from depression. Witness had heard her say at least three times that she 'wanted to end it all,' that her life was useless and that she was a millstone round her husband's neck.
'Why did she say that? Had there been any altercation 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 morbidly about the fact?'
'Yes. She would blame her miserable 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 and giddiness. She had seemed better in the evening – but her good spirits were a bit unnatural. She seemed feverish 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 mashed potatoes, and cherry tart. She had a glass of Burgundy 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 examined and found to be quite all right.'
'Could she have put the drug in her glass without your seeing?'
'Oh yes, easily. I was to and fro in the room, tidying up and arranging things. I was not watching her. She had a little despatch case beside her and also a handbag. She could have put anything 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. Or put it in the wastepaper basket, or even have washed it out in the bathroom and put it back in the medicine cupboard. There are several empty bottles there. I save them because they come in handy.'
'When did you last see Mrs Franklin?'
'At ten-thirty. I settled her for the night. She had hot milk and she said she'd like an aspirin.'
'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 depressed?'
'Well, no, more strung-up, so to speak. But if it's suicide you're thinking of, it might make her that way. She might feel noble or exalted 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 evidence clearly.
He had played picquet with the deceased on the night of her death. He had not noticed any signs of depression then, but in a conversation some days previously, Mrs Franklin had mentioned the subject of taking her own life. She was a very unselfish woman, and deeply distressed at feeling that she was hampering her husband's career. She was devoted to her husband and very ambitious for him. She was sometimes very depressed about her own health.
Judith was called, but had little to say.
She knew nothing about the removal of the physostigmine from the laboratory. On the night of the tragedy Mrs Franklin had seemed to her much as usual, though perhaps overexcited. She had never heard Mrs Franklin mention suicide.
The last witness was Hercule Poirot. His evidence was given with much emphasis and caused a considerable impression. He described a conversation he had had with Mrs Franklin on the day previous to her decease. She had been very depressed and had expressed several times a wish to be out of it all. She was worried about her health and had confided in him that she had fits of deep melancholy when life did not seem worth living. She said that sometimes she felt it would be wonderful to go to sleep and never wake up.
His next reply caused an even greater sensation.
'On the morning of June tenth 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 the deceased came to her death. They would have no difficulty in assigning the cause of death, the medical evidence had told them that. Deceased was poisoned by physostigmine sulphate. All they had to decide was whether she took it accidentally or by intent, or if it was administered, to her by some other person. They had heard that deceased had fits of melancholy, that she was in poor health, and that while there was no organic disease, she was in a bad nervous condition. M. Hercule Poirot, a witness whose name must carry weight, had asserted positively that he had seen Mrs Franklin come out of the laboratory with a small bottle in her hand and that she had seemed startled to see him. They might come to the conclusion that she had taken the poison from the laboratory with the intention of doing away with herself. She seemed to be suffering from an obsession that she was standing in her husband's light and obstructing his career. It was only fair to Dr Franklin to say that he seemed to have been a kind and affectionate husband, and that he had never expressed annoyance at her delicacy, or complained that she hindered his career. The idea seemed to be entirely her own. Women in a certain condition of nervous collapse did get these persistent ideas. There was no evidence to show at what time, or in what vehicle the poison was taken. It was, perhaps, a little unusual that the bottle which originally contained the poison had not been found, but it was possible that, as Nurse Craven suggested, Mrs Franklin had washed it and put it away in the bathroom cupboard from where she may have originally taken it. It was for the jury 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 exhausted. Curtiss had put him to bed and was
