Hercule Poirot: The Complete Short Stories. Агата Кристи
– the case would have been charming; a piece of neat methodical work.’
‘But not so charming for Miss Farquhar.’
‘Possibly you are right. Therefore all is for the best. Now, Hastings, let us review the case. I can see that you are dying to do so. The sealed package is removed from the trunk and vanishes, as Miss Farquhar puts it, into thin air. We will dismiss the thin air theory, which is not practicable at the present stage of science, and consider what is likely to have become of it. Everyone asserts the incredulity of its being smuggled ashore –’
‘Yes, but we know –’
‘You may know, Hastings, I do not. I take the view that, since it seemed incredible, it was incredible. Two possibilities remain: it was hidden on board – also rather difficult – or it was thrown overboard.’
‘With a cork on it, do you mean?’
‘Without a cork.’
I stared.
‘But if the bonds were thrown overboard, they couldn’t have been sold in New York.’
‘I admire your logical mind, Hastings. The bonds were sold in New York, therefore they were not thrown overboard. You see where that leads us?’
‘Where we were when we started.’
‘Jamais de la vie! If the package was thrown overboard and the bonds were sold in New York, the package could not have contained the bonds. Is there any evidence that the package did contain the bonds? Remember, Mr Ridgeway never opened it from the time it was placed in his hands in London.’
‘Yes, but then –’
Poirot waved an impatient hand.
‘Permit me to continue. The last moment that the bonds are seen as bonds is in the office of the London and Scottish Bank on the morning of the 23rd. They reappear in New York half an hour after the Olympia gets in, and according to one man, whom nobody listens to, actually before she gets in. Supposing then, that they have never been on the Olympia at all? Is there any other way they could get to New York? Yes. The Gigantic leaves Southampton on the same day as the Olympia, and she holds the record for the Atlantic. Mailed by the Gigantic, the bonds would be in New York the day before the Olympia arrived. All is clear, the case begins to explain itself. The sealed packet is only a dummy, and the moment of its substitution must be in the office in the bank. It would be an easy matter for any of the three men present to have prepared a duplicate package which could be substituted for the genuine one. Très bien, the bonds are mailed to a confederate in New York, with instructions to sell as soon as the Olympia is in, but someone must travel on the Olympia to engineer the supposed moment of robbery.’
‘But why?’
‘Because if Ridgeway merely opens the packet and finds it a dummy, suspicion flies at once to London. No, the man on board in the cabin next door does his work, pretends to force the lock in an obvious manner so as to draw immediate attention to the theft, really unlocks the trunk with a duplicate key, throws the package overboard and waits until the last to leave the boat. Naturally he wears glasses to conceal his eyes, and is an invalid since he does not want to run the risk of meeting Ridgeway. He steps ashore in New York and returns by the first boat available.’
‘But who – which was he?’
‘The man who had a duplicate key, the man who ordered the lock, the man who has not been severely ill with bronchitis at his home in the country – enfin, the “stodgy” old man, Mr Shaw! There are criminals in high places sometimes, my friend. Ah, here we are, mademoiselle, I have succeeded! You permit?’
And, beaming, Poirot kissed the astonished girl lightly on either cheek!
10 The Adventure of the Cheap Flat
‘The Adventure of the Cheap Flat’ was first published in The Sketch, 9 May 1923.
So far, in the cases which I have recorded, Poirot’s investigations have started from the central fact, whether murder or robbery, and have proceeded from thence by a process of logical deduction to the final triumphant unravelling. In the events I am now about to chronicle a remarkable chain of circumstances led from the apparently trivial incidents which first attracted Poirot’s attention to the sinister happenings which completed a most unusual case.
I had been spending the evening with an old friend of mine, Gerald Parker. There had been, perhaps, about half a dozen people there besides my host and myself, and the talk fell, as it was bound to do sooner or later wherever Parker found himself, on the subject of house-hunting in London. Houses and flats were Parker’s special hobby. Since the end of the War, he had occupied at least half a dozen different flats and maisonettes. No sooner was he settled anywhere than he would light unexpectedly upon a new find, and would forthwith depart bag and baggage. His moves were nearly always accomplished at a slight pecuniary gain, for he had a shrewd business head, but it was sheer love of the sport that actuated him, and not a desire to make money at it. We listened to Parker for some time with the respect of the novice for the expert. Then it was our turn, and a perfect babel of tongues was let loose. Finally the floor was left to Mrs Robinson, a charming little bride who was there with her husband. I had never met them before, as Robinson was only a recent acquaintance of Parker’s.
‘Talking of flats,’ she said, ‘have you heard of our piece of luck, Mr Parker? We’ve got a flat – at last! In Montagu Mansions.’
‘Well,’ said Parker, ‘I’ve always said there are plenty of flats – at a price!’
‘Yes, but this isn’t at a price. It’s dirt cheap. Eighty pounds a year!’
‘But – but Montagu Mansions is just off Knightsbridge, isn’t it? Big handsome building. Or are you talking of a poor relation of the same name stuck in the slums somewhere?’
‘No, it’s the Knightsbridge one. That’s what makes it so wonderful.’
‘Wonderful is the word! It’s a blinking miracle. But there must be a catch somewhere. Big premium, I suppose?’
‘No premium!’
‘No prem – oh, hold my head, somebody!’ groaned Parker.
‘But we’ve got to buy the furniture,’ continued Mrs Robinson.
‘Ah!’ Parker bristled up. ‘I knew there was a catch!’
‘For fifty pounds. And it’s beautifully furnished!’
‘I give it up,’ said Parker. ‘The present occupants must be lunatics with a taste for philanthropy.’
Mrs Robinson was looking a little troubled. A little pucker appeared between her dainty brows.
‘It is queer, isn’t it? You don’t think that – that – the place is haunted?’
‘Never heard of a haunted flat,’ declared Parker decisively.
‘No-o.’ Mrs Robinson appeared far from convinced. ‘But there were several things about it all that struck me as – well, queer.’
‘For instance –’ I suggested.
‘Ah,’ said Parker, ‘our criminal expert’s attention is aroused! Unburden yourself to him, Mrs Robinson. Hastings is a great unraveller of mysteries.’
I laughed, embarrassed, but not wholly displeased with the rôle thrust upon me.
‘Oh, not really queer, Captain Hastings, but when we went to the agents, Stosser and Paul – we hadn’t tried them before because they only have the expensive Mayfair flats, but we thought at any rate it would do no harm – everything they offered us was four and five hundred a year, or else huge premiums, and then, just as we were going, they mentioned that they had a flat at