“No, I myself took a sample of the cocoa remaining in the saucepan and had it analysed. There was no strychnine present.”

I heard Poirot chuckle softly beside me.

“How did you know?” I whispered.

“Listen.”

“I should say”⁠—the doctor was continuing⁠—“that I would have been considerably surprised at any other result.”

“Why?”

“Simply because strychnine has an unusually bitter taste. It can be detected in a solution of 1 in 70,000, and can only be disguised by some strongly flavoured substance. Cocoa would be quite powerless to mask it.”

One of the jury wanted to know if the same objection applied to coffee.