Appointment with Death Page #6

that this would only be temporary...

but I underestimated her hold

on my husband.

So in the end I came to a decision.

When did you come to this decision?

On the afternoon

of my mother-in-law's death.

I have to tell Emily, darling.

I decided to leave Lennox

for an old flame, Jefferson Cope.

Oh, a flame perhaps, but hardly an old one.

What happened?

I returned to the camp

about 10 minutes after Lennox.

About 4:
30?

I decided to tell her there and then.

Oh, before you told your husband?

How did she react?

She took it very badly.

I refused to listen to her insults

and left to join the others.

Do you think it was the shock

of your decision which killed her?

But when did you tell your husband?

My husband and I talked down at the huts.

Madame, do you by any chance

own a hypodermic syringe?

I carry one in my medicine chest,

but I didn't take it to Qumran.

Mrs. Boynton was taking

a medicine called digitalis?

I usually gave it to her in water.

And if she had taken an overdose...

Well, it would've killed her certainly, but

she was always very careful, and so was I.

You don't think there's any chance

the chemist who was making it up might've-

It's highly unlikely, Monsieur Poirot.

Well, I suppose the

analysis will tell us all.

No, unfortunately the bottle containing

her medicine...

was broken when we brought her back.

I did not kill my mother-in-law,

Monsieur Poirot.

She was alive and well when I left her.

We've all suffered for so long.

What good does it do to bring ruin

and misery to the lives of innocent people?

But who are these innocent people?

At least one of you is very guilty indeed.

Good day, Madame.

Don't worry, darling.

- Room 21.

- Certainly, sir.

Mr. Cope...

I thought that Colonel Carbury's

representative...

asked you not to leave Jerusalem?

Yes, well...

I have Colonel Carbury on the line.

Perhaps if you do not care

for this accommodation...

you could move

to British military headquarters?

Rather less comfortable.

Take the gentleman's bags back to his room.

No. No, now that your clothes

are on their way back to their cupboard...

perhaps we could take a walk?

There's really nothing I can say.

Come, Mr. Cope.

You've had a most eventful vacation.

First of all, you almost persuade

an attractive young woman...

to leave her husband.

Secondly, another young woman

falls for your charms.

Thirdly, another one is dead,

not inconveniently for you.

I enjoyed a long and rewarding association

with Emily Boynton and her husband.

In fact, her death

came as a double blow to me.

The lady I one day hoped to marry...

as a result of her husband's new

acquisitions of wealth and freedom...

decided to remain with him.

Now what sort of convenience

has this tragedy for me?

Mr. Cope, Mrs. Boynton made you present to

the family a will made out in her favor...

which was invalidated by another one

made out in favor of the children.

You were about to be discovered.

Mrs. Boynton's death

saved you from scandal.

- Please.

- From disgrace!

Rest assured my only interest

is the crime of murder.

When did you return to the camp?

I stayed a few more moments with Nadine.

It was obvious that Dr. King and Raymond

had no desire for company...

so I started back.

I guess I must've got back

to the camp at about 5:00.

Shortly after that

Carol Boynton came up for Ginevra.

Which gave you plenty of time to go

into Dr. King's tent...

take the hypodermic syringe and put an end

to a long and valued friendship.

I've made mistakes in my life,

Mr. Poirot, many of them...

but I am not a murderer.

Allow me to judge that.

There are so many possibilities.

I'm totally baffled.

Well then, mon cher colonel, I wish you to

address yourself to the following questions.

The time of death. Is Dr. King

telling the truth? If not, why not?

Why did Madame Boynton

encourage her family to go away?

And why was it Mahmoud

who tried to wake Mrs. Boynton?

Why did not some member of the family

attempt this earlier?

- You want me to question Mahmoud?

- You know the lingo.

And see where he and the other Arabs

were at the crucial time?

It may have been one of them

who was seen arguing with Mrs. Boynton.

Perhaps. I go now to question

the last of our little group.

The concierge tells me

that they went sightseeing to Bayt Jibrin.

Well, I'll report to you at dinner.

What fun!

Fun?

Everything is always fun for you English.

The sun will never set on your games.

Well, I hope it will always be so.

Although I have my doubts.

What are you doing there, miss?

Hiding from the light of day.

Only the guilty hide.

I'm guilty of nothing, Monsieur Poirot.

Well, suppose you tell us

what happened that afternoon.

After that you can explore

the darkness to your heart's content.

Miss Quinton showed me

the ivories that they had discovered...

and then I went up for Ginevra.

What time did you go up?

About a quarter past 5:00.

Did you talk to your stepmother?

As a matter of fact I did.

She was sitting by her tent, and I said

I was going to get Ginevra, and she said...

Let her sleep. No time asleep is wasted.

It's like money in the bank,

a store of health.

I got Ginny, and she was chattering to me

about a sheik visiting her in her tent.

Now, my stepmother was asleep

when we went by...

and Ginny kept insisting

that a sheik had come to take her away.

Yes, of course, that is your story...

but you could quite easily have taken

your hypodermic syringe...

the one Miss Quinton found

where you dropped it...

and you could've killed Mrs. Boynton.

I don't know how that got where it did.

Do you really think that I would kill

my own mother?

"But she's not even our mother"...

you said to your brother Raymond

on the boat...

when he was determined

that she should die.

You heard?

I heard every word.

We were mad even to think about it,

but we were desperate.

It was intolerable what she was doing

to Ginny and to Nadine and Lennox.

And so you killed her.

No, we talked about it, but we didn't do it.

In the morning

the whole thing seemed ridiculous...

like one of those dramas

that you dream up in the dark.

I had nothing to do with her death.

You do believe me, don't you, Mr. Poirot?

I've not said that I don't.

You can come out now, Mr. Raymond.

Hello, Monsieur Poirot.

So you overheard our conversation

just as I overheard your conversation.

Yeah, but we didn't go ahead with that

stupid plan to kill our stepmother.

- Non?

- Definitely non. I was with Miss King.

And then I went down. There was something

I had to tell my mother.

About Dr. King and yourself?

Exactly. She was pretty upset.

I forbid you to see her again.

Do you hear me?

There was no point in arguing...

so I went down below

to look at the artifacts.

At what time did you talk

to your stepmother?

About 5:
30.

5:
30, after she was dead. Yes, well...

Dr. King says

that she examined the body at 6:00.

It had been dead for about two hours.

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