''Allo – 'allo – is that the Durham Hotel? Can you tell me if Mrs Tanios is in? What? T-a-n-i-o-s. Yes, that is right. Yes? Yes? Oh, I see.' He replaced the receiver.
'Mrs Tanios left the hotel this morning early. She returned at eleven, waited in the taxi whilst her luggage was brought down and drove away with it.'
'Does Tanios know she took away her luggage?'
'I think not as yet.'
'Where has she gone?'
'Impossible to tell.'
'Do you think she will come back here?'
'Possibly. I cannot tell.'
'Perhaps she will write.'
'Perhaps.'
'What can we do?'
Poirot shook his head. He looked worried and distressed.
'Nothing at the moment. A hasty lunch and then we will go and see Theresa Arundell.'
'Do you believe it was her on the stairs?'
'Impossible to tell. One thing I made sure of – Miss Lawson could not have seen her face. She saw a tall figure in a dark dressing gown, that is all.'
'And the brooch?'
'My dear friend, a brooch is not part of a person's anatomy! It can be detached from that person. It can be lost – or borrowed – or even stolen.'
'In other words, you don't want to believe Theresa Arundell guilty?'
'I want to hear what she has to say on the matter.'
'And if Mrs Tanios comes back?'
'I will arrange for that.'
George brought in an omelette.
'Listen, George,' said Poirot. 'If that lady comes back, you will ask her to wait. If Dr Tanios comes while she is here, on no account let him in. If he asks if his wife is here, you will tell him she is not. You understand?'
'Perfectly, sir.'
Poirot attacked the omelette.
'This business complicates itself,' he said. 'We must step very carefully. If not – the murderer will strike again.'
'If he did you might get him.'
'Quite possibly, but I prefer the life of the innocent to the conviction of the guilty. We must go very, very carefully.'
Chapter 24
THERESA'S DENIAL
We found Theresa Arundell just preparing to go out.
She was looking extraordinarily attractive. A small hat of the most outrageous fashion descended rakishly over one eye. I recognized with momentary amusement that Bella Tanios had worn a cheap imitation of such a hat yesterday and had worn it – as George had put it – on the back of the head instead of over the right eye. I remembered well how she had pushed it further and further back on her untidy hair.
Poirot said politely:
'Can I have just a minute or two, mademoiselle, or will it delay you too much?'
Theresa laughed.
'Oh, it doesn't matter. I'm always three quarters of an hour late for everything. I might just as well make it an hour.'
She led him into the sitting-room. To my surprise Dr Donaldson rose from a chair by the window.
'You've met M. Poirot already. Rex, haven't you?'
'We met at Market Basing,' said Donaldson stiffly.
'You were pretending to write the life of my drunken grandfather, I understand,' said Theresa. 'Rex, my angel, will you leave us?'
'Thank you, Theresa, but I think that from every point of view it would be advisable for me to be present at this interview.'
There was a brief duel of eyes. Theresa's were commanding. Donaldson's were impervious. She showed a quick flash of anger.
'All right, stay then, damn you!'
Dr Donaldson seemed unperturbed.
He seated himself again in the chair by the window, laying down his book on the arm of it. It was a book on the pituitary gland, I noticed.
Theresa sat down on her favourite low stool and looked impatiently at Poirot.
'Well, you've seen Purvis? What about it?'
Poirot said in a non-committal voice:
'There are – possibilities, mademoiselle.'
She looked at him thoughtfully. Then she sent a very faint glance in the direction of the doctor. It was, I think, intended as a warning to Poirot.
'But it would be well, I think,' went on Poirot, 'for me to report later when my plans are more advanced.'
A faint smile showed for a minute on Theresa's face.
Poirot continued:
'I have today come from Market Basing and while there I have talked to Miss Lawson. Tell me, mademoiselle, did you on the night of April 13th (that was the night of the Easter Bank Holiday) kneel upon the stairs after every one had gone to bed?'
'My dear Hercule Poirot, what an extraordinary question. Why should I?'
'The question, mademoiselle, is not why you should, but whether you did.'
'I'm sure I don't know. I should think it most unlikely.'
'You comprehend, mademoiselle. Miss Lawson says you did.'
Theresa shrugged her attractive shoulders.
'Does it matter?'
'It matters very much.'
She stared at him in a perfectly amiable fashion. Poirot stared back.
'Loopy!' said Theresa.
'Pardon?'
'Definitely loopy!' said Theresa. 'Don't you think so, Rex?'
Dr Donaldson coughed.
'Excuse me, M. Poirot, but what is the point of the question?'
My friend spread out his hands.
'It is most simple! Some one drove in a nail in a convenient position at the head of the stairs. The nail was just touched with brown varnish to match the skirting-board.'
'Is this a new kind of witchcraft?' asked Theresa.
'No, mademoiselle, it is much more homely and simple than that. On the following evening, the Tuesday, some one attached a string or thread from the nail to the banisters with the result that when Miss Arundell came out of her room she caught her foot in it and went headlong down the stairs.'
Theresa drew in her breath sharply.
'That was Bob's ball!'
'Pardon, it was not.'
