Stella allowed herself to be led away to her mother's room, and she obediently swallowed the dose poured out for her, but she would not go to her own room. She sat down in a chair on the landing, and gritted her chattering teeth together.
Dr Fielding had come home to lunch, and within five minutes he was at the Poplars, following Guy upstairs to Miss Matthews' room. Mrs Matthews was standing at the foot of the bed, and greeted him with composure, but in a hushed voice. “I think my sister-in-law must have had a stroke, doctor. I haven't tried to do anything for her, as I thought it would be wiser to wait until you came. I have thought for some little while that she wasn't quite herself, but of course I never dreamed of anything like this happening. Poor Harriet! I'm afraid my brother-in-law's death was —”
Dr Fielding straightened himself. “Mrs Matthews, your sister-in-law is dead,” he said harshly. “She has been dead for as much as two hours, I should say. Why was I not called in before?”
“Dead!” Mrs Matthews repeated, and bowed her head slightly, covering her eyes with one hand.
Guy said: “We'd no idea! How could we have had? She said she felt seedy. We thought she'd eaten something that had disagreed with her. I tell you, there didn't seem to be anything the matter with her, did there, mother?”
“Nothing,” Mrs Matthews said in a low voice. “A trifle bilious. I gave her some of my own medicine, and put her to bed. She just wanted to be quiet.”
“What did she complain of?” Fielding asked.
“Nothing that could lead one to suppose—”She said she lilt giddy, and that her head ached.”
“Any sickness?”
“She had a slight feeling of sickness, which was why I gave her my medicine. It is an excellent prescription —”
“Did she complain of any sensation of cramp? Any shivering in the extremities, or creeping in the arms? Did she seem to you to have difficulty in breathing?”
Mrs Matthews shook her head. “Oh, no, no! If there had been anything like that I should have sent for you at once! She seemed better after taking the medicine. She was drowsy, and I tucked her up, and left her to have a sleep. I am such a firm believer in the healing qualities of —”
“Fielding, what did she die of?” Guy demanded.
The doctor looked from one to the other of them, his own face set into hard lines. “It is impossible for me to answer that question without performing a post-mortem examination.”
Mrs Matthews laid her hands on the bed-rail, and grasped it nervously. “Surely that cannot be necessary!” she said. “It is so obvious to me that she must have had a stroke! The shock of her brother's death —”
“It is not obvious to me, Mrs Matthews. I am sorry, but I cannot undertake to sign a certificate. This is a case for the Coroner.”
“Oh, my God!” groaned Guy.
Mrs Matthews said in a shaking voice: “It's absurd! My sister-in-law has been through a great deal, and she was not a young woman. Moreover, I myself have noticed signs of failing health in her for some time past.”
“Look here, you've got to tell us!” said Guy, taking a step towards the doctor. “What do you suspect?”
Fielding met his angry stare with cold severity. “I suspect that Miss Matthews has been poisoned,” he replied.
“It's a damned lie!” said Guy.
“Hush, Guy!” Mrs Matthews said mechanically. “It is ridiculous, of course, quite ridiculous. Who could have wanted to poison poor Harriet? If it were not so terrible it would be almost laughable! But to subject us all to the horror of another inquest—really, doctor, don't you think you are letting yourself —”
“Mrs Matthews, I must decline to discuss it with you. I was not attending your sister-in-law at the time of her death; I was not called in when she was first taken ill. I could not reconcile it with my conscience to sign a certificate under such circumstances. Now, if you will please go downstairs, both of you, I will lock this room up until the police come to take charge.”
“You cannot have thought what this will mean to us,” Mrs Matthews said. “The scandal—so unnecessary, so dreadful for everybody concerned! You can't seriously think that anyone would dream of poisoning Harriet! Good heavens, what possible object could anybody have for doing such a thing?”
The doctor shrugged. “That is not a question for me, Mrs Matthews. I can only tell you that I am very far from satisfied that Miss Matthews died a natural death.”
Guy took his mother's arm. “Come downstairs, mother. It's no use arguing. If he's not satisfied, it's got to go to the police,” he said.
She let him lead her out of the room, and down the stairs; the doctor locked the door on the outside, and withdrew the key, and would have followed Mrs Matthews at once had not Stella got up from the chair on the landing where all the time she had been sitting. She said: “Deryk, for God's sake tell me! You don't really think that? I didn't come in, but I heard all you said. She can't have been poisoned!”
“I'm sorry,” he answered in his professional voice. “But I can't help it, you know.”
“If it hadn't been for, uncle's death you'd never have suspected poison!” Stella said.
“The cases are not the same,” he replied. “Your uncle was already suffering from heart-trouble. Miss Matthews, when last I was called in to attend her, had nothing wrong with her heart or her blood-pressure. If your uncle were alive today I should still consider Miss Matthews' death extraordinary.”
“But, Deryk, Aunt Harriet! Who could want to kill her? Deryk, are you sure you aren't making a mistake?”
“Stella, I've told you I'm very sorry, but I can't help you. The matter must be reported to the Coroner immediately. My duty is perfectly clear.”
“But what are we going to do?” Stella said, wringing her hands together.
He said uncomfortably: “No one will think you had anything to do with it. Look here, I've got to go and report this. Try not to worry!” He added again: “I'm awfully sorry!” and hurried away downstairs.
Mrs Matthews had gone into the library, and was sitting on the sofa there, one hand fidgeting nervously with the pleats of her frock, the other gripping her handkerchief. Guy had gone over to the window, and was looking out. He heard Dr Fielding speak to Beecher in the hall, and then pick up the telephone-receiver, and he stole a glance at his mother. She did not seem to be attending; her mouth was folded tightly, her eyes were fixed on the opposite wall.
The doctor went away, and presently Beecher came in, looking pale and shocked. In a low voice, and keeping his eyes downcast, he wanted to know whether Mrs Matthews desired her lunch.
She did not move or answer. Guy said: “Mother!”
She was recalled to her surroundings with a slight start, and looked blankly from Guy to the butler. “Lunch?” she repeated. “Oh! No, I don't think I could swallow anything. You and Stella go, dear.”
“I don't want any either,” said Guy. “And I don't suppose Stella does.”
The butler bowed, and withdrew again. Mrs Matthews dabbed at the corners of her eyes. “I don't seem able to realise it,” she said. “Harriet gone! I shall miss her terribly.”
Guy turned a shade paler, and said: “For God's sake, mother, don't!”
“Of course, I know she was often very, very tiresome,” Mrs Matthews continued, “but one gets used to people, somehow. I can't imagine this house without her. I feel dreadfully upset.”
“Mother, what's the use of talking like that? Don't you realise? The police will be here at any minute! What are we going to tell them?”
Mrs Matthews looked at him in silence for a moment, and then said, more in her normal manner: “Dear boy, we shall tell them exactly what happened. We did everything we could, and you must remember that it is by no means proved that poor Harriet was poisoned. Personally I feel sure she had a stroke.”