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Chapter 6: The Inquest
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Mysterious Affair at Styles, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Logic and Deduction
Love and Passion
Suspense, Intrigue, and Secrecy
Wealth, Inheritance, and Power
Summary
Analysis
Poirot makes his way to Jimmy Japp and his associate, Superintendent Summerhaye, after the inquest. Japp gushes about Poirot’s brilliant detective work. He then suggests that the case is quite clear: Alfred Inglethorp is obviously the murderer. When Poirot voices his skepticism, though, Japp listens to him. Summerhaye thinks he’s crazy, but Japp knows how good Poirot’s instincts are. He hints that he and Summerhaye have a warrant for Inglethorp’s arrest, but Poirot urges him not to make use of that warrant. Japp is inclined to listen to Poirot, but he needs a good reason to justify his decision not to make the arrest. Poirot, for his part, would rather not reveal his reasoning, but he agrees to show Japp—and everyone else—why Alfred shouldn’t be arrested.
The fact that Inspector Japp is willing to delay arresting Alfred based on nothing more than Poirot’s word underscores just how widely respected Poirot is as a detective. Although Hastings often finds Poirot exhausting and even sometimes doubts his skills as an investigator, there’s no question that he has a reputation as an ingenious detective—a reputation he will perhaps justify when he finally reveals why he thinks Alfred Inglethorp shouldn’t be arrested.
Themes
Agreeing to meet Poirot and Hastings at Styles, Japp and Summerhaye take their leave. Poirot then complains about how stupidly Alfred Inglethorp answered questions during the inquest. He insists that the evidence against Alfred is “too conclusive.” In his experience, useful evidence tends to be “vague and unsatisfactory,” consisting of the kinds of details that have to be carefully considered and analyzed before they make sense. To Poirot’s eye, then, the evidence against Alfred Inglethorp has been “cleverly manufactured” to make him look guilty—so cleverly, in fact, that it’s ultimately working against itself.
According to Poirot, the truth is never as tidy as a lie. After all, lies are purposefully created to hide something, so they’re often meticulously constructed. The truth, on the other hand, is more organic and therefore encompasses all of the imperfections and oddities of real life.
Themes
Literary Devices
Poirot doesn’t think Alfred Inglethorp actually bought strychnine from Mr. Mace. After all, Mr. Mace is relatively new in town, having only been in the village for about a month. Plus, Mrs. Inglethorp usually has her medicine made up elsewhere, meaning that Mr. Mace probably doesn’t have a solid idea of what Mr. Inglethorp looks like up close. Poirot reminds Hastings of the point he stressed earlier about Alfred Inglethorp’s distinctive looks and way of dressing. It’s easy, he now explains, to impersonate somebody with unique attributes like a big black beard and noteworthy clothes. It’s harder, though, to impersonate someone who doesn’t stand out.
Poirot suggests that Alfred wasn’t the one to buy the strychnine, even though Mr. Mace claimed he did. Rather, he thinks that somebody impersonated Alfred, which is why Poirot previously mentioned the importance of Alfred’s distinctive looks (he also mentioned the importance of the weather on the day of Emily’s death, but he saves that point for later). By explaining this to Hastings, Poirot’s reasons for not wanting to have Alfred arrested begin to emerge.
Themes
Changing the subject, Poirot admits that he found Lawrence Cavendish’s behavior at the inquest strange. Lawrence went to medical school, studying to be a doctor even though he didn’t end up pursuing the profession. Still, his suggestion that his stepmother accidentally poisoned herself by taking her prescribed medicine was surprising, since his medical education should have helped him recognize the improbability of such a thing happening. On the whole, Poirot is suspicious of almost everyone’s testimonies: he thinks that Mary Cavendish is withholding information about the argument she overheard, that Evelyn Howard isn’t telling the complete truth, and that it’s especially strange that Cynthia didn’t hear the bedside table fall over.
Poirot’s point about Lawrence builds on the suspicion surrounding his behavior in the days after his stepmother’s death. He’s the only person who has even entertained the possibility that Emily died of natural causes. And yet, he of all people should know better, since he has a medical background and should be able to easily spot the effects of strychnine. Still, though, his odd behavior doesn’t answer any questions, since so many people—according to Poirot—are apparently hiding things, which only makes the case more difficult to crack.
Themes
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Hastings and Poirot go to Styles with the Scotland Yard detectives. Poirot gathers everyone in the house. Addressing Alfred Inglethorp, he suggests that the man doesn’t seem to quite comprehend how much trouble he’s in. He tries to get him to see that he’s on the verge of being arrested for murder. Having outlined how serious the charges are, Poirot asks Alfred once more to say where he was on Monday afternoon (when Mr. Mace claims to have sold him strychnine). But Alfred refuses, saying he can’t bring himself to believe that somebody would be “so monstrous” as to accuse him of murdering his wife.
Even after Poirot explains how close he is to being arrested, Alfred can’t bring himself to come up with a plausible alibi. At this point, then, it’s still unclear why Poirot is so convinced that he shouldn’t be arrested, since Alfred’s behavior both at the inquest and in this conversation is so evasive and suspicious.
Themes
Because Alfred won’t speak about his whereabouts on Monday afternoon, Poirot does so for him. He says that Mr. Inglethorp couldn’t have purchased strychnine that afternoon because he was walking Mrs. Raikes back to her house from a nearby farm. Poirot has found five witnesses who can confirm this alibi.
Finally, Poirot reveals his reasons for not thinking Alfred should be arrested. It’s not actually the case that Alfred lacks an alibi. To the contrary, he has a very solid, plausible way of proving that he didn’t buy strychnine from Mr. Mace, but he apparently doesn’t want to use this alibi because he doesn’t want everyone to know (or to think) that he’s having an affair with Mrs. Raikes. In this way, matters of the heart factor into this already complicated case.
Themes
