The exhibit went to the jury. 'What did you take it to be?'
'A fragment off a printed label – such as are used on glass tubes of morphia.'
Counsel for the Defence arose with leisurely ease.
He said, 'You found this scrap in a crack in the flooring?'
'Yes.'
'Part of a label?'
'Yes.'
'Did you find the rest of that label?'
'No.'
'You did not find any glass tube or any bottle to which that label might have been affixed?'
'No.'
'What was the state of that scrap of paper when you found it? Was it clean or dirty?'
'It was quite fresh.'
'What do you mean, quite fresh?'
'There was surface dust on it from the flooring, but it was quite clean otherwise.'
'It could not have been there for any length of time?'
'No, it had found its way there quite recently.'
'You would say, then, that it had come there on the actual day you found it – not earlier?'
'Yes.'
With a grunt Sir Edwin sat down.
IV
Nurse Hopkins in the box, her face red and self-righteous. All the same, Elinor thought, Nurse Hopkins was not so frightening as Inspector Brill. It was the inhumanity of Inspector Brill that was so paralysing. He was so definitely part of a great machine. Nurse Hopkins had human passions, prejudices.
'Your name is Jessie Hopkins?'
'Yes.'
'You are a certified District Nurse and you reside at Rose Cottage, Hunterbury?'
'Yes.'
'Where were you on the 28th of June last?'
'I was at Hunterbury Hall.'
'You had been sent for?'
'Yes. Mrs. Welman had had a stroke – the second. I went to assist Nurse O'Brien until a second nurse could be found.'
'Did you take a small attache case with you?'
'Yes.'
'Tell the jury what was in it.'
'Bandages, dressings, a hypodermic syringe, and certain drugs, including a tube of morphine hydrochloride.'
'For what purpose was the morphine there?'
'One of the cases in the village had to have hypodermic injections of morphia morning and evening.'
'What were the contents of the tube?'
'There were twenty tablets, each containing half-grain Morphine Hydrochloride.'
'What did you do with your attache case?' 'I laid it down in the hall.'
'That was on the evening of the 28th. When did you next have occasion to look in the case?'
'The following morning about nine o'clock, just as I was preparing to leave the house.'
'Was anything missing?'
'The tube of morphine was missing.'
'Did you mention this loss?'
'I spoke of it to Nurse O'Brien, the nurse in charge of the patient.'
'This case was lying in the hall, where people were in the habit of passing to and fro?'
'Yes.'
Sir Samuel paused. Then he said, 'You knew the dead girl, Mary Gerrard, intimately?'
'Yes.'
'What was your opinion of her?'
'She was a very sweet girl – and a good girl.'
'Was she of a happy disposition?'
'Very happy.'
'She had no troubles that you know of?'
'No.'
'At the time of her death was there anything whatever to worry her or make her unhappy about the future?'
'Nothing.'
'She would have had no reason to have taken her own life?'
'No reason at all.'
It went on and on – the damning story. How Nurse Hopkins had accompanied Mary to the lodge, the appearance of Elinor, her excitable manner, the invitation to sandwiches, the plate being handed first to Mary. Elinor's suggestion that everything be washed up, and her further suggestion that Nurse Hopkins should come upstairs with her and assist in sorting out clothes.
There were frequent interruptions and objections from Sir Edwin Bulmer.
Elinor thought. Yes, it's all true – and she believes it. She's certain I did it. And every word she says is the truth – that's what's so horrible. It's all true.
Once more, as she looked across the court, she saw the face of Hercule Poirot regarding her thoughtfully – almost kindly. Seeing her with too much knowledge.
The piece of cardboard with the scrap of label pasted on it was handed to the witness.
'Do you know what this is?'
'It's a bit of a label.'
'Can you tell the jury what label?'
'Yes – it's a part of a label off a tube of hypodermic tablets. Morphine tablets half-grain – like the one I lost.'
'You are sure of that?'
'Of course I'm sure. It's off my tube.'
The judge said, 'Is there any special mark on it by which you can identify it as the label of the tube you lost?'
'No, my Lord, but it must be the same.'
'Actually, all you can say is that it is exactly similar?'
'Well, yes, that's what I mean.' The court adjourned.
Chapter 22
I
