Sarah King looked long and searchingly at Hercule Poirot.She noted the egg-
shaped head,the gigantic moustaches,the dandyfied appearance and the suspicious
blackness of his hair.A look of doubt crept into her eyes."Well,mademoiselle,are
you satisfied?"
Sarah flushed as she met the amused ironical glance of his eyes.
"I beg your pardon,"she said awkwardly.
"Du tout!To use an expression I have recently learnt,you give me the once-
over,is it not so?"
Sarah smiled a little."Well,at any rate,you can do the same to me,"she said.
"Assuredly.I have not neglected to do so."
She glanced at him sharply.Something in his tone.But Poirot was twirling his
moustaches complacently,and Sarah thought (for the second time),"The man's a
mountebank!"
Her self-confidence restored,she sat up a little straighter and said
inquiringly: "I don't think I quite understand the object of this interview?"
"The good Dr Gerard did not explain?"
Sarah said frowning: "I don't understand Dr Gerard.He seems to think -"
"Something is rotten in the state of Denmark,"quoted Poirot."You see,I know
your Shakespeare."
Sarah waved aside Shakespeare."
"What exactly is all this fuss about?"she demanded.
"Eh bien,one wants,does one not,to get at the truth of this affair?"
"Are you talking about Mrs Boynton's death?"
"Yes."
"Isn't it rather a fuss about nothing?You,of course,are a
pecialist,M.Poirot.It is natural for you-"
Poirot finished the sentence for her.
"It is natural for me to suspect crime whenever I can possibly find an
excuse for doing so?"
"Well-yes-perhaps."
"You have no doubt yourself as to Mrs Boynton's death?"
Sarah shrugged her shoulders.
"really,M/Poirot,if you had been to Petra you would realize that the journey
there was a somewhat strenuous business for an old woman whose cardiac condition
was unsatisfactory."
"It seems a perfectly straightforward business to you?"
"Certainly.I can't understand Dr Gerard's attitude.He didn't even know
anything about it.He was down with fever.I'd bow to his superior medical
knowledge naturally -in this case he had nothing whatever to go on.I suppose
they can have a P.M.In Jerusalem if they like-if they're not satisfied with my
verdict."
Poirot was silent for a moment,then he said:
"There is a fact,Miss King,that you do not yet know.Dr Gerard has not told
you of it."
"What fact?"demanded Sarah.
"A supply of a drug-digitoxin-is missing from Dr Gerard's travelling
medicine case."
"Oh!"Quickly Sarah took in this new aspect of the case.Equally quickly she
pounced on the one doubtful point.
"Is Dr Gerard quite sure of that?"
Poirot shrugged his shoulders.
"A doctor,as you should know,mademoiselle,is usually fairly carefully in
making his stantements."
"Oh,of course.That goes without saying.But Dr Gerard had malaria at the
time."
"That is so,of course."
"Has he any idea when it could have been taken?"
"He had occasion to go to his case on the night of his arrival in Petra.He
wanted some phenacetin -as his head was aching badly.When he replaced the
phenacetin the following morning and shut up the case he is almost certain that
all the drugs were intact."
"Almost -"said Sarah.
Poirot shrugged.
"Yes,there is a doubt!There is the doubt that any man,who is honest,would be
likely to feel."
Sarah nodded."Yes,I know.One always distrusts those people who are over
sure.But all the same,M.Poirot,the evidence is very slight.It seems to me -"She
paused.Poirot finished the sentence for her.
"It seems to you that an inquiry on my part is ill-advised!"
Sarah looked him squarely in the face.
"Frankly,it dose.Are you sure,M.Poirot,that this is not a case of Roman
Holiday?"
Poirot smiled."The private lives of a family upset and disturbed -so that
Hercule Poirot can play a little game of detection to amuse himself?"
"I didn't mean to be offensive-but isn't it a little like that?"
"You,then,are on the side of the Famille Boynton,mademoiselle?"
"I think I am.They've suffered a good deal.They -they oughtn't to have to
stand any more."
"And la maman,she was unpleasant,tyrannical,disagreeable and decidedly
better dead than alive?That also -hein?"
"When you put it like that -"Sarah paused,flushed,went on: "One shouldn't,I
agree,take that into consideration."
"But all the same -one does!That is,you do,mademoiselle!I -do not!To me it
is all the same.The victim may be one of the good God's saints -or,on the
contrary -a monster of infamy.It moves me not.The fact is the same.A life-
taken!I say it always-I do not approve of murder."
"Murder?"Sarah drew in her breath sharply."But what evidence of that is
there?The flimsiest imaginable!Dr Gerard himself cannot be sure!"
Poirot said quietly: "But there is other evidence,mademoiselle."
"What evidence?"Her voice was sharp."
"The mark of a hypodermic puncture upon the dead woman's wrist.And something
more still -some words that I overheard spoken in Jerusalem on a clear,still
night when I went to close my bedroom window.Shall I tell you what those words
were,Miss King?They were these.I heard Mr Raymond Boynton say: "You do see,don't
you,that she's got to be killed?""
He saw the colour drain slowly from Sarah's face.
She said: "You heard that?"
"Yes."
The girl stared straight ahead of her.
She said at last: "It would be you who heard it!"
He acquiesced.
"Yes,it would be me.These things happen.You see now why I think there should
be an investigation?"
Sarah said quietly: "I think you are quite right."
"Ah!And you will help me?"
"Certainly."
Her tone was matter-of-fact -unemotional.Her eyes met his coolly.
Poirot bowed."Thank you,mademoiselle.Now I will ask you to tell me in your
own words exactly what you can remember of that particular day."
Sarah considered for a moment.
"Let me see.I went on an expedition in the morning.None of the Boyntons were
with us.I saw them at lunch.They were finishing as we came in.Mrs Boynton seemed
in an unusually good temper."
"She was not usually amiable,I understand."
"very far from it,"said Sarah with a slight grimace.
She then described how Mrs Boynton had released her family from attendance
on her.
"That too,was unusual?"
"Yes.She usually kept them around her."
"Do you think,perhaps,that she suddenly felt remorseful -that she had what
is called -un bon moment?"
"No,I don't,"said Sarah bluntly.
"What did you think,then?"
"I was puzzled.I suspected it was something of the cat-and-mouse order."
"If you would elaborate,mademoiselle?"
"A cat enjoys letting a mouse away-and then caching it again.Mrs Boynton had
that kind of mentality.I thought she was up to some new devilry or other."
"What happened next,mademoiselle?"
"The Boyntons started off -"
"All of them?"
"No,the youngest,Ginevra,was left behind.She was told to go and rest."
"Did she wish to do so?"
"No.But that didn't matter.She did what she was told.The others started
off.Dr Gerard and I joined them -"
"When was this?"
"About half-past three."
"Where was Mrs Boynton then?"
"Nadine-young Mrs Boynton -had settled her in her chair outside her cave."
"Proceed."
"When we got round the bend,Dr Gerard and I caught up the others.We all
walked together.Then,after a while,Dr Gerard turned back.He had been looking
rather queer for some time.I could see he had fever.I wanted to go back with
him,but he wouldn't hear of it."
"What time was this?"
"Oh!About four,I suppose."
"And the rest?"
"We went on."
"Were you all together?"
"At first.Then we split up."Sarah hurried on as though foreseeing the next
question."Nadine Boynton and Mr Cope went one way and Carol,Lennox,Raymond and I
went another."
"And you continued like that?"
"Well -no.Raymond Boynton and I separated from the others.We sat down on a
slab of rock and admired the wildness of the scenery.Then he went off and I
stayed where I was for some time longer.It was about half-past five when I
looked at my watch and realized I had better get back.I reached the camp at six
o"clock.It was just about sunset."
"You passed Mrs Boynton on the way?"
"I noticed she was still in her chair up on the ridge."
"That did not strike you as odd -that she had not moved?"
"No,because I had seen her sitting there the night before when we arrived."
"I see.Continuez."
"I went into the marquee.The others were all there -except Dr Gerard.I
washed and then came back.They brought in dinner and one of the servants went to
tell Mrs Boynton.He came running back to say she was ill I hurried out.She was
sitting in her chair just as she had been,but as soon as I touched her I
realized she was dead."
"You had no doubt at all as to her death being natural?"
"None whatever.I had heard that she suffered from heart trouble,though no
specified disease had been mentioned."
"You simply thought she had died sitting there in her chair?"
"Yes."
"Without calling out for assistance?"
"Yes.It happens that way sometimes.She might even have died in her sleep.She
was quite likely to have dozed off.In any case,all the camp was asleep most of
the afternoon.No one would have heard her unless she had called very loud."
"Did you form an opinion as to how long she had been dead?"
"Well,I didn't really think very much about it.She had clearly been dead
some time."
"What do you call some time?"asked Poirot.
"Well -over an hour.It might have been much longer.The refraction of the
rock would keep her body from cooling quickly."
"Over an hour?Are you aware,Mademoiselle King,that Raymond Boynton spoke to
her only a little over half an hour earlier,and that she was then alive and
well?"
Now her eyes no longer met his.But she shook her head."He must have made a
mistake.It must have been earlier than that."
"No,mademoiselle,it was not."
She looked at him point-blank.He noticed again the firm set of her mouth.
"Well,"said Sarah,"I'm young and I haven't got much experience of dead
bodies -but I know enough to be quite sure of one thing.Mrs Boynton had been
dead at least an hour when I examined her body!"
"That,"said Hercule Poirot unexpectedly,"is your story and you are going to
stick to it!Then can you explain why Mr Boynton should say his mother was alive
when she was,in point of fact,dead?"
"I've no idea,"said Sarah."They're probably rather vague about times,all of
them!They're a very nervy family."
"On how many occasions,mademoiselle,have you spoken with them?"
Sarah was silent a moment,frowning a little.
"I can tell you exactly,"she said."I talked to Raymond Boynton in the Wagon
Lits corridor coming to Jerusalem.I had two conversations with Carol Boynton -
one at the Mosque of Omar and one late that evening in my bedroom.I had a
conversation with Mrs Lennox Boynton the following morning.That's all -up to the
afternoon of Mrs Boynton's death,when we all went walking together."
"You did not have any conversation with Mrs Boynton herself?"
Sarah flushed uncomfortably.
"Yes.I exchanged a few words with her on the day she left Jerusalem."She
paused and then blurted out: "As a matter of fact,I made a fool of myself."
"Ah?"
The interrogation was so patent that,stiffly and unwillingly,Sarah gave an
account of the conversation.
Poirot seemed interested and cross-examined her closely.
"The mentality of Mrs Boynton -it is very important in this case,"he
said."And you are an outsider an unbiased observer.That is why your account of
her is very significant."
Sarah did not reply.She still felt hot and uncomfortable when she thought of
that interview.
"Thank you,mademoiselle,"said Poirot."I will now converse with the other
witnesses."
Sarah rose."Excuse me,M.Poirot,but if I might make a suggestion-"
"Certainly.Certainly."
"Why not postpone all this until an autopsy can be made and you discover
whether or not your suspicions are justified?I think all this is rather like
putting the cart before the horse."
Poirot waved a grandiloquent hand."This is the method of Hercule Poirot,"he
announced.
Pressing her lips together,Sarah left the room.
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