Dumb Witness

Plot summary

Wealthy spinster Emily Arundell writes to Hercule Poirot believing she survived an attempted murder after a fall in her Berkshire home. Her family and household think she tripped over a ball left by her Wire Fox Terrier, Bob. Before dying, she made a new will leaving her fortune and home to her paid companion, Minnie Lawson. Poirot, accompanied by Captain Hastings, investigates.

Under her previous will, her nephew Charles and nieces Theresa and Bella would have inherited. Visiting the house on the pretence of buying it, Poirot finds a nail covered with varnish at the top of the stairs and deduces a tripwire caused the fall. Through Miss Arundell's last words, he concludes she was murdered. During a seance, a luminous aura was seen coming from the dead woman's mouth.

Miss Lawson saw someone moving about on the night of the fall wearing a brooch with initials 'TA. Her gardener recalls Charles inquiring about arsenic-based weed killer. Bella later leaves her Greek husband Jacob, and Miss Lawson helps hide her. Poirot moves Miss Lawson to another hotel for safety. The next day, Bella is found dead from an overdose of sleeping medication.

Characters

Hercule Poirot is the Belgian detective who solves the case. Captain Arthur Hastings narrates the story. Emily Arundell is the wealthy older woman who never married and was murdered by poison. Theresa Arundell is her fashionable niece, engaged to Dr Rex Donaldson. Charles Arundell is Theresa's brother, in his early thirties. Bella Tanios is another niece, plain looking, married to Dr Jacob Tanios, a Greek physician. Their children are Edward and Mary Tanios. Ellen is a longtime household staff member. Wilhelmina (Minnie) Lawson is Emily's companion and sole heiress. Isabel and Julia Tripp are eccentric sisters and amateur spiritualists. Dr Grainger is Emily's physician. Miss Peabody is a longtime village resident and friend. Bob is Emily's Wire Fox Terrier.

Literary significance and reception

Reviews at publication in 1937 were generally positive, though several noted plot weaknesses. John Davy Hayward in the Times Literary Supplement questioned the murderer's use of hammer, nails, and varnish near an open door at night. Kay Irvin in the New York Times Book Review considered the novel not Christie's best but a much-better-than-average thriller. 'Torquemada' (Edward Powys Mathers) called it 'the least of all the Poirot books' but added 'Still, better a bad Christie than a good average.' Mary Dell considered it 'Mrs Christie at her best.' The Scotsman gave 'full marks.' A 1990 review found the novel not very interesting, with obvious clues.

Publication history

The UK first edition was published by Collins Crime Club on 5 July 1937, hardcover, 320 pages, retailing at 7/6. The US edition by Dodd, Mead and Company later in 1937, hardcover, 302 pages, at $2.00. Paperback editions include Avon Books (1945), Pan Books (1949, 1969), Fontana Books (1958, 1975), and Dell Books (1965). A large-print edition was issued by Ulverscroft in 1973. A facsimile of the 1937 UK first edition was published by HarperCollins in 2007. The novel was first serialised in the US in The Saturday Evening Post from 7 November to 19 December 1936 under the title Poirot Loses a Client. In the UK, it was serialised in Women's Pictorial from 20 February to 3 April 1937 under the title Mystery of Littlegreen House.