'Looked at from that point of view, gentlemen of the jury, I submit to you that the case against Elinor Carlisle falls to the ground.'
II
From Mr. Justice Beddingfeld's summing-up:
'… You must be perfectly satisfied that this woman did, in fact, administer a dangerous dose of morphia to Mary Gerrard on July 27th. If you are not satisfied, you must acquit the prisoner.'
'The Prosecution has stated that the only person who had the opportunity to administer poison to Mary Gerrard was the accused. The Defence has sought to prove that there were other alternatives. There is the theory that Mary Gerrard committed suicide, but the only evidence in support of that theory is the fact that Mary Gerrard made a will shortly before she died. There is not the slightest proof that she was depressed or unhappy or in a state of mind likely to lead her to take her own life. It has also been suggested that the morphine might have been introduced into the sandwiches by someone entering the pantry during the time that Elinor Carlisle was at the lodge. In that case, the poison was intended for Elinor Carlisle, and Mary Gerrard's death was a mistake. The third alternative suggested by the Defence is that another person had an equal opportunity to administer morphine, and that in the latter case the poison was introduced into the tea and not into the sandwiches. In support of that theory the Defence has called the witness Littledale, who has sworn that the scrap of paper found in the pantry was part of a label on a tube containing tablets of apomorphine hydrochloride, a very powerful emetic. You have had an example of both types of labels submitted to you. In my view, the police were guilty of gross carelessness in not checking the original fragment more closely and in jumping to the conclusion that it was a morphine label.'
'The witness Hopkins has stated that she pricked her wrist on a rose tree at the lodge. The witness Wargrave has examined that tree, and it has no thorns on it. You have to decide what caused the mark on Nurse Hopkins's wrist and why she should tell a lie about it…'
'If the Prosecution has convinced you that the accused and no other committed the crime, then you must find the accused guilty.'
'If the alternative theory suggested by the Defence is possible and consistent with the evidence, the accused must be acquitted.'
'I will ask you to consider the verdict with courage and diligence, weighing only the evidence that has been put before you.'
III
Elinor was brought back into the court.
The jury filed in.
'Gentlemen of the jury, are you agreed upon your verdict?'
'Yes.'
'Look upon the prisoner at the bar, and say whether she is guilty or not guilty.'
'Not guilty.'
Chapter 25
They had brought her out by a side door. She had been aware of faces welcoming her – Roddy – the detective with the big moustache.
But it was to Peter Lord she had turned. 'I want to get away.'
She was with him now in the smooth Daimler, driving rapidly out of London. He had said nothing to her. She had sat in the blessed silence.
Every minute taking her farther and farther away.
A new life… That was what she wanted… A new life.
She said suddenly, 'I – I want to go somewhere quiet – where there won't be any faces.'
Peter Lord said quietly, 'That's all arranged. You're going to a sanatorium. Quiet place. Lovely gardens. No one will bother you – or get at you.'
She said with a sigh, 'Yes – that's what I want.'
It was being a doctor, she supposed, that made him understand. He knew – and didn't bother her. So blessedly peaceful to be here with him, going away from it all, out of London – to a place that was safe.
She wanted to forget – forget everything. None of it was real any longer. It was all gone, vanished, finished with – the old life and the old emotions. She was a new, strange, defenceless creature, very crude and raw, beginning all over again. Very strange and very afraid.
But it was comforting to be with Peter Lord.
They were out of London now, passing through suburbs. She said at last, 'It was all you – all you.'
Peter Lord said, 'It was Hercule Poirot. The fellow's a kind of magician!'
But Elinor shook her head. She said obstinately, 'It was you. You got hold of him and made him do it!'
Peter grinned. 'I made him do it, all right.'
Elinor said, 'Did you know I hadn't done it, or weren't you sure?'
Peter said simply, 'I was never quite sure.'
Elinor said, 'That's why I nearly said 'guilty' right at the beginning – because, you see, I had thought of it… I thought of it that day when I laughed outside the cottage.'
Peter said, 'Yes, I knew.'
She said wonderingly, 'It seems so queer now – like a kind of possession. That day I bought the paste and cut the sandwiches I was pretending to myself, I was thinking, 'I've mixed poison with this, and when she eats she will die – and then Roddy will come back to me.''
Peter Lord said, 'It helps some people to pretend that sort of thing to themselves. It isn't a bad thing, really. You take it out of yourself in a fantasy. Like sweating a thing out of your system.'
Elinor said, 'Yes, that's true. Because it went – suddenly! The blackness, I mean! When that woman mentioned the rose tree outside the lodge – it all swung back into – into being normal again.'
Then with a shiver she said, 'Afterward when we went into the morning-room and she was dead – dying, at least – I felt then: Is there much difference between thinking and doing murder?'
Peter Lord said, 'All the difference in the world!'
'Yes, but is there?'
'Of course there is! Thinking murder doesn't really do any harm. People have silly ideas about that; they think it's the same as planning murder! It isn't. If you think murder long enough, you suddenly come through the blackness and feel that it's all rather silly!'
Elinor cried, 'Oh! you are a comforting person.'
Peter Lord said rather incoherently, 'Not at all. Just common sense.'
Elinor said, and there were suddenly tears in her eyes, 'Every now and then – in court – I looked at you. It gave me courage. You looked so – so ordinary.'
Then she laughed. 'That's rude!'
He said, 'I understand. When you're in the middle of a nightmare something ordinary is the only hope. Anyway, ordinary things are the best. I've always thought so.'
For the first time since she had entered the car she turned her head and looked at him. The sight of his face didn't hurt her as Roddy's face always hurt her; it gave her no sharp pang of pain and pleasure mixed; instead, it made her feel warm and comforted.
