“Now, to support this theory, the criminal must have been fully
cognizant of Mr. Renauld’s plans. That leads us to Madame Renauld. But
facts fail to support any theory of her guilt. Is there any one else
who might have known of them? Yes. From Marthe Daubreuil’s own lips we
have the admission that she overheard M. Renauld’s quarrel with the
tramp. If she could overhear that, there is no reason why she should
not have heard everything else, especially if M. and Madame Renauld
were imprudent enough to discuss their plans sitting on the bench.
Remember how easily you overheard Marthe’s conversation with Jack
Renauld from that spot.”
“But what possible motive could Marthe have for murdering Mr. Renauld?”
I argued.
“What motive? Money! M. Renauld was a millionaire several times over,
and at his death (or so she and Jack believed) half that vast fortune
would pass to his son. Let us reconstruct the scene from the standpoint
of Marthe Daubreuil.
“Marthe Daubreuil overhears what passes between Renauld and his wife.
So far he has been a nice little source of income to the Daubreuil
mother and daughter, but now he proposes to escape from their toils. At
first, possibly, her idea is to prevent that escape. But a bolder idea
takes its place, and one that fails to horrify the daughter of Jeanne
Beroldy! At present M. Renauld stands inexorably in the way of her
marriage with Jack. If the latter defies his father, he will be a
pauper—which is not at all to the mind of Mademoiselle Marthe. In fact,
I doubt if she has ever cared a straw for Jack Renauld. She can
simulate emotion, but in reality she is of the same cold, calculating
type as her mother. I doubt, too, whether she was really very sure of
her hold over the boy’s affections. She had dazzled and captivated him,
but separated from her, as his father could so easily manage to
separate him, she might lose him. But with M. Renauld dead, and Jack
the heir to half his millions, the marriage can take place at once, and
at a stroke she will attain wealth—not the beggarly thousands that have
been extracted from him so far. And her clever brain takes in the
simplicity of the thing. It is all so easy. M. Renauld is planning all
the circumstances of his death—she has only to step in at the right
moment and turn the farce into a grim reality. And here comes in the
second point which led me infallibly to Marthe Daubreuil—the dagger!
Jack Renauld had _three___ souvenirs made. One he gave to his mother,
one to Bella Duveen; was it not highly probable that he had given the
third one to Marthe Daubreuil?
“So then, to sum up, there were four points of note against Marthe
Daubreuil:
“(1) Marthe Daubreuil could have overheard M. Renauld’s plans.
“(2) Marthe Daubreuil had a direct interest in causing M. Renauld’s
death.
“(3) Marthe Daubreuil was the daughter of the notorious Madame Beroldy
who in my opinion was morally and virtually the murderess of her
husband, although it may have been Georges Conneau’s hand which struck
the actual blow.
“(4) Marthe Daubreuil was the only person, besides Jack Renauld, likely
to have the third dagger in her possession.”
Poirot paused and cleared his throat.
“Of course, when I learned of the existence of the other girl, Bella
Duveen, I realized that it was quite possible that _she___ might have
killed M. Renauld. The solution did not commend itself to me, because,
as I pointed out to you, Hastings, an expert, such as I am, likes to
meet a foeman worthy of his steel. Still one must take crimes as one
finds them, not as one would like them to be. It did not seem very
likely that Bella Duveen would be wandering about carrying a souvenir
paper-knife in her hand, but of course she might have had some idea all
the time of revenging herself on Jack Renauld. When she actually came
forward and confessed to the murder, it seemed that all was over. And
yet—I was not satisfied, _mon ami___. _I was not satisfied.…___
“I went over the case again minutely, and I came to the same conclusion
as before. If it was _not___ Bella Duveen, the only other person who
could have committed the crime was Marthe Daubreuil. But I had not one
single proof against her!
“And then you showed me that letter from Mademoiselle Dulcie, and I saw
a chance of settling the matter once for all. The original dagger was
stolen by Dulcie Duveen and thrown into the sea—since, as she thought,
it belonged to her sister. But if, by any chance, it was _not___ her
sister’s, but the one given by Jack to Marthe Daubreuil—why then, Bella
Duveen’s dagger would be still intact! I said no word to you, Hastings
(it was no time for romance) but I sought out Mademoiselle Dulcie, told
her as much as I deemed needful, and set her to search amongst the
effects of her sister. Imagine my elation, when she sought me out
(according to my instructions) as Miss Robinson with the precious
souvenir in her possession!
“In the meantime I had taken steps to force Mademoiselle Marthe into
the open. By my orders, Mrs. Renauld repulsed her son, and declared her
intention of making a will on the morrow which should cut him off from
ever enjoying even a portion of his father’s fortune. It was a
desperate step, but a necessary one, and Madame Renauld was fully
prepared to take the risk—though unfortunately she also never thought
of mentioning her change of room. I suppose she took it for granted
that I knew. All happened as I thought. Marthe Daubreuil made a last
bold bid for the Renauld millions—and failed!”
“What absolutely bewilders me,” I said, “is how she ever got into the
house without our seeing her. It seems an absolute miracle. We left her
behind at the Villa Marguerite, we go straight to the Villa
Geneviève—and yet she is there before us!”
“Ah, but we did not leave her behind. She was out of the Villa
Marguerite by the back way whilst we were talking to her mother in the
hall. That is where, as the Americans say, she ‘put it over’ on Hercule
Poirot!”
“But the shadow on the blind? We saw it from the road.”
“_Eh bien___, when we looked up, Madame Daubreuil had just had time to
run upstairs and take her place.”
“Madame Daubreuil?”
“Yes. One is old, and one is young, one dark, and one fair, but, for
the purpose of a silhouette on a blind, their profiles are singularly
alike. Even I did not suspect—triple imbecile that I was! I thought I
had plenty of time before me—that she would not try to gain admission
to the Villa until much later. She had brains, that beautiful
Mademoiselle Marthe.”
“And her object was to murder Mrs. Renauld?”
“Yes. The whole fortune would then pass to her son. But it would have
been suicide, _mon ami!___ On the floor by Marthe Daubreuil’s body, I
found a pad and a little bottle of chloroform and a hypodermic syringe
containing a fatal dose of morphine. You understand? The chloroform
first—then when the victim is unconscious the prick of the needle. By
the morning the smell of the chloroform has quite disappeared, and the
syringe lies where it has fallen from Madame Renauld’s hand. What would
he say, the excellent M. Hautet? ‘Poor woman! What did I tell you? The
shock of joy, it was too much on top of the rest! Did I not say that I
should not be surprised if her brain became unhinged. Altogether a most
tragic case, the Renauld Case!’
“However, Hastings, things did not go quite as Mademoiselle Marthe had
planned. To begin with, Madame Renauld was awake and waiting for her.
There is a struggle. But Madame Renauld is terribly weak still. There
is a last chance for Marthe Daubreuil. The idea of suicide is at an
end, but if she can silence Madame Renauld with her strong hands, make
a getaway with her little silk ladder whilst we are still battering on
the inside of the further door, and be back at the Villa Marguerite
before we return there, it will be hard to prove anything against her.
But she was checkmated—not by Hercule Poirot—but by _la petite
acrobate___ with her wrists of steel.”