Appointment With Death (Hercule Poirot 19)

‘He was the last person to see Mrs Boynton alive. That is his own story. Sarah King contradicts that. Tell me, Dr Gerard, is there—eh?—you know what I mean—a little tendresse, shall we say—there?’

The Frenchman nodded. ‘Emphatically so.’

‘Aha! Is she, this young lady, a brunette with hair that goes back from her forehead—so—and big hazel eyes and a manner very decided?’

Dr Gerard looked rather surprised.

‘Yes, that describes her very well.’

‘I think I have seen her—in the Solomon Hotel. She spoke to this Raymond Boynton and afterwards he remained plantélà—in a dream—blocking the exit from the lift. Three times I had to say “Pardon” before he heard me and moved.’

He remained in thought for some moments. Then he said: ‘So, to begin with, we will accept the medical evidence of Miss Sarah King with certain mental reservations. She is an interested party.’ He paused—then went on: ‘Tell me, Dr Gerard, do you think Raymond Boynton is of the temperament that could commit murder easily?’

Gerard said slowly: ‘You mean deliberate planned murder? Yes, I think it is possible—but only under conditions of intense emotional strain.’

‘Those conditions were present?’

‘Definitely. This journey abroad undoubtedly heightened the nervous and mental strain under which all these people were living. The contrast between their own lives and those of other people was more apparent to them. And in Raymond Boynton’s case—’

‘Yes?’

‘There was the additional complication of being strongly attracted to Sarah King.’

‘That would give him an additional motive? And an additional stimulus?’

‘That is so.’

Colonel Carbury coughed.

‘Like to butt in a moment. That sentence of his you overheard, “You do see, don’t you, that she’s got to be killed?” Must have been spoken to someone.’

‘A good point,’ said Poirot. ‘I had not forgotten it. Yes, to whom was Raymond Boynton speaking? Undoubtedly to a member of his family. But which member? Can you tell us something, Doctor, of the mental condition of the other members of the family?’

Gerard replied promptly:

‘Carol Boynton was, I should say, in very much the same state as Raymond—a state of rebellion accompanied by a severe nervous excitement, but uncomplicated in her case by the introduction of a sex factor. Lennox Boynton had passed the stage of revolt. He was sunk in apathy. He was finding it, I think, difficult to concentrate. His method of reaction to his surroundings was to retire further and further within himself. He was definitely an introvert.’

‘And his wife?’

‘His wife, though tired and unhappy, showed no signs of mental conflict. She was, I believe, hesitating on the brink of a decision.’

‘Such a decision being?’

‘Whether or not to leave her husband.’

He repeated the conversation he had held with Jefferson Cope. Poirot nodded in comprehension.

‘And what of the younger girl—Ginevra her name is, is it not?’

The Frenchman’s face was grave. He said:

‘I should say that mentally she is in an extremely dangerous condition. She has already begun to display symptoms of schizophrenia. Unable to bear the suppression of her life, she is escaping into a realm of fantasy. She has advanced delusions of persecution—that is to say, she claims to be a royal personage—in danger—enemies surrounding her—all the usual things!’

‘And that—is dangerous?’

‘Very dangerous. It is the beginning of what is often homicidal mania. The sufferer kills—not for the lust of killing—but in self-defence. He or she kills in order not to be killed themselves. From their point of view it is eminently rational.’

‘So you think that Ginevra Boynton might have killed her mother?’