"I want to know the truth, Poirot."
"Yes. Yes, I should feel the same in your place."
"And you"re the man to find it out for me. I know you
don"t take cases any more, but I ask you to take this one.
This is a matter of business. I will be responsible for your
fees. Come now, money is always useful."
Poirot grinned.
"Not if it all goes in the taxes I But I will admit, your problem interests me I Because it is not easy It is all so nebulous .... One thing, my friend, had better be done by you. After that, I will occupy myself of everything. But I think it will be best if you yourself seek out the doctor who attended Mr.
Richard Abernethie. You know him ?" "Slightly."
"What is he like ?"
"Middle-aged G.P.
Quite competent. On very friendly terms with Richard. A thoroughly good fellow."
"Then seek him out. He will speak more freely to you than to me. Ask him about Mr. Abernethie"s illness. Find out what medicines Mr. Abernethie was taking at the time of his death and before. Find out if Richard Abernethie ever said anything to his doctor about fancying himself being poisoned. By the way, this Miss Gilchrist is sure that he used the term poisoned in talking to his sister ?"
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Mr. Entwhistle reflected.
"It was the word she usedwbut she is the type of witness who often changes the actual words used, because she is con-vinced she is keeping to the sense of them. If Richard had said he was afraid someone wanted to kill him, Miss Gilchrist might have a.s.sumed poison because she connected his fears with those of an aunt of hers who thought her food was being tampered with. I can take up the point with her again some time."
"Yes. Or I will do so." He paused and then said in a different voice: "Has it occurred to you, my f,ri,e, nd, that your Miss Gilchrist may be in some danger herself ?
Mr.
Entwhistle looked surprised.
can"t say that it had."
"But, yes. Cora voiced her suspicions on the day oI the funeral. The question in the murderer"s mind will be, did she voice them to anybody when she first heard of Richard"s death ? And the most likely person for her to have spoken to about them will be Miss Gilchrist. I think, on char, that
she had better not remain alone in that cottage."
"I believe Susan is going down."
"Ah, so Mrs. Banks is going down ?"
"She wants to look through Cora"s things."
"I see... I see... Well, my friend, do what I have asked of you. You might also prepare Mrs. AbernethieMrs.
Leo Abernethie, for the possibility that I may arrive in the house. We will see. From now on I occupy myself of every-thing."
And Poirot twirled his moustaches with enormous energy.
CHAPTER VIII
MR. ENTWHISTLE looked at Dr. Larraby though, tfully.
He had had a lifetime of experience in summing people up.
There had been frequent occasions on which it had been necessary to tackle a difficult situation or a delicate subject.
Mr. Entwhistle was an adept by now in the art of how exactly to make the proper approach. How would it be best to tackle Dr. Larraby on what was certainly a very difficult subject and one which the doctor might very well resent as reflecting upon his own professional skill ?
Frankness, Mr. Entwhistle thought---or at least a modified frankness. To say that suspicions had arisen because of a
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haphazard suggestion thrown out by a silly woman would be RI-advised. Dr. Larraby had not known Cora.
Mr. Entwhistle cleared his throat and plunged br,,avely. "I want to consult you on a very delicate matter,"
he said. "You may be offended, but I sincerely hope not. You are a sensible man and you will realise, I"m sure, that a--er--preposterous suggestion is best dealt with by finding a reasonable answer and not by condemning it out of hand. It concerns my client, the late Mr. Abernethie. I"ll ask you my question flat out. Are you certain, absolutely ctain, that he died what is termed a natural death ?"
Dr. Larraby"s good-humoured, rubicund middle-aged face turned in astonishment on his questioner.
"What on earth Of course he did. I gave a certificate, didn"t I ? If I hadn"t been satisfied "
Mr. Entwhistle cut in adroitly:
"Naturally, naturally. I a.s.sure you that I am not a.s.suming
anything to the contrary. But I would be glad to have your
positive a.s.surance--in face of the--er--rurnours that are
flying around."
"Rumours ? What rnmours ?"
"One doesn"t know quite how these things start," said
Mr. Entwhistle mendaciously. "But my feeling is that they
should be stopped--authoritatively, if possible."
"Abernethie was a sick man. He was suffering from &
disease that would have proved fatal within, I should say, at
the earliest, two years. It might have come much sooner. His
son"s death had weakened his will to live, and his powers of
resistance. I admit that I did not expect his death to come
so soon, or indeed so suddenly, but there are precedents--
plenty of precedents. Any medical man who predicts exactly
when a patient will die, or exactly how long he will live, is