"But you are quite sure that, in the legal sense, Caroline Crale did do it?"
Again Meredith Blake stared at him.
"My dear man, if she didn't -"
"Well, if she didn't?"
"I can't imagine any alternative solution.
Accident?
Surely impossible." "Quite impossible, I should say."
"And I can't believe in the suicide theory.
It had to be brought forward, but it was quite unconvincing to anyone who knew Crale." "Quite."
"So what remains?" asked Meredith Blake.
Poirot said coolly,
"There remains the possibility of Amyas Crale having been killed by somebody else."
"But that's absurd!
Nobody could have killed him but his wife.
But he drove her to it.
And so, in a way, it was suicide after all, I suppose."
"Meaning that he died by the result of his own actions, though not by his own hand?"
"Yes, it's a fanciful point of view, perhaps.
But - well, cause and effect, you know."
Hercule Poirot said,
"Have you ever reflected, Mr Blake, that the reason for murder is nearly always to be found by a study of the person murdered?"
"I hadn't exactly - yes, I suppose I see what you mean."
Poirot said, "Until you know exactly what sort of a person the victim was, you cannot begin to see the circumstances of a crime clearly." He added,
"That is what I am seeking for - and what you and your brother have helped to give me - a reconstruction of the man Amyas Crale."
Meredith Blake passed the main point of the remark over.
His attention had been attracted by a single word.
He said quickly,
"Philip?"
"Yes."
"You have talked with him, also?" "Certainly." Meredith Blake said sharply, "You should have come to me first."
Smiling a little, Poirot made a courteous gesture.
"As your brother lives near London, it was easier to visit him first."
Meredith Blake repeated,
"You should have come to me first."
This time Poirot did not answer.
He waited.
And presently Meredith Blake went on.
"Philip," he said, "is prejudiced."
"Yes?"
"As a matter of fact, he's a mass of prejudices - always has been."
He shot a quick, uneasy glance at Poirot. "He'll have tried to put you against Caroline."
"Does that matter, so long - after?"
Meredith Blake gave a sharp sigh.
"I know.
I forget that it's so long ago - that it's all over. Caroline is beyond being harmed.
But, all the same, I shouldn't like you to get a false impression."
"And you think your brother might give me a false impression?"
"Frankly, I do.
You see, there was always a certain - how shall I put it? - antagonism between him and Caroline."
"Why?"