried in, her face alight with curiosity. She had, I felt certain, bitxerly resented her exclusion from the room during our conversation with Annie. Poirot, however, was careful to soothe her feelings tactfully.

  It is difficult,' he explained, 'for s woman of exceptional iatclligence such as yourself, madame, to bear padendy the roundabout me, ods we poor detectives arc forced to use. To have patience with stupidity is difficult for the quick-witted.'

  Having thus charmed away any Ut-de resentment on Mrs Todd's part, he brought the conversation round to her husband and elicited the information that he worked with a fu'm in the City and would not be home until after six.

  ,Doubtless he is very disturbed and won4i by this ..business, eh? Is it not so?'

  'lie's never worried; dec. lmeed Mrs Todd.' "Well, well, get nother. my dear." That's all h said! lie's so calm that it drives llle lo distraction solnetillles. " ungrateful womsll," he said.

  "We are well rid of her."'

  'What about the other inmates of the house, madame?'

  'You mean Mr Simpson, our paying guest? Well, as long as he gets his brealffast and his evening meal all right, h doem't worry.'

  'What is his profession, madame?'

  'He works in a bank.' She mentioned its name, ami I started lightly, remembering my perusal of the Daily Blare.

  'A young man?'

  ,Twenty-eight, I believe, lqice quiet young fellow.'

  'I should like to have a few words with him, and also with your husband, if I may. I will return for that putlx this evening. I venture to suggest that you should repose your a little, madame, you look fatigued.'

  'I should just think I am! First the worry about Eliza, and then I was at the sales practically all yesterday, and you gnow what that is, M. Poirot, and what with one thing and another and a lot to do in the house, because of course Annie can't do it all - and very likely she'll give notice anyway, being unsettled in this way - well, what with it all, I'm fired out!'

  Poirot murmured sympatheticallY, .and we took our leave.

  'It's a curious coincidence,' I said, 'but that absconding clerk, Davis, was from the same bank as Simpson. Can there be any connection, do you think?'

  Poirot smiled.

  'At the one end, a defaulting clerk, at the other a vanishing cook. It is hard to see any relation between the two, unless possibly Davis visited Simpson, fell in love .with the cook, and ·

  --rsuaded her to accompany .him on his flight.

  'I laughed. But Poirot remained grave, reprovingly.

  'He might have done worse,' he said 'Remember, Hastings, if you are going into exile, a good cook may be of more comfort than a pretty face!' He paused for a moment ahd then went on. 'It is a curious case, full of contradictory features. I am interested - yes, I am distinctly interested.'

  That evening we returned to 88 Prince Albert Road and interviewed both Todd and Simpson. The former was a melancholy lantern-jawed man of forty-odd.

  'Oh! Yes, yes,' he said vaguely. 'Eliza. Yes. A good cook, I believe. And economical. I make a strong point of economy., 'Can you imagine any reason for her leaving you so suddenly?'

  'Oh, well,' said Mr Todd vaguely. 'Servants, you know. My wife worries too much. Worn out from always worrying. The whole problem's quite simple really. "Get another, my der,"

  I say. "Get another." That's all there is to it. No good crying over spilt milk.'

  Mr Simpson was equally unhelpful. He was a quiet inconspicuous young man with spectacles.

  'I must have seen her, I suppose,' he said. 'Elderly woman, wasn't she? Of course, it's the other one I see always, Annie.

  Nice girl. Very obliging.'

  'Were those two on good terms with each other?'

  so.Mr Simpson said he couldn't say, he was sure. He supposed 'Well, we get nothing of interest there, mon am/,' said Poirot as we left the house. Our departure had been delayed by a burst of vociferous repetition from Mrs Todd, Who repeated everything she had said that morning at rather greater length.

  'Are you disappointed?' I asked. 'Did you expect to hear something?'

  Poirot shook his head..

  'There was a possibility, of course,' he said. 'But I hardly thought it likely.'

  The next development was a letter which Poirnt received on the following morning. He read. it, turned purple with indignation, and handed it to me.

  Mrs Todd regrets that after all she will not avail herself of Mr Poirot's services. After talking the matter over with her husband she sees that it is foolish to call in a detective about a purely domestic affair. Mrs Todd encloses a guinea for consultation fee.

  'Aha!' cried Poirot angrily. 'And they think to get rid of Hercule Poirot like that! As a favour- a great favour - I consent to investigate their miserable little twopeuny-halfpenny affair o and they dismiss me comme la! Here, I mistake not, is the hand of Mr Todd. But I say no! - thirty-six times no! I will spend my own guineas, thirty-six hundred of them if need be, but I will get to the bottom of this matter?

  'Yes,' I said. 'But how?'

  Poirot calmed down a little.

  'D'abord,' he said, 'we will advertise in the papers. Let me see - yes - something like this: "If Eliza Dunn will communicate with this address, she will hear of something to her 'advantage.' Put it in all the papers you can think of, Hastings.

  Then I will make some little inquiries of my own. Go, go - all must be done as quickly as possible?

  I did not see him again until the evening, when he condescended to tell me what he had been doing.

  'I have made inquiries at the firm of Mr Todd. He was not absent on Wednesday, and he bears a good character - so much for him. Then Simpson, on Thursday he was ill and did not come to the bank, but he was there on Wednesday. He was moderately friendly with Davis. Nothing out of the common.

  There does not seem to be anything there. No. We must place our reliance on the advertisement.'

  The advertisement duly appeared in all the principal daily papers. By Poirot's orders it was to be continued every day for a week. His eagerness over this uninteresting matter of a defaulting cook was extraordinary, but I realized that he considered it a point of honour to persevere until he finally succeeded. Several extremely interesting cases were brought to him about this time, but he declined them all. Every morning he would rush at his letters, scrutinize them earnestly and then lay them down with a sigh.

  But our patience was rewarded at last. On the following Mrs Todd's visit, our landlady informed friar a person of the name of Eliza Dunn had called.

  'Enfin!' cried Poirot. 'But make her mount thenf At 'race.

  Immediately.'

  Thus admonished, our landlady hurried out and returned moment or two later, ushering in Miss Duma. Our quarry was much as described: tall, stout, and eminently respectable.

  'I came in answer to the advertisement,, she explained.

  thought there must be some muddle or other, and that perhaps you didn't know I'd already got my legacy.'

  Poirot was studying her attentively. He drew forward a cair with a flourish.

  'The truth of the matter is,' he explained, 'that your late mistress, Mrs T
odd, was much concerned about you. She feared some accident might have befallen you.'

  Eliza Dunn seemed very much surprised.

  'Didn't she get my letter then?'

  'She got no word of any kind.' He paused, and then said persuasively: 'Recount to me the whole story, wi you not.)'

  Eliza Dunn needed no encouragement. She plunged at once into a lengthy narrative.

  'I was just coming home on Wednesday night and had near!y got to the house, when a gentleman stopped me. A tag gentleman he was, with a beard and a big hat. "Miss ElV:a Dunn?" he said. "Yes," I said. "I've been inquiring for you at No. 88," he .said. "They told me I might meet you coming along here. Miss Dunn, I have come from Australia specially to find you. Do you happen to know th -

  c mmaen name oI your maternal grandmother? lane Emmott,"

  I said. "Exactly,"

  he said.

  "Now, Miss Dunn, although you may never have heard of the fact, your grandmother had a great friend, El/za Leech. This friend ·

  went to Australia where she married a very wealthy rtler. Her two children died in infancy, and she '--' all her husband's property. She died a few months It her will you inherit a house in , le sum of money."

  figs country and a

  ,Id have knocked wp down with a feather,' con

  t/hued Miss Duma. 'For a minute, I was suspicious, and he must have seen it, for he smiled. "Quite right to be on your guard, Miss Dunn," he said. "Here are my credentials." He handed me a letter from some lawyers in Melbourne, Hurst and Crotchet, and a card. He was Mr Crotchet. "There are one or two conditions," he said. "Our client was a little eccentric, you know. The bequest is conditional on your taking posses-sion of the house (it is in Cumberland) before twelve o'clock tomorrow. The other condition is of no importance - it is merely a stipulation that you should not be in domestic service." My face fell. "Oh, Mr Crotchet," I said. "I'm a cook.

  Didn't they tell you at the house?" "Dear, dear," he said. "I had no idea of such a thing. I thought you might possibly be a companion or governess there. This is very unfortunate - very unfortunate indeed."

  ' "Shall I have to lose all the money?" I said, anxious like. He'

  thought for a minute or two. "There are always ways of getting round the law, Miss Duma," he said at last. "We as lawyers know that. The way out here is for you to have left your employment this afternoon." "But my month?" I said. "My dear Miss Durra,' he said with a smile. "You can leave an.

  employer any minute by forfeiting a month's wages. Your mistress will understand in view of the circum.tances. The difficulty is time! It is/mperative that you should catch the 11.5

  from King's Cross to the north. I can advance you ten pounds or so for the fare, and you can write a note at the station to your employer. I will take it to her myself and explain the whole circumstances." I agreed, of course, and an hour later I was in the train, so flustered that I didn't know whether I was on my head or heels. Indeed by the time I got to Carlisle, I was half inclined to think the whole thing was one of those confidence tri 'cks you read about. But I went to the address he had given me - solidtors they were, and it was all right. A nice little house, and an income of tlu'ee hundred a year. These lawyers knew very little, they'd just got a letter from a gentleman in London instructing them to hand over the house to me and 150 pounds for the first six months. Mr Crotchet sent up my things to me, but there was no word from Missus. I supposed she was angry and grudged me my bit of luck. She kept back my box too, and sent my clothes in paper parcels. But there, of coucs¢

  if she never had my letter, she might think it a bit cool of me.'

  Poirot had listened attentively to this long history. Now he nodded his head as though completely satisfied.

  'Thank you, mademoiselle. There had been, as you say, a little muddle. Permit me to recompense you for your trouble.'

  He handed her an envelope. 'You return to Cumberland immediately? A little word in your ear. Do not forget h to cook. It is always useful to have something to fall back upon in 'Credulous,' he murmured, as our visitor departed, 'but perhaps not more than most of her cls.' His face grew grave.

  'Come, Hastings, there is no time to be lost. Get a taxi while I write a note to Japp.'

  Poirot was waiting on the doorstep when I returned with e taxi.

  'Where are we going?' I asked anxiously.

  'First, to despatch this note by spec/al .', This was done, and re-entering the taxi Poirot gave the address to the driver.

  'Eighty-eight Prince Albert Road, Clapham.'

  'So we are going there?'

  'Mais oui. Though frankly I fear we shall be too late. Our bird will have flown, Hastings.'

  'Who is our bird?'

  Poirot smiled.

  'The inconspicuous Mr Simpson.'

  'What?' I exclaimed.

  'Oh, come now, Hastings, do not tell me that all is not dear to you now?

  'The cook --s got out of the Way, I realize that,' I said, sI;'''

  'But why? Why should Simpson wish to get se? Did she know something about him?'

  'No, my friend - something quite different.' He paused a and then said gravely: 'A battered tin trunk...'

  I looked sideways at him. His statement seemed so fantastic I suspected him of pulling my leg, but he was perfectly i'$rave and serious.

  'Surely he could buy a trunk if he wanted one,' I cried.

  'He did not want a new trunk. He wanted a trunk of pedigree. A trunk of assured respectability.'

  'Look here, Poitot,' I cried, 'this really is a bit thick. You're pulling my leg.'

  He looked at me.

  'You lack the brains and the imagination of Mr Simpson, Hastings. See here: On Wednesday evening, Simpson decoys away the cook. A printed card and a printed sheet of notepaper are simple matters to obtain, and he is willing to pay £150 and a year's house rem to assure the success of his plan. Miss Dunn does not recognize him - the beard the hat and the slight colonial accent completely deceive her. That is the end of Wednesday - except for the trifling fact that Simpson has helped himself to fty thousand pounds' worth of negotiable securities.'

  'Simpson - but it was Dads '

  'If you will kindly permit me to continue, Hastings!

  Simpson knows that the theft will be discovered on Thursday afternoon. He does not go to the bank on Thursday, but he lies in wait for Davis when he comes out to lunch, perhaps he admits the theft and tells Davis he will return the securities to him - anyhow he succeeds .in getting Davis to come to Clapham with him. It is the maid's day out, and Mrs Todd was.

  at the sales, so there is no one in the house. When the theft is .discovered and Davis is missing, the implication will be overwhelming. Davis is the thiefl Mr Simpsgn will be perfectly safe, and can return to work on the morrow like the honest clerk they think him.'

  'And Davis?'

  Poirot made an expressive gesture, and slowly shook his head.

  'It seems too cold-blooded to be believed, and yet what oe6;

  explanation can there be, mon am/. The one difficulty for a murderer is the disposal of the body - and Simpson had planned that out beforehand. I was struck at once by the fact that although Eliza Dunn obviously meant to return that night when she went out (witness her remark about the stewed peaches) yet her trunk vxt$ all ready tnzcked vahen they came for it. It was Simpson who sent word to Carter Paterson to call on Friday and it was Simpson who corded up the box on Thursday afternoon. What suspicion could possibly arise? A maid leaves and sends for her box, it is labelled and addressed ready in her name, probably to a railway station within easy reach of London. On Saturday afternoon, Simpson, in his Australian disguise, claims it, he afl'utes a new label and address and redespatches it somewhere else, again "to be left till called for". When the authorities get suspicious, for excellent reasons, and open it, all that can be elicited will be that a bearded colonial despatched it from some junction near London. There will be nothing to connect it with 88 Prince Albert Road. Ah!

  He
re we are.'

  Poirot's prognostications had been correa. Simpson had left days previously. But he was not to escape the consequences of his crime. By the a/d of wireless, he was discovered on the Olympia, en route to America.

  A tin trunk, addreai to Mr Henry Wintergreen, attracted the attention of railway offidals at Glasgow. It was opened and found to contain the body of the unfortunate Davis.

  Mrs Todd's cheque for a guinea was never cashed. Instead Poirot had it framed and hung on, the wall of our sitting-room.

  'It is to me a little reminder, Hastings. Never to deapiae the trivial - the undignified. A disappearing domestic at one end a cold-blooded murder at the other. To me one of the most i,,y cases.'

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  Agatha Christie

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