弱者的愤怒12

"The sound is not repeated. He is convinced he has been mistaken in thinking he heard one. Nowall is silence, he creeps up to his room, and at once it occurs to him how much better it will be ifhe pretends never to have been near his uncle that night. So he tells his story. Parsons at that time,remember, has said nothing of what he heard. When he does do so, it is too late for M. Leverson tochange. He is stupid, and he is obstinate¹, he sticks to his story. Tell me, Monsieur, is that notpossible?""Yes," said the lawyer, "I suppose in the way you put it that it is possible."Poirot rose to his feet.

"You have the privilege of seeing M. Leverson," he said. "Put to him the story I have told you, andask him if it is not true."Outside the lawyer's office, Poirot hailed a taxi.

"348 Harley Street," he murmured to the driver.

Poirot's departure for London had taken Lady Astwell by surprise, for the little man had not madeany mention of what he proposed doing. On his return, after an absence of twenty-four hours, hewas informed by Parsons that Lady Astwell would like to see him as soon as possible. Poirotfound the lady in her own boudoir. She was lying down on the divan², her head propped³ up bycushions, and she looked startlingly ill and haggard; far more so than she had done on the dayPoirot arrived.

"So you have come back, M. Poirot?"

"I have returned, milady."

"You went to London?"

Poirot nodded.

"You didn't tell me you were going," said Lady Astwell sharply.

"A thousand apologies, milady, I am in error, I should have done so. La prochaine fois -""You will do exactly the same," interrupted Lady Astwell with a shrewd touch of humor. "Dothings first and tell people afterward⁴, that is your motto right enough.""Perhaps it has also been milady's motto?" His eyes twinkled.

"Now and then, perhaps," admitted the other. "What did you go up to London for, M. Poirot? Youcan tell me now, I suppose?""I had an interview with the good Inspector⁵ Miller⁶, and also with the excellent Mr Mayhew."Lady Astwell's eyes searched his face.

"And you think, now -?" she said slowly.

Poirot's eyes were fixed⁷ on her steadily⁸.

"That there is a possibility of Charles Leverson's innocence," he said gravely.

"Ah!" Lady Astwell moved suddenly, sending two cushions rolling to the ground. "I was right,then, I was right!""I said a possibility, Madame, that is all."

Something in his tone seemed to strike her. She raised herself on one elbow and regarded himpiercingly.

"Can I do anything?" she asked.

"Yes," he nodded his head, "you can tell me, Lady Astwell, why you suspect Owen Trefusis.""I have told you I know - that's all.""Unfortunately that is not enough," said Poirot dryly. "Cast your mind back to the fatal evening,milady. Remember each detail, each tiny happening. What did you notice or observe about thesecretary? I, Hercule Poirot, tell you there must have been something."Lady Astwell shook her head.

"I hardly noticed him at all that evening," she said, "and I certainly was not thinking of him.""Your mind was taken up by something else?""Yes."

"With your husband's animus⁹ against Miss Lily Margrave?""That's right," said Lady Astwell, nodding her head; "you seem to know all about it, M. Poirot.""Me, I know everything," declared the little man with an absurdly grandiose¹⁰ air.

"I am fond of Lily, M. Poirot; you have seen that for yourself. Reuben began kicking up a rumpusabout some reference or other of hers. Mind you, I don't say she hadn't cheated about it. She had.

But, bless you, I have done many worse things than that in the old days. You have got to be up toall sorts of tricks to get around theatrical¹¹ managers. There is nothing I wouldn't have written, orsaid, or done, in my time.

"Lily wanted this job, and she put in a lot of slick work that was not quite - well, quite the thing,you know. Men are so stupid about that sort of thing; Lily really might have been a bank clerkabsconding with millions for the fuss he made about it. I was terribly worried all the evening,because, although I could usually get round Reuben in the end, he was terribly pigheaded at times,poor darling. So of course I hadn't time to go noticing secretaries, not that one does notice M.

Trefusis much, anyway. He is just there and that's all there is to it.""I have noticed that fact about M. Trefusis," said Poirot. "His is not a personality that stands forth,that shines, that hits you cr-r-rack.""No," said Lady Astwell, "he is not like Victor.""M. Victor Astwell is, I should say, explosive.""That is a splendid word for him," said Lady Astwell. "He explodes all over the house, like one ofthose thingamy-jig firework things.""A somewhat quick temper, I should imagine?" suggested Poirot.

"Oh, he's a perfect devil when roused," said Lady Astwell, "but bless you, I'm not afraid of him.

All bark and no bite to Victor."

Poirot looked at the ceiling.

"And you can tell me nothing about the secretary that evening?" he murmured gently.

"I tell you, M. Poirot, I know. It's intuition. A woman's intuition -""Will not hang a man," said Poirot, "and what is more to the point, it will not save a man frombeing hanged. Lady Astwell, if you sincerely believe that M. Leverson is innocent, and that yoursuspicions of the secretary are well-founded, will you consent to a little experiment?""What kind of an experiment?" demanded Lady Astwell suspiciously.

"Will you permit yourself to be put into a condition of hypnosis?""Whatever for?"Poirot leaned forward.

"If I were to tell you, Madame, that your intuition is based on certain facts recordedsubconsciously, you would probably be skeptical¹². I will only say, then, that this experiment Ipropose may be of great importance to that unfortunate young man, Charles Leverson. You willnot refuse?""Who is going to put me into a trance?" demanded Lady Astwell suspiciously. "You?""A friend of mine, Lady Astwell, arrives, if I mistake not, at this very minute. I hear the wheels ofthe car outside.""Who is he?"

"A Doctor Cazalet of Harley Street."

"Is he - all right?" asked Lady Astwell apprehensively¹³.

"He is not a quack¹⁴, Madame, if that is what you mean. You can trust yourself in his hands quitesafely.""Well," said Lady Astwell with a sigh, "I think it is all bunkum, but you can try if you like.

Nobody is going to say that I stood in your way.""A thousand thanks, milady."Poirot hurried from the room. In a few minutes he returned ushering¹⁵ in a cheerful, round-facedlittle man, with spectacles, who was very upsetting to Lady Astwell's conception of what ahypnotist should look like. Poirot introduced them.

"Well," said Lady Astwell good-humoredly, "how do we start this tomfoolery?""Quite simple, Lady Astwell, quite simple," said the little doctor. "Just lean back, so - that's right,that's right. No need to be uneasy.""I am not in the least uneasy," said Lady Astwell. "I should like to see anyone hypnotizing meagainst my will."Doctor Cazalet smiled broadly.

"Yes, but if you consent, it won't be against your will, will it?" he said cheerfully. "That's right.

 

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