IThe inquest took place two days later. It was the second time I had attended an inquest in this partof the world.
The coroner was an able middle-aged1 man with a shrewd glance and a dry manner of speech.
The medical evidence was taken first. It established the fact that death was the result ofpoisoning by physostigmine, and that other alkaloids of the Calabar bean were also present. Thepoison must have been taken some time on the preceding evening between seven o’clock andmidnight. The police surgeon and his colleague refused to be more precise.
The next witness was Dr. Franklin. He created on the whole a good impression. His evidencewas clear and simple. After his wife’s death he had checked over his solutions in the laboratory.
He had discovered that a certain bottle, which should have contained a strong solution of alkaloidsof the Calabar bean with which he had been conducting experiments, had been filled up withordinary water in which only a trace of the original contents was present. He could not say withcertainty when this had been done as he had not used that particular preparation for some days.
The question of access to the laboratory was then gone into. Dr. Franklin agreed that thelaboratory was usually kept locked and that he usually had the key in his pocket. His assistant,Miss Hastings, had a duplicate key. Anyone who wished to go into the studio had to get the keyfrom her or from himself. His wife had borrowed it occasionally, when she had left thingsbelonging to her in the laboratory. He himself had never brought a solution of physostigmine intothe house or into his wife’s room and he thought that by no possibility could she have taken itaccidentally.
Questioned further by the coroner, he said that his wife had for some time been in a low andnervous state of health. There was no organic disease. She suffered from depression and from arapid alteration2 of moods.
Of late, he said, she had been cheerful and he had considered her improved in health and spirits.
There had been no quarrel between them and they had been on good terms. On the last evening hiswife had seemed in good spirits and not melancholy3.
He said that his wife had occasionally spoken of ending her life but that he had not taken herremarks seriously. Asked the question definitely, he replied that in his opinion his wife had notbeen a suicidal type. That was his medical opinion as well as his personal one.
He was followed by Nurse Craven. She looked smart and efficient in her trim uniform and herreplies were crisp and professional. She had been in attendance on Mrs. Franklin for over twomonths. Mrs. Franklin suffered badly from depression. Witness had heard her say at least threetimes that she “wanted to end it all,” that her life was useless and that she was a millstone roundher husband’s neck.
“Why did she say that? Had there been any altercation4 between them?”
“Oh no, but she was aware that her husband had recently been offered an appointment abroad.
He had refused that in order not to leave her.”
“And sometimes she felt morbidly5 about the fact?”
“Yes. She would blame her miserable6 health, and get all worked up.”
“Did Dr. Franklin know about this?”
“I do not think she often said so to him.”
“But she was subject to fits of depression.”
“Oh, definitely.”
“Did she ever specifically mention committing suicide?”
“I think ‘I want to end it all’ was the phrase she used.”
“She never suggested any particular method of taking her own life?”
“No. She was quite vague.”
“Had there been anything especially to depress her of late?”
“No. She had been in reasonably good spirits.”
“Do you agree with Dr. Franklin that she was in good spirits on the night of her death?”
Nurse Craven hesitated. “Well—she was excited. She’d had a bad day—complained of pain andgiddiness. She had seemed better in the evening, but her good spirits were a bit unnatural7. Sheseemed feverish8 and rather artificial.”
“Did you see anything of a bottle, or anything that might have contained the poison?”
“No.”
“What did she eat and drink?”
“She had soup, a cutlet, green peas and mashed9 potatoes, and cherry tart10. She had a glass ofburgundy with it.”
“Where did the burgundy come from?”
“There was a bottle in her room. There was some left afterwards but I believe it was examinedand found to be quite all right.”
“Could she have put the drug in her glass without you seeing?”
“Oh yes, easily. I was to and fro in the room, tidying up and arranging things. I was notwatching her. She had a little despatch11 case beside her and also a handbag. She could have putanything in the burgundy, or later in the coffee, or in the hot milk she had last thing.”
“Have you any idea as to what she could have done with the bottle or container if so?”
Nurse Craven considered. “Well, I suppose she could have thrown it out of the window later. Orput it in the wastepaper basket, or even washed it out in the bathroom and put it back in themedicine cupboard. There are several empty bottles there. I save them because they come inhandy.”
“When did you last see Mrs. Franklin?”
“At ten-thirty. I settled her for the night. She had hot milk and said she’d like an aspirin12.”
“How was she then?”
The witness considered a minute.
“Well, really, just as usual .?.?. No, I’d say she was perhaps just a bit overexcited.”
“Not depressed13?”
“Well, no, more strung up, so to speak. But if it’s suicide you’re thinking of, it might take herthat way. She might feel noble or exalted14 about it.”
“Do you consider she was a likely person to take her own life?”
There was a pause. Nurse Craven seemed to be struggling to make up her mind.
“Well,” she said at last, “I do and I don’t. I—yes, on the whole I do. She was very unbalanced.”
Sir William Boyd Carrington came next. He seemed genuinely upset, but gave his evidenceclearly.
He had played picquet with the deceased on the night of her death. He had not noticed any signsof depression then, but in a conversation some days previously15 Mrs. Franklin had mentioned thesubject of taking her own life. She was a very unselfish woman, and deeply distressed16 at feelingthat she was hampering17 her husband’s career. She was devoted18 to her husband and very ambitiousfor him. She was sometimes very depressed about her own health.
Judith was called, but she had little to say.
She knew nothing about the removal of the physostigmine from the laboratory. On the night ofthe tragedy Mrs. Franklin had seemed to her much as usual, though perhaps overexcited. She hadnever heard Mrs. Franklin mention suicide.
The last witness was Hercule Poirot. His evidence was given with much emphasis and caused aconsiderable impression. He described a conversation he had had with Mrs. Franklin on the dayprevious to her decease. She had been very depressed and had expressed several times a wish to beout of it all. She was worried about her health and had confided19 in him that she had fits of deepmelancholy when life did not seem worth living. She said that sometimes she felt it would bewonderful to go to sleep and never wake up.
His next reply caused an even greater sensation.
“On the morning of June 10th you were sitting outside the laboratory door?”
“Yes.”
“Did you see Mrs. Franklin come out of the laboratory?”
“I did.”
“Did she have anything in her hand?”
“She had a small bottle clasped in her right hand.”
“You are quite sure of that?”
“Yes.”
“Did she show any confusion at seeing you?”
“She looked startled, that is all.”
The coroner proceeded to his summing up. They must make up their minds, he said, how thedeceased came to her death. They would have no difficulty in assigning the cause of death, themedical evidence had told them that. Deceased was poisoned by physostigmine sulphate. All theyhad to decide was whether she took it accidentally or by intent, or if it was administered to her bysome other person. They had heard that deceased had fits of melancholy, that she was in poorhealth, and that while there was no organic disease, she was in a bad nervous condition. Mr.
Hercule Poirot, a witness whose name must carry weight, had asserted positively20 that he had seenMrs. Franklin come out of the laboratory with a small bottle in her hand and that she seemedstartled to see him. They might come to the conclusion that she had taken the poison from thelaboratory with the intention of doing away with herself. She seemed to be suffering from anobsession that she was standing21 in her husband’s light and obstructing22 his career. It was only fairto Dr. Franklin to say that he seemed to have been a kind and affectionate husband, and that he hadnever expressed annoyance23 at her delicacy24, or complained that she hindered his career. The ideaseemed to be entirely25 her own. Women in a certain condition of nervous collapse26 did get thesepersistent ideas. There was no evidence to show at what time or in what vehicle the poison wastaken. It was, perhaps, a little unusual that the bottle which originally contained the poison had notbeen found, but it was possible that, as Nurse Craven suggested, Mrs. Franklin had washed it andput it away in the bathroom cupboard from where she may have originally taken it. It was for thejury to make their own decision.
The verdict was arrived at after only a short delay.
The jury found that Mrs. Franklin took her own life while temporarily of unsound mind.
II
Half an hour later I was in Poirot’s room. He was looking very exhausted27. Curtiss had put him tobed and was reviving him with a stimulant28.
I was dying to talk but I had to contain myself until the valet had finished and left the room.
Then I burst out. “Was that true, Poirot, what you said? That you saw a bottle in Mrs. Franklin’shand when she came out of the laboratory?”
A very faint smile crept over Poirot’s bluish-tinged lips. He murmured: “Did not you see it, myfriend?”
“No, I did not.”
“But you might not have noticed, hein?”
“No, perhaps not. I certainly can’t swear she didn’t have it.” I looked at him doubtfully. “Thequestion is, are you speaking the truth?”
“Do you think I would lie, my friend?”
“I wouldn’t put it past you.”
“Hastings, you shock and surprise me. Where is now your simple faith?”
“Well,” I conceded. “I don’t suppose you would really commit perjury29.”
Poirot said mildly: “It would not be perjury. It was not on oath.”
“Then it was a lie?”
Poirot waved his hand automatically. “What I have said, mon ami, is said. It is unnecessary todiscuss it.”
“I simply don’t understand you!” I cried.
“What don’t you understand?”
“Your evidence—all that about Mrs. Franklin’s having talked about committing suicide, abouther being depressed.”
“Enfin, you heard her say such things yourself.”
“Yes. But it was only one of many moods. You didn’t make that clear.”
“Perhaps I did not want to.”
I stared at him. “You wanted the verdict to be suicide?”
Poirot paused before replying. Then he said: “I think, Hastings, that you do not appreciate thegravity of the situation. Yes, if you like, I wanted the verdict to be suicide. .?.?.”
I said: “But you didn’t think—yourself—that she did commit suicide?”
Slowly Poirot shook his head.
I said: “You think—that she was murdered?”
“Yes, Hastings, she was murdered.”
“Then why try to hush30 it up, to have it labelled and put aside as suicide? That stops all enquiry.”
“Precisely.”
“You want that?”
“Yes.”
“But why?”
“Is it conceivable that you do not see? Never mind—let us not go into that. You must take myword for it that it was murder—deliberate preconceived murder. I told you, Hastings, that a crimewould be committed here, and that it was unlikely we should be able to prevent it—for the killer31 isboth ruthless and determined32.”
I shivered. I said: “And what happens next?”
Poirot smiled. “The case is solved—labelled and put away as suicide. But you and I, Hastings,go on working underground, like moles33. And, sooner or later, we get X.”
I said: “And supposing that, meanwhile, someone else is killed?”
Poirot shook his head. “I do not think so. Unless, that is, somebody saw something or knowssomething, but if so, surely, they would have come forward to say so .?.?. ?”
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middle-aged
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alteration
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melancholy
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| n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的 | |
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altercation
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morbidly
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| adv.病态地 | |
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miserable
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| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
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unnatural
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| adj.不自然的；反常的 | |
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feverish
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| adj.发烧的，狂热的，兴奋的 | |
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mashed
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| a.捣烂的 | |
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tart
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| adj.酸的；尖酸的，刻薄的；n.果馅饼；淫妇 | |
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despatch
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| n./v.(dispatch)派遣；发送；n.急件；新闻报道 | |
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aspirin
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| n.阿司匹林 | |
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depressed
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| adj.沮丧的，抑郁的，不景气的，萧条的 | |
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exalted
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| adj.(地位等)高的，崇高的；尊贵的，高尚的 | |
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previously
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| adv.以前，先前（地） | |
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distressed
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| 痛苦的 | |
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hampering
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| 妨碍，束缚，限制( hamper的现在分词 ) | |
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devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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confided
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| v.吐露（秘密，心事等）( confide的过去式和过去分词 )；（向某人）吐露（隐私、秘密等） | |
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positively
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| adv.明确地，断然，坚决地；实在，确实 | |
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standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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obstructing
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| 阻塞( obstruct的现在分词 )； 堵塞； 阻碍； 阻止 | |
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annoyance
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| n.恼怒，生气，烦恼 | |
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delicacy
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| n.精致，细微，微妙，精良；美味，佳肴 | |
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entirely
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collapse
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exhausted
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| adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的 | |
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stimulant
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| n.刺激物，兴奋剂 | |
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perjury
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| n.伪证；伪证罪 | |
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hush
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| int.嘘，别出声；n.沉默，静寂；v.使安静 | |
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killer
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| n.杀人者，杀人犯，杀手，屠杀者 | |
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determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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moles
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| 防波堤( mole的名词复数 )； 鼹鼠； 痣； 间谍 | |
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