to live with her, and she always made it clear to Lois that she intended to leave the bulk of her estate to Dennis Radclyffe, her late husband's nephew. After a quarrel with the young man she quietly changed her will in favour of Lois. Three weeks earlier, when she turned 21, Lois made a will leaving her money to Dennis. He lives at the Grange with her, as does Miss Logan, an old lady who is a cousin of Dennis and a former companion to Lady Radclyffe. Mary Chilcott, an old schoolfriend of Lois, is also living at the Grange. The servants are a cook, a kitchenmaid, a parlourmaid called Esther, and an elderly maid called Hannah. The next day, Tommy and Tuppence plan to travel down to the Grange; before leaving, they read the news that Lois is dead, killed by a poison which also affected Dennis and Miss Logan. The source is fig paste in sandwiches eaten by the three but not by Mary Chilcott, who is unaffected. They meet Dr Burton who is looking after the patients and who tells them that Dennis died early that morning. The doctor has not yet identified the poison, but it was not arsenic. They learn that Dennis was out when the sandwiches were eaten for tea. Tuppence finds that he was seen by one of the maids to drink a cocktail, and gets hold of the glass before it is washed. In speaking with everyone in the house, they meet Hannah, who quotes dark lines from scripture, bringing fire and brimstone on all concerned. She has an old book on poisons and medicines by Edward Logan, Miss Logan's father, a pioneer of serum therapeutics. They confirm this from the ill old lady. Tuppence notices that she has a mass of small pinpricks on her arm. They call at Dr Burton's and find out that the poison is ricin and, from the entry in Edward Logan's book, deduce that Miss Logan is the murderer. The pinpricks on her arm are from injections of small amounts of the poison she has been giving herself to build up immunity. As next of kin to Dennis, she would inherit once Lois, then Dennis, died. The near-mad Hannah hears this accusation and then bursts into Miss Logan's room and attacks her, starting a fire in the process. Tommy stifles the flames but the shock