Poirot Investigates Agatha Christie (fb2 epub reader .txt) đ
- Author: Agatha Christie
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I obeyed, devoured with curiosity. Meanwhile Poirot had emptied the waste-paper basket on the floor, and was swiftly going through its contents.
In a few moments the valet answered the bell. To him Poirot put the same question, and handed him the card to examine. But the response was the same. The valet had never seen a card of that particular quality among Mr. Opalsenâs belongings. Poirot thanked him, and he withdrew, somewhat unwillingly, with an inquisitive glance at the overturned waste-paper basket and the litter on the floor. He could hardly have helped overhearing Poirotâs thoughtful remark as he bundled the torn papers back again:
âAnd the necklace was heavily insured.â ââ âŠâ
âPoirot,â I cried, âI seeâ ââ
âYou see nothing, my friend,â he replied quickly. âAs usual, nothing at all! It is incredibleâ âbut there it is. Let us return to our own apartments.â
We did so in silence. Once there, to my intense surprise, Poirot effected a rapid change of clothing.
âI go to London tonight,â he explained. âIt is imperative.â
âWhat?â
âAbsolutely. The real work, that of the brain (ah, those brave little grey cells), it is done. I go to seek the confirmation. I shall find it! Impossible to deceive Hercule Poirot!â
âYouâll come a cropper one of these days,â I observed, rather disgusted by his vanity.
âDo not be enraged, I beg of you, mon ami. I count on you to do me a serviceâ âof your friendship.â
âOf course,â I said eagerly, rather ashamed of my moroseness. âWhat is it?â
âThe sleeve of my coat that I have taken offâ âwill you brush it? See you, a little white powder has clung to it. You without doubt observed me run my finger round the drawer of the dressing-table?â
âNo, I didnât.â
âYou should observe my actions, my friend. Thus I obtained the powder on my finger, and, being a little overexcited, I rubbed it on my sleeve; an action without method which I deploreâ âfalse to all my principles.â
âBut what was the powder?â I asked, not particularly interested in Poirotâs principles.
âNot the poison of the Borgias,â replied Poirot, with a twinkle. âI see your imagination mounting. I should say it was French chalk.â
âFrench chalk?â
âYes, cabinetmakers use it to make drawers run smoothly.â
I laughed.
âYou old sinner! I thought you were working up to something exciting.â
âAu revoir, my friend. I save myself. I fly!â
The door shut behind him. With a smile, half of derision, half of affection, I picked up the coat, and stretched out my hand for the clothes brush.
The next morning, hearing nothing from Poirot, I went out for a stroll, met some old friends, and lunched with them at their hotel. In the afternoon we went for a spin. A punctured tyre delayed us, and it was past eight when I got back to the Grand Metropolitan.
The first sight that met my eyes was Poirot, looking even more diminutive than usual, sandwiched between the Opalsens, beaming in a state of placid satisfaction.
âMon ami Hastings!â he cried, and sprang to meet me. âEmbrace me, my friend; all has marched to a marvel!â
Luckily, the embrace was merely figurativeâ ânot a thing one is always sure of with Poirot.
âDo you meanâ ââ I began.
âJust wonderful, I call it!â said Mrs. Opalsen, smiling all over her fat face. âDidnât I tell you, Ed, that if he couldnât get back my pearls nobody would?â
âYou did, my dear, you did. And you were right.â
I looked helplessly at Poirot, and he answered the glance.
âMy friend Hastings is, as you say in England, all at the seaside. Seat yourself, and I will recount to you all the affair that has so happily ended.â
âEnded?â
âBut yes. They are arrested.â
âWho are arrested?â
âThe chambermaid and the valet, parbleu! You did not suspect? Not with my parting hint about the French chalk?â
âYou said cabinetmakers used it.â
âCertainly they doâ âto make drawers slide easily. Somebody wanted that drawer to slide in and out without any noise. Who could that be? Obviously, only the chambermaid. The plan was so ingenious that it did not at once leap to the eyeâ ânot even to the eye of Hercule Poirot.
âListen, this was how it was done. The valet was in the empty room next door, waiting. The French maid leaves the room. Quick as a flash the chambermaid whips open the drawer, takes out the jewel-case, and, slipping back the bolt, passes it through the door. The valet opens it at his leisure with the duplicate key with which he has provided himself, extracts the necklace, and waits his time. CĂ©lestine leaves the room again, andâ âpst!â âin a flash the case is passed back again and replaced in the drawer.
âMadame arrives, the theft is discovered. The chambermaid demands to be searched, with a good deal of righteous indignation, and leaves the room without a stain on her character. The imitation necklace with which they have provided themselves has been concealed in the French girlâs bed that morning by the chambermaidâ âa master stroke, ça!â
âBut what did you go to London for?â
âYou remember the card?â
âCertainly. It puzzled meâ âand puzzles me still. I thoughtâ ââ
I hesitated delicately, glancing at Mr. Opalsen.
Poirot laughed heartily.
âUne blague! For the benefit of the valet. The card was one with a specially prepared surfaceâ âfor fingerprints. I went straight to Scotland Yard, asked for our old friend Inspector Japp, and laid the facts before him. As I had suspected, the fingerprints proved to be those of two well-known jewel thieves who have been âwantedâ for some time. Japp came down with me, the thieves were arrested, and the necklace was discovered in the valetâs possession. A clever pair, but they failed in method. Have I not told you, Hastings, at least thirty-six times, that without methodâ ââ
âAt least thirty-six thousand times!â I interrupted. âBut where did their âmethodâ break down?â
âMon ami, it is a good plan to take a place as chambermaid or valetâ âbut you must not shirk your work. They left an empty room undusted; and therefore, when the man put down the jewel-case on the little table near the communicating door, it left
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