Brussels, May 1907

Madame Gersande de Villeneuve, a 53-year-old widow, lived in a modest sized house in a quiet street in the Brussels suburb of Auderghem. Her resident companion was her dependent niece, Léonie Peyron, a 22-year-old young woman who was shy, plain and of indifferent health. Madame de Villeneuve was severe and overbearing and the few suitors who had approached her niece had never returned. They had a maid called Henriette and a young gardener named Jean tended the gardens three days a week.

"For heaven's sake, go and see Docteur Lauzière!" snapped her aunt as Léonie coughed yet again.

The elderly Docteur Lauzière had retired and his practice had been taken over by the younger and rather dashing Eugène Brard who had recently arrived from France. Léonie duly consulted the doctor and he was so solicitous for her health that she proceeded to ignore his advice simply so that her condition would worsen to the extent that he would have to carry out a house call. Madame de Villeneuve was a shrewd woman and did not trust Brard. It was not that she disliked handsome men but she knew nothing of the 46-year-old doctor; she did however know her niece's disposition and how susceptible she was to flattery.

One morning, as the women were sitting together at breakfast, Henriette brought a letter to Madame de Villeneuve. She carefully opened it, read the contents and with a tight-lipped smile she excused herself.

-o-

Two days later when Henriette took her mistress her early morning cup of tea, she found the woman had died during the night.

-o-

29-year-old Hercule Poirot had only been an Inspecteur adjoint de la police judiciaire in the Belgian police force for 12 days and was relishing his first case as senior officer, investigating the death of Madame de Villeneuve. Although the initial verdict was death through natural causes, Poirot was not convinced and he looked forward to receiving the Médecin Légiste's post-mortem report.

When Poirot arrived in Auderghem to interview a visibly distraught Léonie he found her sitting in the garden.

"Bonjour Mademoiselle. Ah! This is a beautiful garden."

Léonie smiled wanly "It was Tante Gersande's favourite place. She loved the rhododendrons."

"I see how difficult this is for you, however there are questions I must ask. Can you think of anyone who may have wished to harm your aunt?"

The young woman looked horrified "You think she was murdered?"

Before Poirot could reply, Docteur Brard rounded the house and strode briskly towards them.

"Léonie!" he cried "I've just heard the terrible news. Why didn't you or Henriette call me?"

She replied, not meeting his eye "Henriette thought it would be better to call the police."

Brard took her hand, turned to Poirot and said "Léonie is not strong enough to answer your questions. I recommend that we return to the house so she can rest." Without waiting for a response, he led Léonie away.

-o-

The doctor bounded down the stairs to join Poirot in the small drawing room and said with a reassuring smile "She's lying down, and I've recommended she take one of her sleeping powders. Now, Monsieur l'Inspecteur, I suppose you would like my professional opinion on Madame de Villeneuve? She was a good woman, however her health has been declining of late."

Poirot cocked his head to the side and asked "You believe, Monsieur le Docteur, that Madame's death is natural?"

"Obviously! My professional opinion is heart failure."

"Perhaps it is so. Me? I will await the professional opinion of the Médecin Légiste. Good day."

Poirot was accosted as he left by Henriette who nearly dragged him to the kitchen.

"I heard every word that man said. There was nothing wrong with Madame's health. Sound as a bell, it was. Never a day's illness in her life."

"Indeed? Tell me about yesterday."

"Well Monsieur" began Henriette "Madame received a letter. Right pleased she was too."

"Did you see from whom the letter came?"

"Yes, from a Monsieur Despoix in the Rue de l'Etuve. Anyway, after breakfast she took the letter up to her room. She has a bureau there for all her papers." Creeping over to the kitchen door, Henriette peered around it and then returned to Poirot and began to whisper.

"After she had been in her room for about an hour, she came down here to the kitchen. She had telephoned to her lawyer, Monsieur Sancerres, and was going to see him this morning about a new will."

Poirot concealed his surprise "Do you know, Madame, the contents of the new will?"

Henriette shook her head "No, Monsieur."

"Did anyone else in the house know about it?"

"Jean was out in the garden, Mademoiselle Léonie was in the house. Perhaps she overheard? It would not be the first time she listened at the keyholes." she replied sourly.

He proceeded to ask Henriette whether there had been any visitors and what Madame had eaten on the day she died. Madame de Villeneuve had, uncharacteristically, given Jean and Henriette the afternoon off so the maid did not know whether there had been any callers in her absence, although she suspected the doctor had called on the off-chance of seeing Léonie. She had prepared the evening meal of thick vegetable broth and salad for Madame de Villeneuve before she left, Léonie had accepted an invitation from a friend to dinner and an evening at the theatre. Henriette did not see Madame when she returned at the end of the evening but as it was late, her mistress was already in bed. The dishes had been stacked in the sink to be washed the next morning.

Thanking Henriette, Poirot bowed from the kitchen and climbed the narrow staircase to Madame de Villeneuve's bedroom which was guarded by a junior officer. Inspecteur Poirot paced slowly around the room, paying close attention to every detail, in particular the elegant maple wood bureau. He sifted through the various papers and letters but there was nothing from Monsieur Despoix, the letter had gone and with it a potential motive for murder. On the nightstand were a handful of books, mostly on plant-life and botany.

Before returning to his office, Poirot decided to have a word with the gardener who was weeding the flowerbeds.

"Monsieur Jean? I compliment you on your work. This garden is very beautiful!"

Jean shrugged "It's not bad. It was almost perfect until some imbecile ruined my rhododendrons. See here?" he pointed to a nearby shrub. Sure enough, a few stems at the back had been broken off.

"Now I'll have to prune the whole thing to compensate for the missing leaves." and with a sigh of frustration, Jean turned back to his work. "At least Madame will not see the damage. She was a knowledgeable botanist, she taught me a great deal."

Poirot asked the man what he could remember about the day of Madame de Villeneuve's death.

"Not much, I was kept busy most of the day planting the new roses and preparing a batch of weedkiller. I didn't see Madame but the drawing room window was open and I heard a man's voice. It was low but I think it may have been the doctor."

"At what time was this?"

The gardener looked at Poirot and thought for a moment. "Around four in the afternoon."

Poirot left the house with much food for thought. By the time he arrived back at his desk, the post-mortem report had been delivered. It came as no surprise to him that the cause of Madame de Villeneuve's death was poison.

Something about the letter Madame de Villeneuve had received had inspired her to consult her lawyer and had perhaps brought about her death. His first task was to discover the contents of the letter and to that end, he would have to make an appointment with Monsieur Despoix.

-o-

Monsieur Despoix was a private investigator whose dusty office was on the first floor of an unassuming building. To Poirot, a man who prized order and method above all things, the disordered state of the room was offensive and, while the detective was not delighted to receive a visit from the police, he complied with Poirot's request for information. Despoix was even less pleased when he discovered that his client had died and that he would not be paid for his services. He confirmed that had been engaged by Madame de Villeneuve to investigate Docteur Brard and reluctantly told Poirot of his findings.

After his illuminating conversation with the detective, Poirot paid a visit to Monsieur Sancerres and once he had replies to telegrams he had sent to France, his final questions were answered.

-o-

Poirot had returned to the house in Auderghem and had assembled Léonie, Docteur Brard, Jean and Henriette in the drawing room.

"The death of Madame de Villeneuve is a puzzle. The how and the why, those are the keys to this mystery. How did Madame de Villeneuve die and, more importantly, why?"

Poirot turned to face Docteur Brard. "All this begins with you."

Brard's eyes widened in shock. "Me?"

"You were aware that Madame had engaged a detective to investigate you, Mademoiselle Léonie told you. She receives a letter containing the results of his investigations and suddenly, two days later, Madame she dies. Is it a coincidence? Poirot, he does not believe in the coincidence. Her death must be connected to the letter she received. The letter which has, unfortunately, disappeared. But you did not destroy it, did you Mademoiselle Léonie?"

Léonie shook her head and pulled the crumpled letter from her pocket and handed it to Poirot. He opened and read it, smiling slightly. With a nod, he folded the letter and returned it to her.

"It is as I thought. I am afraid that Madame's death is in part your concern Docteur Brard. She did not trust you, she saw that Mademoiselle Léonie was fond of you but it was only when she suspected that you had begun to return her feelings that Madame determined to find out about you and engaged Monsieur Despoix to investigate your past. The letter which Madame received, and which Mademoiselle Léonie kindly showed to me, speaks of your past and in particular your time in Montpellier at Saint-Eloi hospital."

Brard looked at Poirot and nodded his head, silently giving his permission to proceed. Turning to face the others in the room, Poirot continued. "In Montpellier, Eugène Brard was a talented medical student at the teaching hospital. He was within a month of finishing his studies and qualifying as a doctor when he was suddenly expelled by the principal of the medical school based on allegations of medical malpractice resulting in the death by poisoning of a patient."

"This was not true, was it?" asked Poirot.

Brard sighed deeply "No. Ophélie Prévert was a beautiful woman and I fell in love with her the moment I met her. However, she was married to the school principal. From the time I arrived she tried to entrap me. I refused all contact with her, rebuffed her advances. Finally, she had had enough and out of spite, she lodged the false allegations. Professeur Prévert was a fair man, I think he knew that I was innocent. He sent me to Lille where I qualified and began to work as a doctor."

"And the patient in Montpellier?"

"After I left, it came out that the old lady's son had used strychnine to poison her."

"And you came to Belgium."

The doctor nodded "A vague rumour reached Lille, although the truth was well-known by then, some people will never believe it."

"Unfortunately" said Poirot "I suspect that Madame de Villeneuve was one such unbeliever. But since the truth is known, the knowledge of the detective's findings is of no consequence. There is no need for the concealment and so no reason for Madame to be silenced."

Léonie wiped her eyes on an already damp handkerchief "Monsieur l'Inspecteur? Please. Tell me how she died? Tante Gersande and I were never very affectionate, but she was my aunt. Please?"

Poirot watched each of them. "The cause of Madame's death, it was poison."

"Poison?" shrieked Henriette "I hope you're not going to blame my cooking?"

"And why not?" replied Poirot. "You are the cook, you have access to many household poisons. What could be easier?"

Henriette looked shocked and outraged.

"In point of fact, except for Docteur Brard, any one of you could have poisoned her. Mademoiselle Henriette, Mademoiselle Léonie, either of you could have poisoned the dinner before you left. And you Monsieur Jean? You were here on the day Madame died, you could easily have used some of your weedkiller. I cannot know for certain, but I hazard a guess that Madame told you, Monsieur Jean and you, Mademoiselle Henriette, of Docteur Brard's past. Of course, she omitted to tell you that he was innocent – that would not help with her plan. But it was enough to make you both distrustful toward the doctor. When I first spoke to you, Monsieur, you told me that at four in the afternoon you had been working on the new roses and had overheard voices from the drawing room. However, Mademoiselle Henriette told me herself that you had both been given the afternoon off. It is interesting that you both mentioned that the doctor may have been here. But, alas for you, the good doctor was at his surgery all day. His secretary an a waiting room full of patients can confirm this."

"Contrary to appearances, Madame de Villeneuve was unwell. Monsieur le docteur, you were correct in your diagnosis, Madame's heart was indeed failing. She knew this, and since she distrusted you and your motives towards her niece, she resolved to separate you. The poison ingested by Madame was from the flowers and leaves of the rhododendron. There were books in her room on plants and Monsieur Jean himself told me that Madame was a botanist. As soon as Jean was out of sight, Madame de Villeneuve took leaves and flowers and once Henriette had left, she added them to her dinner. Madame knew that Mademoiselle Léonie would want to know what was in the letter, so she left it on the bureau in her room."

He turned to look at Léonie "You did not intend to keep the letter, but I assume that you entered her room once you were sure she was asleep. You found the letter on the bureau and as you were reading it, the poison began to take effect. You ran to fetch Henriette and begged her to telephone to the doctor. I wonder why, Mademoiselle Henriette, did you refuse?"

Henriette was silent "You refused because Madame told you what she was going to do, am I right? She told you she was dying, she told you of her unfounded suspicion of the doctor and she told you how she was going to be rid of him. After the rumour of a woman being poisoned at a hospital where Docteur Brard was working, who would not jump to the conclusion that he had perhaps struck again?"

Pale and trembling, Léonie hissed at the maid "How could you?"

Henriette rose stiffly to her feet "So, Monsieur l'Inspecteur, you intend to have me arrested?"

Poirot shook his head "No, but I fear that because of your actions yourself and Monsieur Jean may have to seek employment elsewhere once Mademoiselle Léonie and Docteur Brard are married."

Addressing himself to Léonie, he said "Mademoiselle, I am sorry for your loss." Smiling, he continued "May I assume, Monsieur le Docteur, that you will take good care of the young lady?"

"The very best, as always." replied the doctor, gently taking Léonie's hand.

"Then all is well. I bid you a good day."