死无对证 (1937)

Dumb Witness is a mystery novel by British writer Agatha Christie, first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club on 5 July 1937 and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company later in the same year under the title of Poirot Loses a Client. The UK edition retailed at seven shillings and sixpence (7/6) and the US edition at $2.00.

The book features the Belgian detective Hercule Poirot and is narrated by his friend Arthur Hastings. It is the last book to feature the character of Hastings until the final Poirot novel, 1975's Curtain: Poirot's Last Case, which he also narrates.

Reviews of this novel at publication in 1937 were generally positive, though several pointed out what they considered to be plot weaknesses. The author does "this sort of thing so superlatively well", while The Times in London questioned one of the actions by the murderer: "who would use hammer and nails and varnish in the middle of the night near an open bedroom door?" In the New York Times, this novel was not considered "Mrs Christie's best, but she has produced a much-better-than-average thriller nevertheless", which is a view shared by "Torquemada" (Edward Powys Mathers), who called this "the least of all the Poirot books" and then concluded "Still, better a bad Christie than a good average." By contrast, Mary Dell considered this novel to be "Mrs Christie at her best". The Scotsman felt the author deserved "full marks" for this novel. A review in 1990 found this novel to be not very interesting, with obvious clues.

Plot summary

Wealthy spinster Emily Arundell writes to Hercule Poirot in the belief she has been the victim of an attempted murder after a fall in her Berkshire home. Her family and household believe she tripped over a ball left by her Wire Fox Terrier, Bob. After Poirot receives the letter, he travels to Miss Arundell's home, only to learn she is dead; her physician, Dr Grainger, states her death was from chronic liver problems. While recovering from her earlier fall, she made a new will, which bequeathed her vast fortune and home to her paid companion, Minnie Lawson.

Seeking to investigate Miss Arundell's belief that someone wanted to murder her, Poirot, accompanied by Captain Hastings, notes that under her previous will, her nephew Charles and nieces Theresa and Bella would have inherited. All three consider contesting the will.

Visiting the house on the pretence of buying it, Poirot discovers a nail covered with varnish at the top of the stairs and deduces a string had been tied to it. Through Miss Arundell's last words, he concludes that not only was Bob out all night, but also that Miss Arundell fell down the stairs as a result of a tripwire, and there is a chance Miss Arundell was indeed murdered. Her family, therefore, become suspects in the matter.

During his investigation, Poirot learns that a luminous aura was noticed coming from the dead woman's mouth when she spoke during a seance. Visiting Miss Lawson at her home, he learns that she saw someone moving about on the night of Miss Arundell's fall, who wore a brooch with the initials "TA." At the same time, Miss Lawson's gardener recalls Charles inquiring about his arsenic-based weed killer and is surprised to find the bottle containing it nearly empty.

Bella later leaves her Greek husband Jacob, on the implication he bullies her, taking the children with her. After Miss Lawson helps hide them in a hotel, Poirot moves her to another for fear of a second murder; before he does, he gives her a summary of Miss Arundell's death. The next day, Bella is found dead from an overdose of sleeping medication.

Bringing the surviving family members together, Poirot reveals Bella was the murderer. She hated her husband and sought to separate from him and keep her children in England. As she had no means to do so, she resolved to kill Miss Arundell to hasten her inheritance. When the attempt with the tripwire failed, she filled one of Miss Arundell's patent capsules with elemental phosphorus, knowing the poison would mimic the symptoms of liver failure. The aura witnessed by those attending the seance was due to the poison Miss Arundell had unknowingly consumed.

When she found out her aunt changed her will and that Poirot had discovered the cause of her death, Bella found herself in a far worse quandary. She relinquished her children to their father before committing suicide; the medication was originally intended to be used to murder Jacob, who was to be her second victim.

Poirot reveals that Miss Lawson saw Bella on the night of Emily's fall, though in a mirror; the brooch's initials were reversed from that of "AT" – Arabella Tanios. The arsenic was stolen by Theresa, who intended to use it, but could not bear to do so in the end. A small sum of cash that went missing was later discovered to have been stolen by Charles; he knew his aunt had changed her will before her death. Knowing Emily wished for no scandal, Poirot honours this, while Miss Lawson decides to share her inheritance with Theresa, Charles, and Bella's children. Meanwhile, Poirot and Hastings find themselves returning home with Bob joining them.

Characters

Hercule Poirot: the renowned Belgian detective who solves the case.

Captain Arthur Hastings: narrator, a friend of Poirot.

Emily Arundell: wealthy older woman who never married, owner of Littlegreen House; last survivor of five siblings, Matilda, Emily, Arabella, Thomas, and Agnes. She was murdered by poison.

Theresa Arundell: fashionable, attractive niece of Emily Arundell, not yet 30 years old; spent the capital she inherited at age 21 from her father; engaged to ambitious young doctor.

Dr Rex Donaldson: Theresa's fiancé, and younger partner to Dr. Grainger.

Charles Arundell: nephew of Emily Arundell and brother to Theresa, in his early thirties; son of Thomas Arundell and widowed Mrs Varley. He also spent the capital of his inheritance from his father, and settled in British Columbia, Canada.