Hallowe'en Party

Poirot returns to Apple Trees to meet Mrs. Drake. While he waits, he observes her garden, which is orderly and unartistic. Mrs. Drake arrives after a planning meeting for a Christmas fete; she seems irritated that other committee members want to interfere with her plans. Poirot asks if Mrs. Drake has even “a half-formed idea” about Joyce’s murder (154), then asks what caused Mrs. Drake to drop the vase, as Miss Whittaker reported. Mrs. Drake says she found the vase empty and filled it up, but denies being “startled” into dropping it. She denies seeing anyone leave the library, but Poirot doesn’t believe her. (In Chapter 21, she admits to seeing Leopold Reynolds and thinking him his sister’s murderer.)

Poirot thinks Mrs. Drake the “type” of person “to make excuses for the young criminal” (157). He muses if she saw a young person coming out of the library, she might lie to protect them since she advocates for “proper remedial treatment” instead of imprisonment to help young people who break the law (160). Poirot believes justice is more important.

Mrs. Drake confesses the sense of responsibility she feels for her husband’s death in a car accident, believing that she should have been present to help him get out of the way, given his disability.