ereas the symptoms did not
manifest themselves until the early hours of the morning, which, on
the face of it, points to the drug having been taken much later in the
evening."

"Mrs. Inglethorp was in the habit of drinking a cup of coco in the
middle of the night. Could the strychnine have been administered in
that?"

"No, I myself took a sample of the coco remaining in the saucepan and
had it analysed. There was no strychnine present."

I heard Poirot chuckle softly beside me.

"How did you know?" I whispered.

"Listen."

"I should say"--the doctor was continuing--"that I would have been
considerably surprised at any other result."

"Why?"

"Simply because strychnine has an unusually bitter taste. It can be
detected in a solution of 1 in 70,000, and can only be disguised by some
strongly flavoured substance. Coco would be quite powerless to mask it."

One of the jury wanted to know if the same objection applied to coffee.

"No. Coffee has a bitter taste of its own which would probably cover the
taste of strychnine."

"Then you consider it more likely that the drug was administered in the
coffee, but that for some unknown reason its action was delayed."

"Yes, but, the cup being completely smashed, there is no possibility of
analyzing its contents."

This concluded Dr. Bauerstein's evidence. Dr. Wilkins corroborated it on
all points. Sounded as to the possibility of suicide, he repudiated
it utterly. The deceased, he said, suffered from a weak heart,
but otherwise enjoyed perfect health, and was of a cheerful and
well-balanced disposition. She would be one of the last people to take
her own life.

Lawrence Cavendish was next called. His evidence was quite unimportant,
being a mere repetition of that of his brother. Just as he was about to
step down, he paused, and said rather hesitatingly:

"I should like to make a suggestion if I may?"

He glanced deprecatingly at the Coroner, who replied briskly:

"Certainly, Mr. Cavendish, we are here to arrive at the truth of this
matter, and welcome anything that may lead to further elucidation."

"It is just an idea of mine," explained Lawrence. "Of course I may be
quite wrong, but it still seems to me that my mother's death might be
accounted for by natural means."

"How do you make that out, Mr. Cavendish?"

"My mother, at the time of her death, and for some time before it, was
taking a tonic containing strychnine."

"Ah!" said the Coroner.

The jur