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    Five Little Pigs: A Hercule Poirot Mystery: The Official Authorized Edition
    Five Little Pigs: A Hercule Poirot Mystery: The Official Authorized Edition
    Five Little Pigs: A Hercule Poirot Mystery: The Official Authorized Edition
    Ebook277 pages4 hours

    Five Little Pigs: A Hercule Poirot Mystery: The Official Authorized Edition

    By Agatha Christie

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    About this ebook

    In Agatha Christie’s classic, Five Little Pigs, beloved detective Hercule Poirot races to solve a case from out of the past.

    Beautiful Caroline Crale was convicted of poisoning her husband, but just like the nursery rhyme, there were five other “little pigs” who could have done it: Philip Blake (the stockbroker), who went to market; Meredith Blake (the amateur herbalist), who stayed at home; Elsa Greer (the three-time divorcée), who had her roast beef; Cecilia Williams (the devoted governess), who had none; and Angela Warren (the disfigured sister), who cried all the way home.

    Sixteen years later, Caroline’s daughter is determined to prove her mother’s innocence, and Poirot just can’t get that nursery rhyme out of his mind.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins
    Release dateNov 23, 2004
    ISBN9780061743689
    Author

    Agatha Christie

    Agatha Christie is known throughout the world as the Queen of Crime. Her books have sold over a billion copies in English with another billion in over 70 foreign languages. She is the most widely published author of all time and in any language, outsold only by the Bible and Shakespeare. She is the author of 80 crime novels and short story collections, 20 plays, and six novels written under the name of Mary Westmacott.

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    Reviews for Five Little Pigs

    4/5

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    • 5/5
      This is my perfect Poirot. Sixteen years ago Amyas Crane was poisoned by his wife - but in her last letter to her daughter Caroline Crane protested her innocence and her daughter wants to find out what really happened. The five little pigs of the title are the five main witnesses to the crime, any of whom could have really killed Amyas.
    • 3/5
      The puzzle and solution are clever, but I didn't warm to any of the characters, and the story is told in a way that makes the process of detection pretty opaque. I prefer ones where you get to hear the detective's hypotheses and plans as you go.
    • 5/5
      This is not my favourite Christie, it's not even my favourite Poirot, but it's definitely a masterwork. This is where Poirot gets to show he doesn't need the cigarette ash and bits of cloth to solve a mystery as he re-investigates a murder that occured 16 years before. It's also a nice antidote to those mysteries where the detective is given more information than the reader. Here we are given exactly the same information as Poirot and allowed to try to figure out whodunit along with him.It's not perfect, I found the characterisation of Philip Blake a bit flat, but I love all the little character details for Poirot, like when he tells himself off for thinking in nursery rhymes (again) and how he chooses to present himself to the five people present on the day of the murder.Definitely worth a read.
    • 3/5
      Substance: Poirot is asked to solve an old case, and prove that the woman convicted of murder was innocent. Interviews and written accounts create a "Rashomen" style view of the crime, but are boring in repetition. However, the clues are fairly laid.Style: The change in title totally obscures a carefully constructed use of the "Five Little Pigs" nursery rhyme in the text. Otherwise, it is a standard Christie, with perhaps a little more liveliness in characterization.
    • 5/5
      Sixteen years ago everyone believed it was an open and shut case. The evidence irrefutably pointed at Caroline Crale poisoning her husband, Amayas. Caroline simply had enough of her husband’s cheating ways, which everyone kept trying to justify as the painter’s “artistic personality”. Every clue traced back to Caroline: the staged fingerprints, the stolen poison, the motive. Now that her daughter, Carla, has become of age and is preparing to marry, she receives a posthumous letter in the mail from her mother stating that she was innocent. Carla petitions the famous Hercule Poirot to find out the truth.In an age without DNA databases, fingerprint scanners, and high-tech equipment, reopening a long closed case would be a daunting task for any detective. Hercule Poirot doesn’t see the Crale case that way. He sees this case as a challenge in to the psychology of murder and quickly begins to track down those involved. There are five very clear key players who were present at the time of the murder. Poirot enlists each of them to provide their side of the story through both interview and written narrative. What he finds are conflicting memories and motives associated with each person. Did Caroline Crale actually murder her husband or was it one of the five other people closest to him?Chrsitie strikes again! I was so confident I knew the truth about the case this time. The style of writing in FIVE LITTLE PIGS was a mixture between Poirot interviewing the five eyewitnesses and them also each writing their own narrative about the events. This unique mixture let the reader see multiple points of view and spot differences between the retellings in an easy-to-read format. As usual, my favorite part of the story was when Poirot gathers everyone in the same room and reveals the truth behind the case and calls each character out on the lies they have been telling. I highly recommend this tale to anyone looking for an introduction to Agatha Christie and her famous detective, Hercule Poirot!
    • 4/5
      This one is fun, but I found it rather average by Hercule Poirot standards considering how often it shows up on "best of" Agatha Christie lists.The framing device she uses here, solving a murder 16 years after the fact, is intriguing because so much of the trail has gone cold for Poirot. He must rely almost entirely on the memories of those who were involved, and that doesn't include the most significant of all witnesses, the accused, because she's been dead for nearly as long.
    • 4/5
      This is a solid Agatha Christie which uses an interesting device of looking back at a crime that seems already solved. Poirot is approached by the daughter of a man who was murdered and who's wife was convicted for the crime, which she has only recently learned about. She asks Poirot to find out the truth. The way he does this is by interviewing the five suspects and asking them to write about their memories of the day of the murder and around it. This adds a nice change of voice in the book as their remembrances are presented, which gives the reader another sense of the characters. The story itself is one of the simpler ones of Christie's but this is a good book for showing her skill in the study of place and character.
    • 5/5
      Many of the crime fiction novels we read these days deal with cold cases, but in the 1940s this type of scenario would have been unusual. Not only is the murder victim long dead, but the convicted murderer is dead too. However Poirot has no doubt that he can use his little grey cells to get to the truth.Hercule Poirot always has a soft spot for a young lady in distress or peril. In his previous appearance in EVIL UNDER THE SUN he had great admiration for the female murderer. In FIVE LITTLE PIGS he has great sympathy with Carla Crale's belief in her mother's innocence.It is Poirot himself who names this case: A jingle ran through Poirot’s head. He repressed it. He must not always be thinking of nursery rhymes. It seemed an obsession with him lately. And yet the jingle persisted. ‘This little pig went to market, this little pig stayed at home…’The structure of FIVE LITTLE PIGS is deceptively simple. In Book I there are ten chapters. In the first five Poirot interviews the officials involved in the court cases to see what they remember and what their impression was of Caroline Crale's guilt. In the next five chapters he interviews the five people who were present when the murder happened.In Book II each of the latter five gives Poirot a written narrative of events and their own opinion of whether Caroline Crale was guilty of murder.Book III also has five chapters. Poirot brings the five people together with Carla Crale and her fiance. He asks a question each of those who gave him a narrative and then reconstructs what happened as he sees it, pointing out that one of those present has lied, and some of the others are mistaken in their interpretation of what they saw and heard at the time.For readers it is a most satisfying book because you have the same opportunities as Hercule Poirot to reinterpret the evidence and to look for the flaws in the narratives. I must admit to at first following the red herring that Christie so temptingly laid across my path. I always had an alternative reconstruction lurking in the back of my mind though, and that proved to be the correct one.This was the last novel of an especially prolific phase of Christie's work on Poirot. She published thirteen Poirot novels between 1935 and 1942 out of a total of eighteen novels in that period. By contrast, she published only two Poirot novels in the next eight years, indicating the possibility that she was experiencing some frustration with her most popular character. (see more at Wikipedia about the novel)
    • 4/5
      Carla Lemarchant, a young woman of 21, approaches Hercule Poirot and requests that he take over her case: her father Amyas Crale, a well-known painter, was murdered sixteen years ago and her mother imprisoned for the crime; in a letter written to her daughter on her deathbed in prison, which only now has come into Carla’s possession, Caroline Crale assured her of her innocence. Poirot visits the different parties involved in Caroline’s trial and the five eyewitnesses, and attempts to reconstruct the events leading to Amyas Crale’s murder and unmask the true killer.Curiously for an Agatha Christie novel, almost the entire plot takes place in retrospect, told from different points of view by the surviving five eyewitnesses who were with Amyas Crale on the fateful day, and whoever requires their reading material to feature more action and fewer words will definitely struggle to get on with this short novel. As often with this author the clues are in the details and very careful reading is required to pick up on them. The ending is unusual in that the murderer is able to walk away as Poirot doesn’t have any solid proof to present to the police.
    • 4/5
      Oooo very good though I didn't appreciate Christie's strange stance on feminism being the same as misandry. Quite a different novel from her previous seeing as here Poirot investigates a murder in a purely psychological way seeing as it happened 16 years earlier and obviously no clues are left and all there is to due is to interrogate people. The end is very interesting and gives a lot to think about regarding the privileges of the peerage. Caroline and Angela are both very interesting female characters.
    • 4/5
      This is only the second Christie novel I have read, and it doesn't have the immediate impact of The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, but it is a pretty good example of the clear, simple prose and laying of clues for which she is famous and is a great page turner. The resemblance of the five suspects in the murder of Amyas Crale to the five little pigs of the nursery rhyme is fairly tenuous.
    • 4/5
      Hercule Poirot faces perhaps his biggest challenge yet – a 16-year-old cold case. Caroline Crale was convicted of murdering her artist husband, Amyas Crale, over his affair with a much younger woman. Caroline Crale died a year later, leaving a letter to be given to their young daughter when she came of age. The daughter, Carla, has just received the letter in which her mother assures her of her innocence. Carla believes her mother's statement, but she thinks her fiance has doubts. Hercule Poirot may be the only person who could get to the truth of what happened all those years ago. There are five other suspects, and all are still living: brothers Phillip and Meredith Blake, the Crale's nearest neighbors; Elsa Greer, Amyas Crale's model and the “other woman”; Angela Warren, Caroline Crale's younger half sister; and Cecilia Williams, Angela's governess. Poirot asks each of the five for their account of the events leading to Amyas Crale's death and he reaches a surprising conclusion.In many ways this is a typical country house mystery. There is no doubt that Amyas Crale was poisoned. Other than Amyas and Caroline Crale, only the five living witnesses had access to the poison. If Caroline Crale didn't murder her husband, one of them must have done it. I thought I had the murder all figured out, only to discover that I had fallen for one of the red herrings that Christie so skillfully creates. Christie worked in a pharmacy during World War I, and she is at her best when she writes about poisons. Although this isn't as well known as several of Poirot's other cases, it's still a solid mystery and is characteristic of Christie's work.
    • 5/5
      In this story, Poirot gets a chance to do something he's never done before - to solve a mystery without a single clue, simply by talking to the people who were involved.Sixteen years ago, artist Amyas Crale was poisoned. His wife was arrested and convicted of murder. She wrote a letter to her young daughter saying she was innocent. Now the girl is grown and engaged to be married. But first she wants to know what really happened. Poirot has little work with. He starts by talking to the lawyers on both sides of the case. Then he interviews the people who were on the scene - the five little pigs of the English title. The first pig was a business man, friend of Mr. Crale. The second was his brother, a country gentleman type. The next was the Other Woman, a Lady Dittisham, who has never forgiven or forgotten. The fourth little pig was the governess. And the last was the younger sister of Mrs. Crale. She alone is convinced of Caroline Crale's innocence. Everyone else believes she was guilty. Crale always had women around, but this time it looked as though he meant to divorce his wife and marry his mistress. But he was murdered before he got the chance.Poirot convinces each of the five to write an account of the days up to the murder. By reading this accounts, he believes he will be able to reconstruct the crime and determine who was responsible for the death of Amyas Crale.CMB
    • 4/5
      There are five remaining suspects for a murder that happened 16yrs ago. The woman who was convicted at the time died shortly afterwards and her daughter is convinced of her innocence. She asks Poirot to investigate. Each of the five characters writes down how they remember the events of the days leading up to the murder and the murder itself as well as their opinions on the victim and the woman found guilty of his murder. Poirot analyses each perspective and reveals the truth at the end in typical style. A classic Poirot story, but the way the story is told makes it a bit repetative and the ending came as no surprise to me, although perhaps I have read too many Agatha Christie novels.
    • 3/5
      I enjoyed this as a light read
    • 4/5
      The daughter of a woman convicted 16 years before of murdering her husband is convinced her mother is innocent and asks Poirot to reopen the case. Poirot does take it , questioning those who were present at the time. I read it so long ago that all I recall is that he does, of course, find that someone else did the murder.
    • 1/5
      I tried to like this book. Just like I've tried to like other Agatha Christie books but I never can seem to get into them. I get lost in the sheer number of characters and the mind-numbingly boring dialogue. This is one very rare case were the TV adaptations are better written than the original books.
    • 4/5
      Five Little Pigs, also known as Murder in Retrospect, is written by Agatha Christie and stars Hercule Poirot. I really enjoyed this interesting book. Poirot is approached by a young woman whose father was supposedly murdered by her mother sixteen years ago.. The young woman had only just found out about this on her recent 21st birthday and has asked Poirot to look back over the facts of the murder with his uncanny eye to hopefully come up with a different conclusion.Pirot gathers the facts from the lawyers and the police that were involved in the case. He then interviews the five witnesses in order to get a sense of time and place. Of course each witness has their own slant on what actually happened, and Poirot must use his “little grey cells” to come up with the truth. In spectacular Agatha Christie style, the last chapter of the book finds Poirot gathering the witnesses together for his dramatic reveal.Kudos to Miss Christie for keeping this book both fresh and interesting while we read about a murder from five different view points. I did solve the mystery, but I suggest that the author wanted us to work it out, to use our own ‘little grey cells” by simply meditating upon the testimony offered. An excellent read and one of my favorite Poirot stories yet.
    • 5/5
      "Five Little Pigs" is my favourite Hercule Poirot book, and probably my 2nd favourite Christie work (beyond the dazzling "And Then There Were None").

      Years after her mother died in a jail cell, a murderess' daughter comes to Poirot to ask him to re-open the case. Through lengthy interviews with the five others present on the day of an artist's murder, Poirot must unravel the haze of time present and past to uncover the true murderer. There is something so psychologically compelling in these characters, particularly the artist's self-absorbed mistress, that draws this above Christie's usual output. And although the artist and his wife are only seen through five different accounts, they come across as some of the most layered characters Christie ever produced. Poirot himself isn't all that relevant (indeed, many of the post-war novels seem to wish he wasn't in them), but only someone of his decades of experience could have unravelled this one.

      Poirot ranking: 1st of 38.
    • 5/5
      Five Little Pigs was the most interesting scenario of all the Christie mysteries I have read this summer, excepting The Labours of Hercules. A young lady asks Poirot to investigate her father's murder from when she was a young child, of which her mother was convicted and died in prison. Caroline, the mother, had written a letter expressing her innocence to her daughter, to be opened when she was 21. The way Poirot smooth-talked the five witnesses, suspects, piggies, whatever that were involved in the poisoning of a fairly famous painter was excellent. And the misleading trail of clues was a well planned trap. For once I thought I had actually solved a murder mystery using Poirot's methods, but I was wrong and overlooked a few clues. I did grasp some of the more nuanced clues and made inferences in the discrepancies of the 5 written testamonials that the monsieur collected for his, ahem, book he was consulting on. Oh well. I don't think the Chritie mysteries are meant to be solved as the clues are often written in misleading ways, and the fun is seeing how they are properly threaded together. I'm glad these books are rather short as I think I would quickly tire of one that was too long.
    • 3/5
      Another nice enjoyable murder with a lovely between the wars artists flavour
    • 4/5
      England, ca 1942Hercule Poirot bliver opsøgt af Carla Lemarchant, som egentlig er døbt Caroline Crale. Hendes mor Caroline Crale, pigenavn Spalding, blev dømt for giftmord på faderen Amyas Crale og døde i fængslet. Amyas var kunstmaler og havde stribevis af affærer med andre kvinder.Carla er overbevist om at moderen var uskyldig og hyrer Poirot til at bevise det.Han tager sagen og finder 5 mulige mistænkte, Philip Blake, vekselerer. Blakes ældre bror, Meredith Blake, godsejer og hobbykemiker. Elsa Greer, heltedyrker, som forsøgte at gafle Amyas for alvor. Angela Warren, Carolines stedsøster. Cecilie Williams, guvernante for Angela.Poirot snakker med alle fem og får dem til at skrive ned hvad der skete den dag for 16 år siden.Udfra dette kommer han frem til at Caroline troede at det var Angela, der havde gjort det, men faktisk var det Elsa, fordi Amyas havde gjort det klart at han ikke ville forlade Caroline.Glimrende Poirot-mysterie.
    • 2/5
      Well known & egotistical artist is in the midst of painting a most fantastic portrait of an equally (if not more so) egotistical young woman..... Hence a triangle of love? Which of course leads to his murder..... Very cold blooded....

      However there are men who love the artist's wife w/ devotion & hate....... two more triangles. The wife, is heard to say: "You & your women.....One day I'll kill you." Evidence enough to convict her of murder?

      The wife does nothing, says nothing to defend herself..... a price/debt to pay? Her daughter, receiving a letter from her mother stating her innocence, hires M. Poirot to clear her mother's name......

      Is it possible? Who really "done it"? I figured it out...... But it was a dull story told in first person narration verbally then in letters by the witnesses...... People who were basically detestable....
    • 2/5
      I like the ending but the second third of the story is a waste of time. The crime took place sixteen years before the time of the story and Poirot spends his time interviewing the little pigs to get their version of what had happened. The book could then easily go right to the reconstruction (third part of the book) chapters but instead it choses to languish for another hundred pages on written accounts of the interviews we've just read! ARGH!!!! Do yourself a favor and skip the second act for the third.
    • 5/5
      Agatha Cristie does a wonderful job balancing the emotions of all the characters throughout the story with the intense mystery surrounding everybody. The main character Hercule Poirot, a famous private detective, is approached by a young women, Carla Lemarchant, who asks him to to clear her mother's name by going over a murder 16 years previous and proving her mother's innocence. Poirot goes through the tedious process of interviewing all who were involved and reenacting the scene of the crime as well as many other scenes leading up to the death of famous painter Amyas Crale. Carla's mother was charged with the murder after poison was found in the beer she gave to him one warm afternoon. By many accounts she was driven to this point by the arrival of a young women in her twenties named Elsa Greer who swooped in and took Amyas's heart right out of him. She states they plan to marry soon and Amyas will divorce his wife; but Caroline, his present wife is having none of it. Both women fight about this predicament but all the egoistic Crale seems to care about is his painting. However, that is not gopd enough for the women and he ends up dead, poisoned. The case was closed and its horrible memory forcibly forgotten for 16 years, until a determined daughter shows up wanting to know the truth.
    • 4/5
      This is definitely not the best book from Agatha Christie but it is still an excellent read. And I have read some much worse from The Queen.

      The thing is that this story is a bit predictable, there are many things important for the story that I weren't surprise to me. Like, for example, that the marriage of Amyas and Caroline was, in fact, very successful and that Amyas was not planning a divorce and leaving his wife. And hence the simple path to further conclusions that did not deviate from the truth. Although I have to admit that initially I suspected that the murderess is Caroline's half-sister Angela, in accordance with the solution proposed by Hercules Poirot himself. But then I became more and more convinced that Amyas was not going to leave his wife to be with Elsa. Which gives Elsa a perfect motive. So the final solution did not surprise me at all and the murderer turns out to be the person I suspected most of the time.

      Still, this is a very enjoyable read, totally worth reading.
    • 5/5
      Excellent layout of the crime and the process detail of solving the mystery.
    • 5/5
      It's been a long time since I read any Agatha Christie. I thought they were too old-fashioned for my tastes now. But after reading this one, I realize how superbly Christie crafted a murder mystery and I'll have to try some more. The English country house is a frequent setting for murders but Christie must have been one of the first writers to employ it and this book, first copyrighted in 1941, must be a fairly early example of the type. It has an interesting twist in that the murder took place 16 years before Hercule Poirot is hired to solve it. The client is the daughter of the woman convicted of the murder. The victim was the client's father. He was a famous artist who frequently committed adultery but his wife put up with his indiscretions. Just previous to the murder he had a liaison with a beautiful 20 year old whom he brought to his country home to sit for a painting. This time, he was smitten and intended to leave his wife and marry his model. Thus, when he was found dead, his wife was the first suspect and when a bottle containing remains of a deadly poison was found in her room, she was charged with the murder. She was convicted and died soon after. Just before her death she wrote a letter for her daughter to read when she turned 21 in which she asserted her innocence. The daughter wants to assure her fiance that she isn't going to turn into a homicidal maniac in the future so she hires Poirot to investigate. Half-way through the book I was sure I knew who had committed the murder. At the end, I realized that Christie had structured the story to plant that suggestion. It is only the last few pages that divulge the actual perpetrator. Well done. I'll have to give Christie more attention in the future.
    • 4/5
      Poirot revisits a case in which Carla Lemarchant's mother received a conviction some sixteen years earlier. Carla's certainty of her mother's innocence in spite of a note that on the surface seems to incriminate her convinces Poirot to investigate. He speaks with the five suspects and comes to his own conclusions. I was happy my conclusion matched his!
    • 4/5
      During half of the read I came to know the ending. But still its a good read.

    Book preview

    Five Little Pigs - Agatha Christie

    Agatha Christie

    Five Little Pigs

    A Hercule Poirot Mystery

    To Stephen Glanville

    Contents

    Dedication

    Introduction

    Book One

    1. Counsel for the Defence

    2. Counsel for the Prosecution

    3. The Young Solicitor

    4. The Old Solicitor

    5. The Police Superintendent

    6. This Little Pig Went to Market

    7. This Little Pig Stayed at Home

    8. This Little Pig Had Roast Beef

    9. This Little Pig Had None

    10. This Little Pig Cried Wee Wee Wee

    Book Two

    Narrative of Philip Blake

    Narrative of Meredith Blake

    Narrative of Lady Dittisham

    Narrative of Cecilia Williams

    Narrative of Angela Warren

    Book Three

    1. Conclusions

    2. Poirot Asks Five Questions

    3. Reconstruction

    4. Truth

    5. Aftermath

    About the Author

    Other Books by Agatha Christie

    Credits

    Copyright

    About the Publisher

    Introduction

    CARLA LEMARCHANT

    Hercule Poirot looked with interest and appreciation at the young woman who was being ushered into the room.

    There had been nothing distinctive in the letter she had written. It had been a mere request for an appointment, with no hint of what lay behind that request. It had been brief and businesslike. Only the firmness of the handwriting had indicated that Carla Lemarchant was a young woman.

    And now here she was in the flesh—a tall, slender young woman in the early twenties. The kind of young woman that one definitely looked at twice. Her clothes were good, an expensive well-cut coat and skirt and luxurious furs. Her head was well poised on her shoulders, she had a square brow, a sensitively cut nose and a determined chin. She looked very much alive. It was her aliveness, more than her beauty, which struck the predominant note.

    Before her entrance, Hercule Poirot had been feeling old—now he felt rejuvenated—alive—keen!

    As he came forward to greet her, he was aware of her dark grey eyes studying him attentively. She was very earnest in that scrutiny.

    She sat down and accepted the cigarette that he offered her. After it was lit she sat for a minute or two smoking, still looking at him with that earnest, thoughtful gaze.

    Poirot said gently:

    Yes, it has to be decided, does it not?

    She started. I beg your pardon?

    Her voice was attractive, with a faint, agreeable huskiness in it.

    You are making up your mind, are you not, whether I am a mere mountebank, or the man you need?

    She smiled. She said:

    Well, yes—something of that kind. You see, Mr. Poirot, you—you don’t look exactly the way I pictured you.

    And I am old, am I not? Older than you imagined?

    Yes, that too. She hesitated. I’m being frank, you see. I want—I’ve got to have—the best.

    Rest assured, said Hercule Poirot. "I am the best!"

    Carla said: You’re not modest…All the same, I’m inclined to take you at your word.

    Poirot said placidly:

    "One does not, you know, employ merely the muscles. I do not need to bend and measure the footprints and pick up the cigarette ends and examine the bent blades of grass. It is enough for me to sit back in my chair and think. It is this—he tapped his egg-shaped head—this that functions!"

    I know, said Carla Lemarchant. That’s why I’ve come to you. I want you, you see, to do something fantastic!

    That, said Hercule Poirot, promises well!

    He looked at her in encouragement.

    Carla Lemarchant drew a deep breath.

    My name, she said, isn’t Carla. It’s Caroline. The same as my mother’s. I was called after her. She paused. And though I’ve always gone by the name of Lemarchant—my real name is Crale.

    Hercule Poirot’s forehead creased a moment perplexedly. He murmured: Crale—I seem to remember….

    She said:

    "My father was a painter—rather a well-known painter. Some people say he was a great painter. I think he was."

    Hercule Poirot said: Amyas Crale?

    Yes. She paused, then she went on: And my mother, Caroline Crale, was tried for murdering him!

    Aha, said Hercule Poirot. I remember now—but only vaguely. I was abroad at the time. It was a long time ago.

    Sixteen years, said the girl.

    Her face was very white now and her eyes two burning lights.

    She said:

    "Do you understand? She was tried and convicted…She wasn’t hanged because they felt that there were extenuating circumstances—so the sentence was commuted to penal servitude for life. But she died only a year after the trial. You see? It’s all over—done—finished with…."

    Poirot said quietly: And so?

    The girl called Carla Lemarchant pressed her hands together. She spoke slowly and haltingly but with an odd, pointed emphasis.

    She said:

    "You’ve got to understand—exactly—where I come in. I was five years old at the time it—happened. Too young to know anything about it. I remember my mother and my father, of course, and I remember leaving home suddenly—being taken to the country. I remember the pigs and a nice fat farmer’s wife—and everybody being very kind—and I remember, quite clearly, the funny way they used to look at me—everybody—a sort of furtive look. I knew, of course, children do, that there was something wrong—but I didn’t know what.

    And then I went on a ship—it was exciting—it went on for days, and then I was in Canada and Uncle Simon met me, and I lived in Montreal with him and with Aunt Louise, and when I asked about Mummy and Daddy they said they’d be coming soon. And then—and then I think I forgot—only I sort of knew that they were dead without remembering anyone actually telling me so. Because by that time, you see, I didn’t think about them any more. I was very happy, you know. Uncle Simon and Aunt Louise were sweet to me, and I went to school and had a lot of friends, and I’d quite forgotten that I’d ever had another name, not Lemarchant. Aunt Louise, you see, told me that that was my name in Canada and that seemed quite sensible to me at the time—it was just my Canadian name—but as I say I forgot in the end that I’d ever had any other.

    She flung up her defiant chin. She said:

    "Look at me. You’d say—wouldn’t you? if you met me: ‘There goes a girl who’s got nothing to worry about!’ I’m well off, I’ve got splendid health, I’m sufficiently good to look at, I can enjoy life. At twenty, there wasn’t a girl anywhere I’d have changed places with.

    "But already, you know, I’d begun to ask questions. About my own mother and father. Who they were and what they did? I’d have been bound to find out in the end—

    As it was, they told me the truth. When I was twenty-one. They had to then, because for one thing I came into my own money. And then, you see, there was the letter. The letter my mother left for me when she died.

    Her expression changed, dimmed. Her eyes were no longer two burning points, they were dark dim pools. She said:

    That’s when I learnt the truth. That my mother had been convicted of murder. It was—rather horrible.

    She paused.

    There’s something else I must tell you. I was engaged to be married. They said we must wait—that we couldn’t be married until I was twenty-one. When I knew, I understood why.

    Poirot stirred and spoke for the first time. He said:

    And what was your fiancé’s reaction?

    John? John didn’t care. He said it made no difference—not to him. He and I were John and Carla—and the past didn’t matter.

    She leaned forward.

    "We’re still engaged. But all the same, you know, it does matter. It matters to me. And it matters to John too…It isn’t the past that matters to us—it’s the future. She clenched her hands. We want children, you see. We both want children. And we don’t want to watch our children growing up and be afraid."

    Poirot said:

    Do you not realize that amongst every one’s ancestors there has been violence and evil?

    "You don’t understand. That’s so, of course. But then, one doesn’t usually know about it. We do. It’s very near to us. And sometimes—I’ve seen John just look at me. Such a quick glance—just a flash. Supposing we were married and we’d quarrelled—and I saw him look at me and—and wonder?"

    Hercule Poirot said: How was your father killed?

    Carla’s voice came clear and firm.

    He was poisoned.

    Hercule Poirot said: I see.

    There was a silence.

    Then the girl said in a calm, matter-of-fact voice:

    Thank goodness you’re sensible. You see that it does matter—and what it involves. You don’t try and patch it up and trot out consoling phrases.

    I understand very well, said Poirot. "What I do not understand is what you want of me?"

    Carla Lemarchant said simply:

    I want to marry John! And I mean to marry John! And I want to have at least two girls and two boys. And you’re going to make that possible!

    You mean—you want me to talk to your fiancé? Ah no, it is idiocy what I say there! It is something quite different that you are suggesting. Tell me what is in your mind.

    Listen, Mr. Poirot. Get this—and get it clearly. I’m hiring you to investigate a case of murder.

    Do you mean—?

    Yes, I do mean. A case of murder is a case of murder whether it happened yesterday or sixteen years ago.

    But my dear young lady—

    Wait, Mr. Poirot. You haven’t got it all yet. There’s a very important point.

    Yes?

    My mother was innocent, said Carla Lemarchant.

    Hercule Poirot rubbed his nose. He murmured:

    Well, naturally—I comprehend that—

    It isn’t sentiment. There’s her letter. She left it for me before she died. It was to be given to me when I was twenty-one. She left it for that one reason—that I should be quite sure. That’s all that was in it. That she hadn’t done it—that she was innocent—that I could be sure of that always.

    Hercule Poirot looked thoughtfully at the young vital face staring so earnestly at him. He said slowly:

    Tout de même—

    Carla smiled.

    No, mother wasn’t like that! You’re thinking that it might be a lie—a sentimental lie? She leaned forward earnestly. "Listen, Mr. Poirot, there are some things that children know quite well. I can remember my mother—a patchy remembrance, of course, but I remember quite well the sort of person she was. She didn’t tell lies—kind lies. If a thing was going to hurt she always told you so. Dentists, or thorns in your finger—all that sort of thing. Truth was a—a natural impulse to her. I wasn’t, I don’t think, especially fond of her—but I trusted her. I still trust her! If she says she didn’t kill my father then she didn’t kill him! She wasn’t the sort of person who would solemnly write down a lie when she knew she was dying."

    Slowly, almost reluctantly, Hercule Poirot bowed his head.

    Carla went on.

    "That’s why it’s all right for me marrying John. I know it’s all right. But he doesn’t. He feels that naturally I would think my mother was innocent. It’s got to be cleared up, Mr. Poirot. And you’re going to do it!"

    Hercule Poirot said slowly:

    Granted that what you say is true, mademoiselle, sixteen years have gone by!

    Carla Lemarchant said: "Oh! of course it’s going to be difficult! Nobody but you could do it!"

    Hercule Poirot’s eyes twinkled slightly. He said:

    "You give me the best butter—hein?"

    Carla said:

    "I’ve heard about you. The things you’ve done. The way you have done them. It’s psychology that interests you, isn’t it? Well, that doesn’t change with time. The tangible things are gone—the cigarette end and the footprints and the bent blades of grass. You can’t look for those any more. But you can go over all the facts of the case, and perhaps talk to the people who were there at the time—they’re all alive still—and then—and then, as you said just now, you can lie back in your chair and think. And you’ll know what really happened…."

    Hercule Poirot rose to his feet. One hand caressed his moustache. He said:

    Mademoiselle, I am honoured! I will justify your faith in me. I will investigate your case of murder. I will search back into the events of sixteen years ago and I will find out the truth.

    Carla got up. Her eyes were shining. But she only said:

    Good.

    Hercule Poirot shook an eloquent forefinger.

    "One little moment. I have said I will find out the truth. I do not, you understand, have the bias. I do not accept your assurance of your mother’s innocence. If she was guilty—eh bien, what then?"

    Carla’s proud head went back. She said:

    "I’m her daughter. I want the truth!"

    Hercule Poirot said:

    "En avant, then. Though it is not that, that I should say. On the contrary. En arrière…."

    BOOK ONE

    One

    COUNSEL FOR THE DEFENCE

    "Do I remember the Crale case? asked Sir Montague Depleach. Certainly I do. Remember it very well. Most attractive woman. But unbalanced, of course. No self-control."

    He glanced sideways at Poirot.

    What makes you ask me about it?

    I am interested.

    Not really tactful of you, my dear man, said Depleach, showing his teeth in his sudden famous wolf’s smile, which had been reputed to have such a terrifying effect upon witnesses. Not one of my successes, you know. I didn’t get her off.

    I know that.

    Sir Montague shrugged his shoulders. He said:

    "Of course I hadn’t quite as much experience then as I have now. All the same I think I did all that could humanly be done. One can’t do much without cooperation. We did get it commuted to penal servitude. Provocation, you know. Lots of respectable wives and mothers got up a petition. There was a lot of sympathy for her."

    He leaned back stretching out his long legs. His face took on a judicial, appraising look.

    If she’d shot him, you know, or even knifed him—I’d have gone all out for manslaughter. But poison—no, you can’t play tricks with that. It’s tricky—very tricky.

    What was the defence? asked Hercule Poirot.

    He knew because he had already read the newspaper files, but he saw no harm in playing the complete ignorant to Sir Montague.

    "Oh, suicide. Only thing you could go for. But it didn’t go down well. Crale simply wasn’t that kind of man! You never met him, I suppose? No? Well, he was a great blustering, vivid sort of chap. Great womanizer, beer drinker—all the rest of it. Went in for the lusts of the flesh and enjoyed them. You can’t persuade a jury that a man like that is going to sit down and quietly do away with himself. It just doesn’t fit. No, I was afraid I was up against a losing proposition from the first. And she wouldn’t play up! I knew we’d lost as soon as she went into the box. No fight in her at all. But there it is—if you don’t put your client into the box, the jury draw their own conclusions."

    Poirot said:

    Is that what you meant when you said just now that one cannot do much without cooperation?

    "Absolutely, my dear fellow. We’re not magicians, you know. Half the battle is the impression the accused makes on the jury. I’ve known juries time and again bring in verdicts dead against the judge’s summing up. ‘’E did it, all right’—that’s the point of view. Or ‘He never did a thing like that—don’t tell me!’ Caroline Crale didn’t even try to put up a fight."

    Why was that?

    Sir Montague shrugged his shoulders.

    Don’t ask me. Of course, she was fond of the fellow. Broke her all up when she came to and realized what she’d done. Don’t believe she ever rallied from the shock.

    So in your opinion she was guilty?

    Depleach looked rather startled. He said:

    Er—well, I thought we were taking that for granted.

    Did she ever admit to you that she was guilty?

    Depleach looked shocked.

    Of course not—of course not. We have our code, you know. Innocence is always—er—assumed. If you’re so interested it’s a pity you can’t get hold of old Mayhew. Mayhews were the solicitors who briefed me. Old Mayhew could have told you more than I can. But there—he’s joined the great majority. There’s young George Mayhew, of course, but he was only a boy at the time. It’s a long time ago, you know.

    Yes, I know. It is fortunate for me that you remember so much. You have a remarkable memory.

    Depleach looked pleased. He murmured:

    Oh well, one remembers the main headings, you know. Especially when it’s a capital charge. And, of course, the Crale case got a lot of publicity from the press. Lot of sex interest and all that. The girl in the case was pretty striking. Hard-boiled piece of goods, I thought.

    You will forgive me if I seem too insistent, said Poirot, but I repeat once more, you had no doubt of Caroline Crale’s guilt?

    Depleach shrugged his shoulders. He said:

    Frankly—as man to man—I don’t think there’s much doubt about it. Oh yes, she did it all right.

    What was the evidence against her?

    "Very damning indeed. First of all there was motive. She and Crale had led a kind of cat and dog life for years—interminable rows. He was always getting mixed up with some woman or other. Couldn’t help it. He was that kind of man. She stood it pretty well on the whole. Made allowances for him on the score of temperament—and the man really was a first-class painter, you know. His stuff’s gone up enormously in price—enormously. Don’t care for that style of painting myself—ugly forceful stuff, but it’s good—no doubt of that.

    "Well, as I say, there had been trouble about women from time to time. Mrs. Crale wasn’t the meek kind who suffers in silence. There were rows all right. But he always came back to her in the end. These affairs of his blew over. But this final affair was rather different. It was a girl, you see—and quite a young girl. She was only twenty.

    "Elsa Greer, that was her name. She was the only daughter of some Yorkshire manufacturer. She’d got money and determination, and she knew what she wanted. What she wanted was Amyas Crale. She got him to paint her—he didn’t paint regular Society portraits, ‘Mrs. Blinkety Blank in satin and pearls,’ but he painted figures. I don’t know that most women would have cared to be painted by him—he didn’t spare them! But he painted the Greer girl, and he ended by falling for her good and proper. He was getting on for forty, you know, and he’d been married a good many years. He was just ripe for making a fool of himself over some chit of a girl. Elsa Greer was the girl. He was crazy about her, and his idea was to get a divorce from his wife and marry Elsa.

    "Caroline Crale wasn’t standing for that. She threatened him. She was overheard by two people to say that if he didn’t give the girl up she’d kill him. And she meant it all right! The day before it happened, they’d been having tea with a neighbour. He was by way of dabbling in herbs and home-brewed medicines. Amongst his patent brews was one of coniine—spotted hemlock. There was some talk about it and its deadly properties.

    "The next day he noticed that half the contents of the bottle had gone. Got the wind up about it. They

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