Dumb Witness: A Hercule Poirot Mystery by Agatha Christie

Author:Agatha Christie [Christie, Agatha]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3, mobi
Tags: Mystery, Thriller, Suspense, Classics
ISBN: 0062073753
Amazon: B000FC2RRM
Publisher: Harper Paperbacks
Published: 2005-01-25T06:00:00+00:00

Sixteen

MRS. TANIOS

“Gentleman to see you, madame.”

The woman who was sitting writing at one of the tables in the writing room of the Durham Hotel turned her head and then rose, coming towards us uncertainly.

Mrs. Tanios might have been any age over thirty. She was a tall, thin woman with dark hair, rather prominent light “boiled gooseberry” eyes and a worried face. A fashionable hat was perched on her head at an unfashionable angle and she wore a rather depressed-looking cotton frock.

“I don’t think—” she began vaguely.

Poirot bowed.

“I have just come from your cousin, Miss Theresa Arundell.”

“Oh! from Theresa? Yes?”

“Perhaps I could have a few minutes’ private conversation?”

Mrs. Tanios looked about her rather vacantly. Poirot suggested a leather sofa at the far end of the room.

As we made our way there a high voice squeaked out:

“Mother, where are you going?”

“I shall be just over there. Go on with your letter, darling.”

The child, a thin, peaky-looking girl of about seven, settled down again to what was evidently a laborious task. Her tongue showed through her parted lips in the effort of composition.

The far end of the room was quite deserted. Mrs. Tanios sat down, we did the same. She looked inquiringly at Poirot.

He began:

“It is in reference to the death of your aunt, the late Miss Emily Arundell.”

Was I beginning to fancy things, or did a look of alarm spring up suddenly in those pale, prominent eyes.

“Yes?”

“Miss Arundell,” said Poirot, “altered her will a very short time before she died. By the new will everything was left to Miss Wilhelmina Lawson. What I want to know, Mrs. Tanios, is whether you will join with your cousins, Miss Theresa and Mr. Charles Arundell, in trying to contest that will?”

“Oh!” Mrs. Tanios drew a deep breath. “But I don’t think that’s possible, is it? I mean, my husband consulted a lawyer and he seemed to think that it was better not to attempt it.”

“Lawyers, madame, are cautious people. Their advice is usually to avoid litigation at all costs—and no doubt they are usually right. But there are times when it pays to take a risk. I am not a lawyer myself and therefore I look at the matter differently. Miss Arundell—Miss Theresa Arundell, I mean—is prepared to fight. What about you?”

“I—Oh! I really don’t know.” She twisted her fingers nervously together: “I should have to consult my husband.”

“Certainly, you must consult your husband before anything definite is undertaken. But what is your own feeling in the matter?”

“Well, really, I don’t know.” Mrs. Tanios looked more worried than ever. “It depends so much on my husband.”

“But you yourself, what do you think, madame?”

Mrs. Tanios frowned, then she said slowly:

“I don’t think I like the idea very much. It seems—it seems rather indecent, doesn’t it?”

“Does it, madame?”

“Yes—after all if Aunt Emily chose to leave her money away from her family, I suppose we must put up with it.”

“You do not feel aggrieved in the matter, then?”

“Oh, yes, I do.” A quick flush showed in her cheeks. “I think it was most unfair! Most unfair! And so unexpected.

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