‘It is very serious what you are telling me there, madame. You say your younger boy was away from home at the moment?’
‘Yes.’
‘And at the time of the ptomaine poisoning, was he still away?’
‘No, they were both there.’
‘Curious,’ murmured Poirot. ‘Now, madame, who are the inmates of your establishment?’
‘Miss Saunders, the children’s governess, and John Gardiner, my husband’s secretary—’
Mrs Lemesurier paused, as though slightly embarrassed.
‘And who else, madame?’
‘Major Roger Lemesurier, whom you also met on that night, I believe, stays with us a good deal.’
‘Ah, yes—he is a cousin is he not?’
‘A distant cousin. He does not belong to our branch of the family. Still, I suppose now he is my husband’s nearest relative. He is a dear fellow, and we are all very fond of him. The boys are devoted to him.’
‘It was not he who taught them to climb up the ivy?’
‘It might have been. He incites them to mischief often enough.’
‘Madame, I apologize for what I said to you earlier. The danger is real, and I believe that I can be of assistance. I propose that you should invite us both to stay with you. Your husband will not object?’
‘Oh no. But he will believe it to be all of no use. It makes me furious the way he just sits around and expects the boy to die.’
‘Calm yourself, madame. Let us make our arrangements methodically.’
III
Our arrangements were duly made, and the following day saw us flying northward. Poirot was sunk in a reverie. He came out of it, to remark abruptly: ‘It was from a train such as this that Vincent Lemesurier fell?’
He put a slight accent on the ‘fell’.
‘You don’t suspect foul play there, surely?’ I asked.
‘Has it struck you, Hastings, that some of the Lemesurier deaths were, shall we say, capable of being arranged? Take that of Vincent, for instance. Then the Eton boy—an accident with a gun is always ambiguous. Supposing this child had fallen from the nursery window and been dashed to death—what more natural and unsuspicious? But why only the one child, Hastings? Who profits by the death of the elder child? His younger brother, a child of seven! Absurd!’
‘They mean to do away with the other later,’ I suggested, though with the vaguest ideas as to who ‘they’ were.
Poirot shook his head as though dissatisfied.
‘Ptomaine poisoning,’ he mused. ‘Atropine will produce much the same symptoms. Yes, there is need for our presence.’
Mrs Lemesurier welcomed us enthusiastically. Then she took us to her husband’s study and left us with him. He had changed a good deal since I saw him last. His shoulders stooped more than ever, and his face had a curious pale grey tinge. He listened while Poirot explained our presence in the house.
‘How exactly like Sadie’s practical common sense!’ he said at last. ‘Remain by all means, M. Poirot, and I thank you for coming; but—what is written, is written. The way of the transgressor is hard. We Lemesuriers know—none of us can escape the doom.’
Poirot mentioned the sawn-through ivy, but Hugo seemed very little impressed.
‘Doubtless some careless gardener—yes, yes, there may be an instrument, but the purpose behind is plain; and I will tell you this, M. Poirot, it cannot be long delayed.’
Poirot looked at him attentively.
‘Why do you say that?’
‘Because I myself am doomed. I went to a doctor last year. I am suffering from an incurable disease—the end cannot be much longer delayed; but before I die, Ronald will be taken. Gerald will inherit.’
‘And if anything were to happen to your second son also?’
‘Nothing will happen to him; he is not threatened.’
‘But if it did?’ persisted Poirot.
‘My cousin Roger is the next heir.’
We were interrupted. A tall man with a good figure and crispy curling auburn hair entered with a sheaf of papers.
‘Never mind about those now, Gardiner,’ said Hugo Lemesurier, then he added: ‘My secretary, Mr Gardiner.’
The secretary bowed, uttered a few pleasant words and then went out. In spite of his good looks, there was something repellent about the man. I said so to Poirot shortly afterward when we were walking round the beautiful old grounds together, and rather to my surprise, he agreed.