"Mr. Davenheim is back, madam." "Thank you, Walter, I won't be needing the car over the weekend." "Thank you, Martha." " You look tired." " Darling, the servants." " How's your meeting this morning?" " Well, so-so." "They must refer to Wall Street, so, it still will take some more days, yet." "By the way, Lowen rang." "He said he would be catching the earlier train, after all." "I don't know why you agreed to see him, anyway." "You keep saying how much you detest the man." "It wasn't quite that easy." "He's a shark and he's very slippery." "He's angling for the directorship at the bank." "Has been for months, now." "But you'd sooner die." "Gerald Lowen, a seat on your own bank?" "Oh, he wants to make life to me as uncomfortable as he can." "And that would set the power base to do it." "Unfortunately, he does own a bit of a trump card this time." "5 % stake in Cape Cod, which he knows we desperately want to get hold of." "That puts him in a rather strong bargaining position, I'm afraid." " You all righ?" " Yes, I'm fine." "Well, he leaves on the four-forty five, he could be here pretty shortly." "I really want to look at one or two of these papers before he gets here." "I'm sorry about all this." "Ah, look." "I just wanna catch the last post, I think I'm gonna wander onto the village." "Lowen is just be arriving and I can meet him off the train." "And, anyway, a spot of fresh air will be good." "Mathew!" "The girl was no longer inside the chrysalis when she disappeared, there was the secret." "It baffled even Poirot for good ten seconds." "The key resides, of course, in the costume of the girl." "Inside, it is sewn a net work of very fine steel wires, but the human beings are made of flesh and blood, non?" "To make them vanish onto the air, c'est impossible." "Do you think so?" "I take you haven't heard of the strange businness of Mr. Davenheim." "You are talking about M. Davenheim, of the "Davenheim and Salmon"?" " Ah!" "The big banking firm." " Of which Mathew Davenheim was a senior partner, and a very wealthy man too, if his house is anything to go by." "Incidently, my dear Chief-Inspector, you'll have a little something to warm you before you leave." "Well, since I am not on duty." "Yes, it's a rare old puzzle, all told." "Friday afternoon he told his wife that he was off to the village to post some letters." "Off to the front gate, hasn't been seen or heard of since." "And at what time precisely did M. Davenheim leave?" "We gather around four-forty." "He was expecting a business colleague to arrive by train that afternoon, to talk over some financial deal or rather." "A Mr. Gerald Lowen." "A gentleman to see Mr. Davenheim, madam." " Gerald Lowen." "How do you do?" " Mr. Lowen." " You drove here then, I didn't hear the car." " No, I came by train." "But we were a little early, so I thought I'd walk up from the station." "But my husband was walking down to meet you, how maddening, you must have passed each other in the lane." " It don't think so." " But you must have." "He left not half an hour" "Mrs. Davenheim, I couldn't possibly have passed your husband." "That is, I didn't pass anybody." "There wasn't another soul on the way." "Please, make yourself comfortable in here." "I'm sure he won't be very long." "Mrs. Davenheim showed Lowen into her husband's study and there he waited, and waited," "and waited." "Well over an hour ago goes by." "And still Davenheim doesn't return." "Gerald Lowen, his patience exausted, takes his leave." "This is the way your husband treats important business clients, is it?" " I'm quite confused." "I'm so sorry..." " Yes." "I'm very sorry too, Mrs Davenheim." "Very sorry indeed." "Inquiries were made throughout the village - nothing." "To all intents and purposes, Mathew Davenheim has vanished of the face of the earth." "It seems everyone saw Lowen." "Nobody saw Davenheim." "Lowen." "Why does that name ring a bell?" "Certaînement, it is most obscure, my dear Chief-Inspector." "Which gives me great hopes of solving it." " I'm afraid I can't see it myself." " But I do not see, mon ami." "I shut my eyes and I think." "One must always seek for the truth from within." "If You'd told me that once, you'd told me a thousand times..." "All right then, Poirot." "Here's a challenge for you." "A five here of my money that says you can't solve this little mystery, without leaving the house." "I give you seven days." "Of course it is beyond even your magical powers..." "Et bien!" "Seven days, uh?" "Provided the facts are placed before me, and that you'll allow Hastings here to furnish me the information as I require, the solution, it becomes inevitable." "I accept." "Good night, Poirot." "Thanks for the drink." "Quite robbing a baby." "That's the way right to the village, sir." "About five minutes on foot." "During wich time he must have passed Lowen, coming from the station." "Can I just ask, what's down there?" "That takes you right into Brooklands, a big motor racing venue." "A little wide down there's a boat lake." "We've checked with the keeper, he swears that Davenheim never never passed near his hut." " Captain Hastings." " Chief-Inspector." " I beg your pardon, sir?" " What color were they?" "If you could remember." " Mr. Lowen's trousers, sir?" " I know it's a rather odd question, but a rather odd person would like to know." "Kind of a light color, sir, I suppose you'd say..." "light grey." "Very smartly turned out, he was." "Apart from that stupid moustache." "It goes back a long way, this rivalry between them." "Lowen lost up to my husband in a big deal over some shipping company shares." "The poor man was nearly wiped out." "It was a few years ago now, but he's never stopped hounding Mathew ever since." "I believe he came here to barter some South African stock or something, in exchange for a position on the bank." "Did a lot of business in South Africa, did he, your husband?" "He was over in Joanesburg all last Winter, it must have been three months." "He brought me back the most wonderful diamond earrings." "He always brought me back jewelry, of one kind or another, whenever he went away." "Do you believe in a sixth sense, Chief-Inspector?" "I had it the day my mother died." "I had it again on Friday." "All day this certain knowledge that something like this was going to happen, and now it has, hasn't it?" "I wonder if I might have a word now with your maid?" "Well, I think I might have a word now with your mistress." " Chief-Inspector..." " Captain Hastings..." "Surprised to see you're still here, Mr. Poirot." "I thought you'd be out on the Davenheim case." "Hum!" "Well, Miss Lemon." "The Chief-Inspector Japp has bet me five pounds, that I can not solve this mystery without leaving my apartment." "And I accept his bet." " Oh..." "Are you sure that was wise?" " Perhaps not, Miss Lemon." "On reflexion, ten pounds would be a much more rounder sum." "I just told all I know to that police inspector." "I ain't got time to tell all that again." "No, quite." "I can see you're a very busy man, Mr. Merritt." " Boatman's work's never done." " Yes." "On Friday afternoon, Mr. Merrit?" "I remember all plain enough." "Friday afternoon's one of my busiest times." "I remember looking at my watch, at 16h45." "A couple of beggars' come by." "And this girl on a bike." "One of them was blind." "Ugly looking pair." "looked as if they been drinking." "That was all, that afternoon." "No one else came by." "I'd remember, wouldn't I?" "Yes." "Well, I better be getting along." "Wouldn't want to keep you from all your work, Mr. Merritt." "Don't you worry 'bout that." "As soon as that paint is dry at that bench," "I'll be right up and give at it the second coat." "Ah!" "Light grey, you say, Hastings?" "That may be significant." "I'd still like to know what the color of Lowens' trousers has got to do with anything." "Surely that is obvious, Hastings." "M. Lowen says he did not pass M. Davenheim in the lane, oui?" "Now, is he lying, Hastings?" "Or did he, in fact, kill M. Davenheim?" "A messy stint in a country road, the disposal of a body in a muddy field." "And still he manages to turn up to the house minutes later so immaculately dressed?" " Ah!" "Seemed rather trivial." " No, Hastings." "Nothing is trivial, in the matter of murder." "I command also for your attention, the fact that before he leaves the room," "M. Davenheim puts on to the gramophone a disc of the 1812 Ouvretour." " Oh!" "That was highly significant too, was it?" " Well, we can be as yet in the wrong track, but at least it is suggestive." " Track!" "That was it." " Gerald Lowen!" " Comment?" "Gerald Lowen." "Races a couple of Bugattis." "Just beginning to get a name for himself in the circuit." "I bet it's the same chap." "The racing of the cars, running around in circles." "Never will I understand the passion for such a pointless pastime." "Well, you ought to try, Poirot." "The sheer exhilaration, flying round by the city, "via pants"..." "Yes." "Well, Hastings, perhaps you should try cleaning them first." "All right, lads." "Open your eyes." "Hey, Chief-Inspector!" "Bring it in." "My God, it's my husband's." "Might just as well admit it, Mr. Poirot, you can't stand being cooped up here, on your own, away from all the action." "Miss Lemon, it becomes denser by the minute." "If his body had been discovered in the lake, et bien, a simple murder problem, or an intriguing suicide." "But his clothes, et non M. Davenheim..." "We are dealing here with a body of evidence requiring for the most skillful dissection." "In that case, why don't you call off this stupid bet and get up there hunt out for yourself?" "" Get up there hunt out", Miss Lemon?" "We are not hunting the rabbits." "This is a delicate exercise in the skill of..." "Miss Lemon, the door, if you please." "Mr. Poirot..." "Morning, sir." "I got a parrot to a Mr. "Porrot"." "Non, non, non, " Poirot "." "It is pronounced " Poirot "." "I beg your pardon, Governor." "I have a "Poirot" for Mr. ." "But I heard nothing from the commander Wallis." "He promised me faithfully he was going to clear it with you first." "It's just that he had to dash away to Scotland for a few days, and there was no one else to look after him." "Anyway, be a bit of extra company for you, as you're stuck inside the office for a week." "You do like birds, don't you, Mr. Poirot?" "Miss Lemon, small animals have no part to play in the homelife of a private detective from Belgian." " Hello." " Except, of course, as a source of nourishment." "Excuse me, I'm looking for Mr. Gerald Lowen." "Well, that was him." "He'll come back into the boxings next time 'round." " You're interested in the car?" " I say!" "Never seen a Bugatti fly like that before." " Best time he's ever done." " Really?" "Yes, we can meet him by the shed." " So he altered the fuel system?" " Yeah, and also we took out the juke belt drive of transmission 224." "Watch your back,sir." " So he raised the compression ratio." " Oh yes, sir!" "He uprated the super charges, sir." "Really?" "I bet you get a fantastic HP." "The best power, hey?" " This is the gentleman who's interested in the car." " Captain Hastings, and you are Gerald Lowen." "Hastings..." "You better take her for a swing." "Really?" "It's terribly kind of you." " You sure?" " Well, if you wanna get the whole picture." " Well, of course." " Mr. Lowen?" "I'm sorry to trouble you, Mr. Lowen, but I'm from Scotland Yard." "I wonder if you wouldn't mind answering ... a few questions?" "Colonel Brighton, Mr. Lowen." "This is the gentleman I was telling you about," "He's interested in buying the car." "Buy?" "Hastings..." "Hey, you!" "Get outta that car!" " Captain Hastings." " Chief-Inspector." "I think the police have had quite enough of my time, Chief-Inspector." " Just one moment, please, Mr. Lowen." " How many more times do you want me to tell you?" "I didn't pass Davenheim in that lane." "Perhaps he fell down a rabbit hole," "and good riddance!" "I gather he given you a bit of a hiding in the Stock Market once or twice?" "Scored a few major cues at your personal expense..." "Davenheim's world was accumulated of many people's expense." "I don't imagine high nearly financing in the city who won't bore him a grudge." "Well, you know how it's like." "No, what is it like, Mr. Lowen?" "Doggy-dog in the city?" "Hich powered money men guiding for each other throats?" "Look,if you're suggesting that I killed Davenheim and then tossed those damn clothes away to that lake..." "Clothes in the lake, Mr. Lowen?" "I don't think we've officially announced that bit." "I must have heard it on the Stock Exchange." "Good God!" "You don't think you can keep something like that a secret, surely!" "Thank you, Mr. Lowen." "Good day." "He sounds quite unbearably vain, this man, Hastings." "How did he know about the clothes in the lake?" "In the city, they would know what we'd have for breakfast, if it was important to the share prices." "Where does that lead us, then?" "You think Davenheim has been kidnapped?" "Non." "Where is the ransom note?" "Other than that." "A murder then?" "Where is the corpse?" "And what sort of murder is it, where the killer removes the clothes of his victim, and throws them into the lake?" "Well, those two beggars could've atacked him robbed him of his clothes, then, panicking, in case the clothes identified them as the man's killer, tossed them into the water and made a run for it." "The boatman said he saw nothing." "But he spends most of his time asleep, anyway." "Bravo, Hastings." "You begin to use your little grey cells, eh?" "Of course your reasoning is faulty in every aspect." "Your common sneak thieves are very rarely the murderers, Hastings." "And unless he is also a member of the Magic Circle, and has constructed a secret trapdoor somewhere in the lane," "how has he made the body..." "disappear?" "And please, do not fraternize with that creature, I am still training him." " It's only a parrot." " I was talking to the parrot." "Our "moneybag" is still missing?" "I think he's in Rio by now." "And you are certain that the lock, it had been forced?" "Nobody knows when." "It could've been like that since Friday." "Everything is gone, including the gems." " The gems?" " All those expensive jewels he kept bringing back." "Cleaned out, the lot." "Ahh!" "Things are now moving in a very definite direction." "You cannot fail to see the thread." "All the same, there are still certain little litmus test to be carried out before we can be absolutely sure." "Ha, ha, ha!" "Where you goin'?" "Ah!" "Oui..." " Unless, of course, you've changed your mind..." " Certainly not!" "A wager is a wager." " Hastings, you are not busy this afternoon?" " Well..." "I want you to help me in a little experiment." "I don't know why we're all standing around here talking, while he's out there, going scot-free." "We have questioned Mr. Lowen, madam, but at the moment we haven't any..." "Excuse me." "Would you mind a lot if I go get a glass of water?" " Please, let me" " No, no, no." "I'll go myself." "The man was determined to ruin my husband." "We know that." "And he was on his own right there, in the study, for well over an hour." "We don't know for sure if it was broken into on Friday afternoon." "I locked it up myself, Chief-Inspector, just as Mathew was returning home." "We couldn't been burglared since then." "When did any of the doors, windows been forced since then?" "It can only been done by someone inside the house." "It can only've been done by Gerald Lowen." "I  just conducting a little experiment that...uh" "It's a wonder Japp didn't lock me up for breakin' and entering." "But, Hastings, you performed magnificently." "I didn't see what it proves." "Except that you need a strong hand to get that thing open." "Lowen isn't, exactly, a weakling." "Our old friend M. Lowen, eh?" "He has suffered so badly at the hands of M. Davenheim, that he vows to exact his revenge on the demon banker." "So, first he kills his adversary, then he turns up to the house in order to ransack the safe and make off with the family jewels." "It's the only explanation that fits." ""Like the round hole into the square peg"." "The opening of the safe door, Hastings." "how did he force open such a lock, without being,... overheard, uh.--?" "as you, yourself so expertly demonstrated, it is quite impossible." "Well, you've only got three days to go." "This is quite tasty." "It is a recipe of my own, Hastings." "Nut barks,bird seed and ground cuttlefish." "What do you think, then?" "Is Davenheim dead or what?" "I think, Hastings, that there is much more in the disappearance of M. Davenheim than at first appears." "But you tell me, mon ami, you are my eyes and ears, what is our next move?" "Brooklands, at the final meeting of an exciting season, brings us the fastest of the speed cars with the big thrills of the days, on the big race, "The Gold Star Handicap", over a distance of twenty miles." "A king crowd of enthusiastic spectators, takes advantage of the unusually mild Autumn weather to run onto the famous track." "The drivers go round and round, and come out here for, at least, just one time." "But it's speed that's attracted crowd around the scene, and Gerald Lowen, number 3, obliges ." "My God, he took it at nearly-flying." "Lowen cut up his Bugatti on the inside, like nobody's business." "The man has got a ruthless streak in him, there's no mistake." "How ruthless remains to be seen." "We've got in a close surveillance for four days now, hoping he might point us towards the body." "Only has pointed us so far at cartels and carburators." "Blimey, old Shuttleworth has got some juice in that Alfa Romeo!" "It must be averaging of 1-4th, at least." "Sorry, Japp?" "Just thinking aloud." "Japp, look out!" "I'll take that." "Sergeant, cuff him." "Billy Kellet, my God, some people never give up." " Friend of yours, sergeant?" " Only last Winter, I've put him inside for three months." "Same game, took a few wallets in the crowd." "Looks like mine was first of the day." "Hello..." "Well, now." " How very interesting." " What is it?" "Hello?" "Oh, Poirot!" "Haven't caught you in a bad moment, I have?" "Believe, my dear Chief-Inspector Japp," "If you had caught me at a bad moment, I should certainly have told you." "Just thought you'd want to hear the news." "We found the signet ring of Mathew Davenheim." "What's the matter, Kellet?" "Three months inside last time time not enough for you?" "Get homesick for prison, did we?" "See the charming house guests we get in here?" "They never learn, of course, his type." "Must have an appetite for prison food." "I'll ask once more, Kellet." "Where did you get this ring?" "The wrong answer and your next port will be the gallows, lad." "I was with "me" mate Frankie." "Frankie Marks, you know.?" "And I was going down the race down Brooklands." "Hey, be careful with the bike, miss!" "I come back on mey own, boots, seven o'clock." "I'd had a little bit of a drink, you know, so I sit down by the side of the road for a dinner rest." "I was just about dozing off when I heard this sound." "Like something had dropped into the leaves by my side." "That's when I saw it." " So this is his story?" " Word for word." "" Someone had thrown the ring over the edge." "I looked up and saw this man walking away." "Nobly gent, light grey suit, and a bouncy moustache. "" "Hello, Gilbert." "So tell me, my dear Chief-Inspector," "Do you not find it, the most remarkable coincidence, that the man who stole your wallet," "should also turn out to be the most important witness, in the case of our Mr. Davenheim?" "A rather unfortunate coincidence from his point of view." "Yes, but sometimes the most simple coincidence is not all that she appears ." " You do follow my train of reasoning?" " No." "Good!" "And since there is at stake 5 pounds, you would not wish me to elaborate further." "And of course he denies all knowledge." "Still we're applying to test Kellet's story with an identity parade." "It can't be ruled out that he is telling the truth." "No, but I find it improbable, that having removed the ring from the finger of his victim," "M. Lowen should suddenly decide to toss it away into the ditch." " Of course he..." " One has to ask her, why remove the ring at all?" " And a valuable piece of merchandise." "But not too easy to pawn, I'm sure, far too easy to recognize." "That's probably why he took it off." "What is it, Poirot?" "Don't tell me you sorted it all out?" "Perhaps  but first, I will need the answer to two questions." "What was in the bathroom cabinet of M. Davenheim, on the day that he disappeared?" "And did he and his wife sleep together, or in separate bedchambers?" "A gentleman to see you, madam." "I'm most dreadfully sorry to trouble you again, Mrs. Davenheim." "Yes, captain Hastings?" "Hello, Mr. Poirot." "It's a devil of a day out there." "You can hardly see a hand in the front of your face." "How true, Miss Lemon." "There are days when none of us can see a hand in front of our face." "When not even I, Hercule Poirot, cannot see what is staring plainly at me in front of the eyes." "I think you've lost me again." "Mais certaînement, Miss Lemon." "It is very easy to lose a person, hein?" "Sometimes, because you do not know, who it is you are trying to find." "Analysis and synthesis, Miss Lemon." "There lies the key to the art of deduction." "To strip apart the evidence, detail by detail," "to its barest essentials, until, miraculously, all the pieces will be falling to place." "And we have the complete picture, of everything that happened." "Ah!" "Hastings, what news do you have for me?" "The mystery is solved, yes?" "You know Poirot, I sometimes wonder if you don't set me these tasks, just to find out how much embarrassment I can take in only one day." "The facts, Hastings." "This is of critical importance." "Charlotte and Mathew Davenheim have occupied separated bedrooms since the Spring." "And it is now the middle of October." "Bon." " And the the bathroom cabinet?" " You sure you wanna hear all this?" "Hastings, do you think I play the games?" "Two toothbrushes, one hairbrush, one pot of skin cream, one bottle of liver pills, one tube of toothpaste, one shaving brush one pair of razor blades, one bottle of sleeping pills, one nasal spray," "one bottle of eye drops" " Thank you Hastings, I have heard enough." " But there is another two pages." " But the evidence, it is complete." "Hastings, Miss Lemon, I trust you have no money in the bank of Davenheim and Salmon?" "None." " Non?" " Nor me, why?" "Because I should advise you to withdraw it all, mon ami, before it is too late." " Do you expect there's trouble looming?" " I expect to be crash within the next few days, Miss Lemon." "Perhaps sooner, uh?" "." "So, if you please, a note for the Chief-Inspector Japp." "" Advise you to withdraw any money, deposited with the firm in question. " Still he will not comprehend." " I'm not sure I comprehend." " Hastings, as I told you at the start, once all the facts were placed before me, the solution, it becomes inevitable." "Alright, how did you know?" "Or are you gonna tell me it was all done with mirrors?" "You will permit me, my dear Chief-Inspector one moment longer of the suspense?" "I have, as I promised, solved this mystery without leaving my apartment." "Well, so you say." "But I'm still pretty much in the dark." "Very well." "I will simply draw your attention to three details which, taken together, are really quite conclusive." "One, what is significant about, the period of time that M. Davenheim spent, during the Winter, in Joanesburg?" "Two, why had he and his wife not being sleeping together in the same bedchamber, from that moment on?" "And three, what was in the bathroom cabinet belonging to M. Davenheim which should never be there, hmm?" " I give up." " I give up." "I give up, I give up!" "Chief-Inspector, this afternoon you are staging the identity parade, for the scoundrel Kellet to point out M. Lowen." "I think you will find the results really, yes, quite surprising." "You will not object if I leave the confines of my apartment, to witness the conclusion of our wager?" "All right, sergeant." "In your own time, if you won't know." " This is him." "He threw the ring into the ditch." " You miserable ..." "You filthy liar." "You killed Davenheim and now you want me to take the blame." "Confess, you disgusting tick!" "Take him away!" "So now, what you make of that, Poirot?" "I'd say Lowen is as good as chopped himself." "On the contrary, my dear Chief-Inspector." "A mere moment of the hot headed rage." "M. Gerald Lowen could not be more innocent in this whole misérable affaire." "Couldn't he?" "Well, perhaps it's about time that you explain to us what the hell is going on!" "Mrs. Charlotte Davenheim, sir." " M. Poirot?" " Madame." "I came as soon as I could." "Well, what is it?" "If you found anything out, then for God's sake, please ..." "Stop him!" "Alright, Kellet." "What's all this about?" "Or perhaps I should ask you that question." "Mais certaînement, my dear Chief-Inspector." "I think that this charade has gone on quite long enough," "has it not?" "Gentlemen, may I present you the missing merchant banker," "Mathew Davenheim." "Damn you, you ..." "Belgian!" "Take him to the cell." "From the start, I was intrigued by M. Davenheim buying of the precious jewelry for his wife." "For years, you see, he had been embezzling vast sums of money from his own bank, draining it to death, as we have seen, and converting the spoils into the gems, which he stores in the safe." " So, he'd always planned to abscond with them, right from the very start." " Having first, very cleverly, pre-arranged with hated arche-rival in the city, M. Gerald Lowen, to be at his house on the day," "so that he would become the chief suspect in this unfortunate affair." "So, Davenheim had already forced his own safe open, before he left the house that day?" "Using the good M. Tchaikowsky, as his accomplice." "Cunningly, he uses the cannon found in the music, to mask any sound that would have alerted his wife." "Having made it look as if the the safe has been broken into, he steals his own money and jewels." "Because he believes he has found for himself, until all is blown over, the most perfect place to hide." "In prison." "You see, during the Winter when he was supposedly in Joanesburg," "M. Davenheim was, in fact, creating the character of Billy Kellet, spending the three months in jail." "He returns to the race track to steal the wallet, knowing he will be caught, and be put, once again, behind bars." "And no one would suspect a thing." "Of course, he always meant for you to find in his pocket the ring, so he could use it to further incriminate M. Gerald Lowen." "And the contents of the of the bathroom cabinet?" "The razor blades, Hastings." "When resuming his identity, M. Davenheim was forced to wear the false beard." "To share the same bedchamber with his wife, would only lead to detection ." "In fact, he was still shaving from time to time, in order to become Billy Kellet again." "Just so now I'm cosign as the man to honor my word..." "Ah!" "Mon pauvre Japp." " It's like robbing a baby." " Robbing a baby." "However, it is small remuneration for the seven days in forced confinement to my own home, having to listen to the non-stop squaws and the screechings." "Mais, mesdames et messieurs, I want you to observe something very closely." "Hello." "Ah, well!" "..." "At least, it was worth a try." "Worth a try."