Poirot Loses a Client by Agatha Christie (1937)

 

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This is Hercule Poirot #20, also published as Dumb Witness.

Major characters:

• Emily Arundell, who fell down the stairs
• Charles Arundell, her nephew
• Theresa Arundell, her niece, and sister to Charles
• Dr. Rex Donaldson, fiancé of Theresa
• Bella Tanios, another niece
• Dr. Jacob Tanios, Bella's husband
• Wilhelmina "Minnie" Lawson, companion to Emily
• Ellen, housekeeper
• Annie, cook
• Dr. Grainger, Emily's physician
• Hercule Poirot
• Capt. Arthur Hastings, Poirot's companion and our narrator

Locale: Littlegreen House, Market Basing

Synopsis: Elderly Emily Arundell is the last of a generation living in the family home, and as such, has a substantial estate from her inheritances. Her nephew, Charles Arundell; and her nieces Theresa Arundell and Bella Tanios, are expecting to inherit from her. Charles can't wait and is always seeking 'loans' from Emily, but she holds tight onto the purse strings. Theresa can't wait to finance her husband - Dr. Rex Donaldson's - career. Bella can't wait to provide a better life for her husband - Dr. Jacob Tanios - and their two children.

Bob the dog has a favorite game. He sits at the top of the stairs while a person at the bottom tosses his ball to him. He catches it and pushes it off the top so it bounces back down. One night Emily approaches the stairs in the dark, trips, and falls down the length of the stairs. She is shaken but not injured seriously. Charles holds up the ball at the bottom of the stairs, and declares Emily must have stepped on it.

Emily is adamant she did not step on the ball. It had been put away in its drawer for the night. She suspects one of her relatives may be trying to hasten their inheritance, and on April 17 writes a letter to engage Hercule Poirot to investigate. Emily sets her letter aside. On April 21 her lawyer Purvis draws up a new will for her, cutting out her relations and leaving everything to housekeeper Ellen. On May 1 Emily passes away, believed to be natural cause. Eventually housekeeper Ellen comes across the sealed letter to Poirot, and drops it in the post. Hercule Poirot receives it on June 28. He and Capt. Arthur Hastings head out to Littlegreen House to see Emily, to find she is already dead and buried, with her house for sale. 

Poirot considers Emily his client, even though she is dead, and feels responsible to investigate. Posing as a potential buyer, Poirot inspects the house and finds evidence that a string or wire had been placed across the top of the stairs to precipitate Emily's fall.

Review: 

This novel follows the tried-and-true formula:

1. Last of a generation holds all the wealth
2. Grasping relations can't wait to inherit
3. Annoyed, last of a generation makes new will, cutting out the relations 
4. Murder!
5. Shell game with the wills

There are references to "crossed writing" to which the reader may be unfamiliar. This was a common practice at the time to save paper and minimize postage cost, and consisted of writing a letter in the usual manner, turning the page 90 degrees, and continuing to write the "second" page crossways directly on top of the first. Then the page was turned over and pages 3 and 4 written on the back in the same manner, thus squeezing four pages of text onto one sheet of paper.

crossed writing

This was a great read and enjoyed how the evidence of the dog-and-ball was worked in. Charles was as interesting character, I could never quite figure him out. Is he a rogue or just a carefree ne'er-do-well?

The story is not quite linear - Emily's death is announced in the first sentence. Then the story is told in flashback after Poirot receives the delayed letter - an interesting method.

The character Ellen is never introduced, and just pops into the story unannounced. After a while I surmised she is Emily's housekeeper.

My copy is a ex-library 1937 first edition which is falling apart, but complete: 

I find it fascinating to look at the signout record on the inside back cover, and think about how people on the home front during WWII got through it with the help of Agatha Christie! Patron 318 was reading this very copy during the attack on Pearl Harbor (Dec. 7 1941)!

Also see this review by Bev Hankins on My Reader's Block.