'But since you suggest that your cousin Theresa Arundell might have tried to poison your aunt's mind -'
'She did! I'm sure she did!' Mrs Tanios leant forward eagerly. 'You are quite right. There was a change! Aunt Emily was suddenly far more distant to him. And she behaved very oddly. There was a special digestive mixture he recommended – even went to the trouble of getting her some – going to the druggist and having it made up. She thanked him and all that – but rather stiffly, and later I actually saw her pouring the bottle down the sink!'
Her indignation was quite fierce.
Poirot's eyes flickered.
'A very odd procedure,' he said. His voice was carefully unexcited.
'I thought it most ungrateful,' said Dr Tanios's wife hotly.
'As you say, elderly ladies distrust foreigners sometimes,' said Poirot. 'I am sure they think that English doctors are the only doctors in the world. Insularity accounts for a lot.'
'Yes, I suppose it does.' Mrs Tanios looked slightly mollified.
'When do you return to Smyrna, madame?'
'In a few weeks' time. My husband – ah! here is my husband and John with him.'
Chapter 17
DR. TANIOS
I must say that my first sight of Dr Tanios was rather a shock. I had been imbuing him in my mind with all sorts of sinister attributes. I had been picturing to myself a dark bearded foreigner with a swarthy aspect and a sinister cast of countenance.
Instead, I saw a rotund, jolly, brownhaired, brown-eyed man. And though it is true he had a beard, it was a modest brown affair that made him look more like an artist. He spoke English perfectly. His voice had a pleasant timbre and matched the cheerful good-humour of his face.
'Here we are,' he said, smiling to his wife. 'John has been passionately thrilled by his first ride in the tube. He has always been in buses until today.'
John was not unlike his father in appearance, but both he and his little sister had a definitely foreign-looking appearance and I understood what Miss Peabody had meant when she described them as rather yellow-looking children.
The presence of her husband seemed to make Mrs Tanios nervous. Stammering a little, she introduced Poirot to him. Me, she ignored.
Dr Tanios took up the name sharply.
'Poirot? Monsieur Hercule Poirot? But I know that name well! And what brings you to us, M. Poirot?'
'It is the affair of a lady lately deceased. Miss Emily Arundell,' replied Poirot.
'My wife's aunt? Yes – what of her?'
Poirot said slowly:
'Certain matters have arisen in connection with her death -'
Mrs Tanios broke in suddenly:
'It's about the will, Jacob. M. Poirot has been conferring with Theresa and Charles.'
Some of the tensity went out of Dr Tanios's attitude. He dropped into a chair.
'Ah, the will! An iniquitous will – but there, it is not my business, I suppose.'
Poirot sketched an account of his interview with the two Arundells (hardly a truthful one, I may say) and cautiously hinted at a fighting chance of upsetting the will.
'You interest me, M. Poirot, very much. I may say I am of your opinion. Something could be done. I actually went as far as to consult a lawyer on the subject, but his advice was not encouraging. Therefore -' He shrugged his shoulders.
'Lawyers, as I have told your wife, are cautious people. They do not like taking chances. But me, I am different! And you?'
Dr Tanios laughed – a rich, rollicking laugh.
'Oh, I'd take a chance all right! Often have, haven't I, Bella, old girl?' He smiled across at her, and she smiled back at him – but in a rather mechanical manner, I thought.
He turned his attention back to Poirot.
'I am not a lawyer,' he said. 'But in my opinion it is perfectly clear that that will was made when the old lady was not responsible for what she was doing. That Lawson woman is both clever and cunning.'
Mrs Tanios moved uneasily. Poirot looked at her quickly.
'You do not agree, madame?'
She said rather weakly:
'She has always been very kind. I shouldn't call her clever.'
'She's been kind to you,' said Dr Tanios, 'because she had nothing to fear from you, my dear Bella. You're easily taken in!'
He spoke quite good-humouredly, but his wife flushed.
'With me it was different,' he went on. 'She didn't like me. And she made no bones about showing it! I'll give you an instance. The old lady had a fall down the stairs when we were staying there. I insisted on coming back the following weekend to see how she was. Miss Lawson did her utmost to prevent us. She didn't succeed, but she was annoyed about it, I could see. The reason was clear. She wanted the old lady to herself.'
Again Poirot turned to the wife.
'You agree, madame?'
Her husband did not give her time to answer.
'Bella's too kind-hearted,' he said. 'You won't get her to impute bad motives to anybody. But I'm quite sure I was right. I'll tell you another thing, M. Poirot. The secret of her ascendency over old Miss Arundell was spiritualism! That's how it was done, depend upon it!'
'You think so?'
'Sure of it, my dear fellow. I've seen a lot of that sort of thing. It gets hold of people. You'd be amazed! Especially any one of Miss Arundell's age. I'd be prepared to bet that that's how the suggestion came. Some spirit – possibly her dead father – ordered her to alter her will and leave her money to the Lawson woman. She was in bad health – credulous -'
There was a very faint movement from Mrs Tanios. Poirot turned to her.
'You think it possible – yes?'
'Speak up, Bella,' said Dr Tanios. 'Tell us your views.'
He looked at her encouragingly. Her quick look back at him was an odd one. She hesitated, then said:
'I know so little about these things. I dare say you're right, Jacob.'
'Depend upon it I'm all right, eh, M. Poirot?'
Poirot nodded his head.
'It may be – yes.' Then he said, 'You were down at Market Basing, I think, the weekend before Miss Arundell's death?'
'We were down at Easter and again the weekend after – that is right.'
'No, no, I meant the weekend after that – on the 26th. You were there on the Sunday, I think?'
'Oh, Jacob, were you?' Mrs Tanios looked at him wide-eyed.
He turned quickly.
'Yes, you remember? I just ran down in the afternoon. I told you about it.'
Both Poirot and I were looking at her. Nervously she pushed her hat a little further back on her head.
'Surely you remember, Bella,' her husband continued. 'What a terrible memory you've got.'
'Of course!' she apologized, a thin smile on her face. 'It's quite true; I have a shocking memory. And it's nearly two months ago now.'
'Miss Theresa Arundell and Mr Charles Arundell were there then, I believe?' said Poirot.
'They may have been,' said Tanios easily. 'I didn't see them.'
'You were not there very long then?'
