Chapter 5

Lady Westholme entered the room with the assurance of a transatlantic liner coming into dock.

Miss Amabel Pierce, an indeterminate craft, followed in the liner’s wake and sat down in aninferior make of chair slightly in the background.

‘Certainly, M. Poirot,’ boomed Lady Westholme. ‘I shall be delighted to assist you by anymeans in my power. I have always considered that in matters of this kind one has a public duty toperform—’

When Lady Westholme’s public duty had held the stage for some minutes, Poirot was adroitenough to get in a question.

‘I have a perfect recollection of the afternoon in question,’ replied Lady Westholme. ‘MissPierce and I will do all we can to assist you.’

‘Oh, yes,’ sighed Miss Pierce, almost ecstatically. ‘So tragic², was it not? Dead—just like that—in the twinkle of an eye!’

‘If you will tell me exactly what occurred on the afternoon in question?’

‘Certainly,’ said Lady Westholme. ‘After we had finished lunch I decided³ to take a brief siesta⁴.

The morning excursion had been somewhat fatiguing⁵. Not that I was really tired—I seldom am. Ido not really know what fatigue⁶ is. One has so often, on public occasions, no matter what onereally feels—’

Again an adroit¹ murmur⁷ from Poirot.

‘As I say, I was in favour of a siesta. Miss Pierce agreed with me.’

‘Oh, yes,’ sighed Miss Pierce. ‘And I was terribly tired after the morning. Such a dangerousclimb—and although interesting, most exhausting. I’m afraid I’m not quite as strong as LadyWestholme.’

‘Fatigue,’ said Lady Westholme, ‘can be conquered like everything else. I make a point ofnever giving in to my bodily needs.’

Poirot said:

‘After lunch, then, you two ladies went to your tents?’

‘Yes.’

‘Mrs Boynton was then sitting at the mouth of her cave?’

‘Her daughter-in-law assisted her there before she herself went off.’

‘You could both see her?’

‘Oh, yes,’ said Miss Pierce. ‘She was opposite, you know—only, of course, a little way alongand up above.’

Lady Westholme elucidated⁸ the statement.

‘The caves opened on to a ledge⁹. Below that ledge were some tents. Then there was a smallstream and across that stream was the big marquee and some other tents. Miss Pierce and I hadtents near the marquee. She was on the right side of the marquee and I was on the left. Theopening of our tents faced the ledge, but of course it was some distance away.’

‘Nearly two hundred yards, I understand.’

‘Possibly.’

‘I have here a plan,’ said Poirot, ‘concocted with the help of the dragoman, Mahmoud.’

Lady Westholme remarked that in that case it was probably wrong!

‘That man is grossly inaccurate¹⁰. I have checked his statements from my Baedeker. Several timeshis information was definitely misleading.’

‘According to my plan,’ said Poirot, ‘the cave next to Mrs Boynton’s was occupied by her son,Lennox, and his wife. Raymond, Carol and Ginevra Boynton had tents just below but more to theright—in fact, almost opposite the marquee. On the right of Ginevra Boynton’s was Dr Gerard’stent and next to that again that of Miss King. On the other side of the stream—next to the marqueeon the left—you and Mr Cope had tents. Miss Pierce’s, as you mentioned, was on the right of themarquee. Is that correct?’

Lady Westholme admitted grudgingly¹¹ that as far as she knew it was.

‘I thank you. That is perfectly¹² clear. Pray continue, Lady Westholme.’

Lady Westholme smiled graciously on him and went on:

‘At about quarter to four I strolled along to Miss Pierce’s tent to see if she were awake yet andfelt like a stroll. She was sitting in the doorway¹³ of the tent reading. We agreed to start in about halfan hour when the sun was less hot. I went back to my tent and read for about twenty-five minutes.

Then I went along and joined Miss Pierce. She was ready and we started out. Everyone in thecamp seemed asleep—there was no one about, and seeing Mrs Boynton sitting up there alone, Isuggested to Miss Pierce that we should ask her if she wanted anything before we left.’

‘Yes, you did. Most thoughtful of you, I considered,’ murmured Miss Pierce.

‘I felt it to be my duty,’ said Lady Westholme with a rich complacency.

‘And then for her to be so rude about it!’ exclaimed Miss Pierce.

Poirot looked inquiring.

‘Our path passed just under the ledge,’ explained Lady Westholme, ‘and I called up to her,saying that we were going for a stroll and could we do anything for her before we went. Do youknow, M. Poirot, absolutely the only answer she gave us was a grunt¹⁴! A grunt! She just looked atus as though we were—as though we were dirt!’

‘Disgraceful it was!’ said Miss Pierce, flushing.

‘I must confess,’ said Lady Westholme, reddening a little, ‘that I made then a somewhatuncharitable remark.’

‘I think you were quite justified,’ said Miss Pierce. ‘Quite—under the circumstances.’

‘What was this remark?’ asked Poirot.

‘I said to Miss Pierce that perhaps she drank! Really her manner was most peculiar¹⁵. It had beenall along. I thought it possible that drink might account for it. The evils of alcoholic¹⁶ indulgence, asI very well know—’

Dexterously¹⁷, Poirot steered¹⁸ the conversation away from the drink question.

‘Had her manner been very peculiar on this particular day? At lunch-time, for instance?’

‘N-No,’ said Lady Westholme, considering. ‘No, I should say then that her manner had beenfairly normal—for an American of that type, that is to say,’ she added condescendingly.

‘She was very abusive to that servant,’ said Miss Pierce.

‘Which one?’

‘Not very long before we started out.’

‘Oh! yes, I remember, she did seem extraordinarily¹⁹ annoyed with him! Of course,’ went onLady Westholme, ‘to have servants about who cannot understand a word of English is very trying,but what I say is that when one is travelling one must make allowances.’

‘What servant was this?’ asked Poirot.

‘One of the Bedouin servants attached to the camp. He went up to her—I think she must havesent him to fetch her something, and I suppose he brought the wrong thing—I don’t really knowwhat it was—but she was very angry about it. The poor man slunk away as fast as he could, andshe shook her stick at him and called out.’

‘What did she call out?’

‘We were too far away to hear. At least I didn’t hear anything distinctly, did you, Miss Pierce?’

‘No, I didn’t. I think she’d sent him to fetch something from her youngest daughter’s tent—orperhaps she was angry with him for going into her daughter’s tent—I couldn’t say exactly.’

‘What did he look like?’

Miss Pierce, to whom the question was addressed, shook her head vaguely²⁰.

‘Really, I couldn’t say. He was too far away. All these Arabs look alike to me.’

‘He was a man of more than average height,’ said Lady Westholme, ‘and wore the usual nativehead-dress. He had on a pair of very torn and patched breeches—really disgraceful they were—and his puttees were wound most untidily—all anyhow! These men need discipline!’

‘You could point the man out among the camp servants?’

‘I doubt it. We didn’t see his face—it was too far away. And, as Miss Pierce says, really theseArabs look all alike.’

‘I wonder,’ said Poirot thoughtfully, ‘what it was he did to make Mrs Boynton so angry?’

‘They are very trying to the patience sometimes,’ said Lady Westholme. ‘One of them took myshoes away, though I had expressly told him—by pantomime too—that I preferred to clean myshoes myself.’

‘Always I do that, too,’ said Poirot, diverted for a moment from his interrogation. ‘I takeeverywhere my little shoe-cleaning outfit²¹. Also, I take a duster.’

‘So do I.’ Lady Westholme sounded quite human.

‘Because these Arabs they do not remove the dust from one’s belongings—’

‘Never! Of course one has to dust one’s things three or four times a day—’

‘But it is well worth it.’

‘Yes, indeed. I cannot STAND dirt!’

Lady Westholme looked positively²² militant²³.

She added with feeling:

‘The flies—in the bazaars—terrible!’

‘Well, well,’ said Poirot, looking slightly guilty. ‘We can soon inquire from this man what itwas that irritated Mrs Boynton. To continue with your story?’

‘We strolled along slowly,’ said Lady Westholme. ‘And then we met Dr Gerard. He wasstaggering along and looked very ill. I could see at once he had fever.’

‘He was shaking,’ put in Miss Pierce. ‘Shaking all over.’

‘I saw at once he had an attack of malaria²⁴ coming on,’ said Lady Westholme. ‘I offered to comeback with him and get him some quinine, but he said he had his own supply with him.’

‘Poor man,’ said Miss Pierce. ‘You know it always seems so dreadful to me to see a doctor ill. Itseems all wrong somehow.’

‘We strolled on,’ continued Lady Westholme. ‘And then we sat down on a rock.’

Miss Pierce murmured: ‘Really—so tired after the morning’s exertion—the climbing—’

‘I never feel fatigue,’ said Lady Westholme firmly. ‘But there was no point in going farther. Wehad a very good view of all the surrounding scenery.’

‘Were you out of sight of the camp?’

‘No, we were sitting facing towards it.’

‘So romantic,’ murmured Miss Pierce. ‘A camp pitched in the middle of a wilderness²⁵ of rose-red rocks.’

She sighed and shook her head.

‘That camp could be much better run than it is,’ said Lady Westholme. Her rocking-horsenostrils dilated²⁶. ‘I shall take up the matter with Castle’s. I am not at all sure that the drinking wateris boiled as well as filtered. It should be. I shall point that out to them.’

Poirot coughed and led the conversation quickly away from the subject of drinking water.

‘Did you see any other members of the party?’ he inquired.

‘Yes. The elder Mr Boynton and his wife passed us on their way back to the camp.’

‘Were they together?’

‘No, Mr Boynton came first. He looked a little as though he had had a touch of the sun. He waswalking as though he were slightly dizzy.’

‘The back of the neck,’ said Miss Pierce. ‘One must protect the back of the neck! I always weara thick silk handkerchief.’

‘What did Mr Lennox Boynton do on his return to the camp?’ asked Poirot.

For once Miss Pierce managed to get in first before Lady Westholme could speak.

‘He went right up to his mother, but he didn’t stay long with her.’

‘How long?’

‘Just a minute or two.’

‘I should put it at just over a minute myself,’ said Lady Westholme. ‘Then he went on into hiscave and after that he went down to the marquee.’

‘And his wife?’

‘She came along about a quarter of an hour later. She stopped a minute and spoke²⁷ to us—quitecivilly.’

‘I think she’s very nice,’ said Miss Pierce. ‘Very nice indeed.’

‘She is not so impossible as the rest of the family,’ allowed Lady Westholme.

‘You watched her return to the camp?’

‘Yes. She went up and spoke to her mother-in-law. Then she went into her cave and brought outa chair, and sat by her talking for some time—about ten minutes, I should say.’

‘And then?’

‘Then she took the chair back to the cave and went down to the marquee where her husbandwas.’

‘What happened next?’

‘That very peculiar American came along,’ said Lady Westholme. ‘Cope, I think his name is.

He told us that there was a very good example of the debased architecture of the period just roundthe bend of the valley. He said we ought not to miss it. Accordingly, we walked there. Mr Copehad with him quite an interesting article on Petra and the Nabateans.’

‘It was all most interesting,’ declared Miss Pierce.

Lady Westholme continued:

‘We strolled back to the camp, it being then about twenty minutes to six. It was growing quitechilly.’

‘Mrs Boynton was still sitting where you had left her?’

‘Yes.’

‘Did you speak to her?’

‘No. As a matter of fact I hardly noticed her.’

‘What did you do next?’

‘I went to my tent, changed my shoes and got out my own packet of China tea. I then went tothe marquee. The dragoman was there and I directed him to make some tea for Miss Pierce andmyself with the tea I had brought and to make quite sure that the water with which it was madewas boiling. He said that dinner would be ready in about half an hour—the boys were laying thetable at the time—but I said that made no difference.’

‘I always say a cup of tea makes all the difference,’ murmured Miss Pierce vaguely.

‘Was there anyone in the marquee?’

‘Oh, yes. Mr and Mrs Lennox Boynton were sitting at one end reading. And Carol Boynton wasthere too.’

‘And Mr Cope?’

‘He joined us at our tea,’ said Miss Pierce. ‘Though he said tea-drinking wasn’t an Americanhabit.’

Lady Westholme coughed.

‘I became just a little afraid that Mr Cope was going to be a nuisance—that he might fastenhimself upon me. It is a little difficult sometimes to keep people at arm’s length when one istravelling. I find they are inclined to presume. Americans, especially, are sometimes rather dense²⁸.’

Poirot murmured suavely²⁹:

‘I am sure, Lady Westholme, that you are quite capable of dealing³⁰ with situations of that kind.

When travelling acquaintances are no longer of any use to you, I am sure you are an adept³¹ atdropping them.’

‘I think I am capable of dealing with most situations,’ said Lady Westholme complacently³².

The twinkle in Poirot’s eye was quite lost upon her.

‘If you will just conclude your recital³³ of the day’s happenings?’ murmured Poirot.

‘Certainly. As far as I can remember, Raymond Boynton and the red-haired Boynton girl camein shortly afterwards. Miss King arrived last. Dinner was then ready to be served. One of theservants was dispatched by the dragoman to announce the fact to old Mrs Boynton. The man camerunning back with one of his comrades in a state of some agitation³⁴ and spoke to the dragoman inArabic. There was some mention of Mrs Boynton being taken ill. Miss King offered her services.

She went out with the dragoman. She came back and broke the news to the members of MrsBoynton’s family.’

‘She did it very abruptly,’ put in Miss Pierce. ‘Just blurted³⁵ it out. I think myself it ought to havebeen done more gradually.’

‘And how did Mrs Boynton’s family take the news?’ asked Poirot.

For once both Lady Westholme and Miss Pierce seemed a little at a loss. The former said at lastin a voice lacking its usual self-assurance:

‘Well—really—it is difficult to say. They—they were very quiet about it.’

‘Stunned,’ said Miss Pierce.

She offered the word more as a suggestion than as a fact.

‘They all went out with Miss King,’ said Lady Westholme. ‘Miss Pierce and I very sensiblyremained where we were.’

A faintly wistful look was observable in Miss Pierce’s eye at this point.

‘I detest³⁶ vulgar curiosity!’ continued Lady Westholme.

The wistful look became more pronounced. It was clear that Miss Pierce had had perforce tohate vulgar curiosity, too!

‘Later,’ concluded Lady Westholme, ‘the dragoman and Miss King returned. I suggested thatdinner should be served immediately to the four of us, so that the Boynton family could dine laterin the marquee without the embarrassment³⁷ of strangers being present. My suggestion was adoptedand immediately after the meal I retired³⁸ to my tent. Miss King and Miss Pierce did the same. MrCope, I believe, remained in the marquee as he was a friend of the family and thought he might beof some assistance to them. That is all I know, M. Poirot.’

‘When Miss King had broken the news, all the Boynton family accompanied her out of themarquee?’

‘Yes—no, I believe, now that you come to mention it, that the red-haired girl stayed behind.

Perhaps you can remember, Miss Pierce?’

‘Yes, I think—I am quite sure she did.’

Poirot asked: ‘What did she do?’

Lady Westholme stared at him.

‘What did she do, M. Poirot? She did not do anything as far as I can remember.’

‘I mean was she sewing—or reading—did she look anxious—did she say anything?’

‘Well, really —’ Lady Westholme frowned. ‘She — er — she just sat there as far as I canremember.’

‘She twiddled her fingers,’ said Miss Pierce suddenly. ‘I remember noticing—poor thing, Ithought, it shows what she’s feeling! Not that there was anything to show in her face, you know—just her hands turning and twisting.’

‘Once,’ went on Miss Pierce conversationally³⁹, ‘I remember tearing up a pound note that way—not thinking of what I was doing. “Shall I catch the first train and go to her?” I thought (it was agreat-aunt of mine—taken suddenly ill). “Or shall I not?” And I couldn’t make up my mind oneway or the other and there, I looked down, and instead of the telegram I was tearing up a poundnote—a pound note—into tiny pieces!’

Miss Pierce paused dramatically.

Not entirely⁴⁰ approving of this sudden bid for the limelight on the part of her satellite, LadyWestholme said coldly: ‘Is there anything else, M. Poirot?’

With a start, Poirot seemed to come out of a brown study. ‘Nothing—nothing—you have beenmost clear—most definite.’

‘I have an excellent memory,’ said Lady Westholme with satisfaction.

‘One last little demand, Lady Westholme,’ said Poirot. ‘Please continue to sit as you are sitting—without looking round. Now would you be so kind as to describe to me just what Miss Pierce iswearing today—that is if Miss Pierce does not object?’

‘Oh, no! not in the least!’ twittered Miss Pierce.

‘Really, M. Poirot, is there any object—’

‘Please be so kind as to do as I ask, madame.’

Lady Westholme shrugged⁴¹ her shoulders and then said with a rather bad grace:

‘Miss Pierce has on a striped brown and white cotton dress, and is wearing with it a Sudanesebelt of red, blue and beige leather. She is wearing beige silk stockings and brown glacé strapshoes. There is a ladder in her left stocking. She has a necklace of cornelian beads⁴² and one ofbright royal blue beads—and is wearing a brooch with a pearl butterfly on it. She has an imitationscarab ring on the third finger of her right hand. On her head she has a double terai of pink andbrown felt.’

She paused—a pause of quiet competence⁴³. Then:

‘Is there anything further?’ she asked coldly.

Poirot spread out his hands in a wild gesture.

‘You have my entire admiration⁴⁴, madame. Your observation is of the highest order.’

‘Details rarely escape me.’

Lady Westholme rose, made a slight inclination⁴⁵ of her head, and left the room. As Miss Piercewas following her, gazing down ruefully at her left leg, Poirot said:

‘A little moment, please, mademoiselle?’

‘Yes?’ Miss Pierce looked up, a slightly apprehensive⁴⁶ look upon her face.

Poirot leaned forward confidentially⁴⁷.

‘You see this bunch of wild flowers on the table here?’

‘Yes,’ said Miss Pierce—staring.

‘And you noticed that when you first came into the room I sneezed once or twice?’

‘Yes?’

‘Did you notice if I had just been sniffing⁴⁸ those flowers?’

‘Well—really—no—I couldn’t say.’

‘But you remember my sneezing?’

‘Oh yes, I remember that!’

Ah, well—no matter. I wondered, you see, if these flowers might induce the hay fever. Nomatter!’

‘Hay fever?’ cried Miss Pierce. ‘I remember a cousin of mine was a martyr⁴⁹ to it! She alwayssaid that if you sprayed your nose daily with a solution of boracic—’

With some difficulty Poirot shelved the cousin’s nasal treatment and got rid of Miss Pierce. Heshut the door and came back into the room with his eyebrows⁵⁰ raised.

‘But I did not sneeze,’ he murmured. ‘So much for that. No, I did not sneeze.’

 

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