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Poirot was a true prophet. I will not go into the details of the police court
proceedings, as it involves many tiresome repetitions. I will merely state
baldly that John Cavendish reserved his defence, and was duly committed
for trial.
September found us all in London. Mary took a house in Kensington, Poirot
being included in the family party.
I myself had been given a job at the War Office, so was able to see them
continually.
As the weeks went by, the state of Poirot's nerves grew worse and worse.
That "last link" he talked about was still lacking. Privately, I hoped it might
remain so, for what happiness could there be for Mary, if John were not
acquitted?
On September 15th John Cavendish appeared in the dock at the Old Bailey,
charged with "The Wilful Murder of Emily Agnes Inglethorp," and pleaded
"Not Guilty."
Sir Ernest Heavywether, the famous K. C., had been engaged to defend him.
Mr. Philips, K. C., opened the case for the Crown.
The murder, he said, was a most premeditated and cold-blooded one. It was
neither more nor less than the deliberate poisoning of a fond and trusting
woman by the stepson to whom she had been more than a mother. Ever
since his boyhood, she had supported him. He and his wife had lived at
Styles Court in every luxury, surrounded by her care and attention. She had
been their kind and generous benefactress.
He proposed to call witnesses to show how the prisoner, a profligate and
spendthrift, had been at the end of his financial tether, and had also been
carrying on an intrigue with a certain Mrs. Raikes, a neighbouring farmer's
wife. This having come to his stepmother's ears, she taxed him with it on the
afternoon before her death, and a quarrel ensued, part of which was
overheard. On the previous day, the prisoner had purchased strychnine at
the village chemist's shop, wearing a disguise by means of which he hoped
to throw the onus of the crime upon another man--to wit, Mrs. Inglethorp's
husband, of whom he had been bitterly jealous. Luckily for Mr. Inglethorp,
he had been able to produce an unimpeachable alibi.
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