The Regatta Mystery and Other Stories (Hercule Poirot 21)

case. On the face of it, it looked as though Mr.

Rhodes must have murdered his wife. But I could

see that Mr. Petherick was quite convinced of his

client's innocence and Mr. Petherick was a very

shrewd man.

At the inquest Mr. Rhodes had told a hesitating

and rambling story about some woman who had

written threatening letters to his wife. His story, I

gathere

d, had been unconvincing in the extreme.

Appealed to by Mr. Petherick, he explained him-self.

"Frankly," he said, "I never believed it. I

thought Amy had made most of it up."

Mrs. Rhodes, I gathered, was one of those ro-mantic

liars who go through life embroidering

everything that happens to them. The amount of

adventures that, according to her own account,

happened to her in a year was simply incredible. If

she slipped on a bit of banana peel it was a case of

near escape from death. If a lamp-shade caught

fire, she was rescued from a burning building at

the hazard of her life. Her husband got into the

habit of discounting her statements. Her tale as to

some woman whose child she had injured .in a

motor accident and who had vowed vengeance on

her--wellmMr. Rhodes had simply not taken any

136

Agatha Christie

notice of it. The incident had happened before he

married his wife and although she had read him