" It is a chilly morning, uncle Harry." " Soon you heat up." " Stoddard!" " Hastings..." "Thank you." "Hastings..." "I shall need at least six..." "Non, non..." "Eight!" "For the " taitrum à l'Engloise ", I shall ask à l'hotel to cook them tomorrow." "It is not like ordering them in a shop, I have to shoot the damn things, Poirot." "I have every faith in your aims, monsieur Hastings." " Are you ready, young man?" " Roger!" "Mr. Poirot, it has taken me 10 years bring him on top of our uncle Harry's moor," "I didn't want him missing the drive." "For God's sake, Harry, it's not much." "It doesn't mean I can marry again." " 300 £ is nothing to you." " Look bloody odd, wouldn't it Jack?" "Me put that sort of money in the hand of my maid and my game-keeper?" "Damn you!" "I some times dunnow which of us was born bastard." "Jack!" " Stoddard!" " Yes, Mr. Roger?" "Look after Mr. Archie, will'you?" "Aye, aye sir." "Right, Mr. Archie, come along here." "Good luck, darling." " Bonne chance, mon ami!" " Thanks, old man!" "Good shooting, Archie!" "Thanks, Annie!" "Poor old Archie!" "Hasn't been through, I'm afraid." " He's your cousin, isn't he?" " Yes." "You should see the guns he'd shown up with..." "Still, he's only a school teacher." "So, on his salary, what would you expect..." "Now, this is here, old man." "Good shooting!" "Thanks!" "On your shoulder, aye." "Stroke the cheek, stroke the cheek." "Aye." "Right, 90º angle;" " Let's hope for a good bag." " They're breaking, mr., close." "Here they come." "Damn it!" "Monsieur Poirot!" "Monsieur Poirot?" "!" "Pardon, Madame" " The popping, you know ..." " But why did you come, mr." "Poirot?" "The red grouse." "It must be eaten fresh," ""while the gun is still smoking", as we say." " Ah, a gourmet!" "..." " You are too kind, Madame Avery... but it is most rare in my country, the tête rose." "We make do with the wood grouse, with a flavour, it is piney." " Piney?" " Yes, this is not a word?" " Piney, like the pine trees?" " Oh, piney!" "Yes!" "It's a very good word." "There they are, sir." "Slow, quick!" "Watch him, Stoddard!" "You hit mr." "Pace!" " Mr. Pace!" " You bloody fool!" "You bloody,bloody fool!" "You damn near killed me!" "What the hell were you doing, Stoddard?" "You're supposed to be looking after him!" "You call yourself a game keeper!" "You can't even past mustard as a nursery maid!" "Will you give me a handkerchief?" "Mr. Archie is a complete idiot!" "It looks like uncle Harry is all right." "Well, I better get back to Hunter's Lodge, to make sure ms." "Middleton has everything under control for lunch." "she is only with us for a temp." "Monsieur Poirot, may I entrust you with a task?" " Madame?" " Look after cousin Archie for me, will you?" "I couldn't bear it if he went back to his little cottage and brood." "He will not be able to brood in the company of Hercule Poirot, Madame." "You are a treasure!" " Ellie, where is ms." "Middleton?" " Up in her room, Ma'm." "She did most of it." "She left us a note to get on setting it out." "She's impossible!" " Still, it all looks very nice." " Thank you, ma'm." " Thank you, ma'm." " I am going to lie down for a moment." "I've got a wretched earache, the wind up there is like a knife." "It was snowing up in the moorland." "I must wake up in half an hour." "Mrs. Middleton!" "For two hours I am waiting in the snow." "The ice is forming in my bones." "A log fire!" "One of the better traditions of the English!" "Roger was saying you keep an eye on the place for the family." "Yes, I am local." "The poor relation is available." "And insidious!" "Why?" "Some of my pupils' families live 6 to a room, this place lies empty 40 weeks of the year, they only come here to hunt." "Mrs. Middleton, where's my wife, do you know?" " She is up in her room, sir." " In her room?" " She has a earache, I've been told." " She damn ought to be here!" "That sort of thing isn't goin' to get him very far, not with Zoe." " Will you have so me more punch, girls?" " Thank you, Mr. Pace." "Excuse me." "Uncle Harry, I'm really sorry about your hand.I think I'm not going to take grouse shooter as a career" " Delighted to hear that." "A fellow asked me the other day - a bolsch, you know?" " asked me: had I actually made anything during my workless life." ""Certainly"" " I said-, " I did a lot of friends, a lot of enemies and a lot of money. "" " Are you all right, Poirot?" " My feet, Hastings, are still blocks of ice, my lungs are full of gunpowder and the fresh air, Hastings, my ears are saturated of the popping... and I am ill!" " Not at all, Hastings." " Au revoir, monsieur Poirot." " Good to have met you." " Thank you." "I have to be off." "A 6 mile bike ride to me, I am afraid." "You are leaving?" "One can leave?" " Monsieur Poirot, goodbye." " Mr. Havering, goodbye." "Thank you." "Next year, we'll put you up at the house." "No,the hotel's fine, it's very comfortable." " Goodbye, Roger." " Goodbye." "Cheerio." "Thanks." "Hope Harry gets better." "Oh, I'm sure he will." "Goodbye Archie, take care!" " I'm sorry..." " No, it's all right." "I'm all right." "Are you all right, Zoe?" "Oh,yes, I had a filthy earache." "I am fine now." "Take care of yourself, Archie." "Yes, yes indeed." "Well, um" "Bye then." "I'll get myself ready and I'll be off to London." "I could make the 5h." " Darling, couldn't you catch the 6h 15m?" " Why?" "Ms.Middleton wanted to go to the Stoddard's to pick up some game." " Darling..." " She makes such a fuss..." "Bloody temporary stuff." "Don't know what that agency's playing us." "Ellie has to walk 4 miles and you never hear her complaining." "It would be so much easyer if you gave her a lift." "She'd only have to walk back." "All right, all right." "I'll do it." " Mrs. Middleton!" " Joan, would you like a lift too?" " Mr. could drop you off,on his way." " Thank you, ma'am." "You're welcome." " I'm sorry you didn't enjoy,Poirot." " My enjoyment is yet to come Hastings." " I've given to the chef his instructions." " What's that?" "Mon Dieu!" "Look at this, Hastings!" "I am a corpse waiting to die." "I shall not survive to enjoy my "taitrum à l'Engloise "." "All aboard." "It is the 6h 15m to London, King's Cross." "You stay there." "You stay ..." "Hey, that's my byke!" "Mr. Stoddard!" "Mr. Stoddard!" "Fetch the police." "There's been was a shooting." "Go!" "Go!" "You can confirm this is mr.Harrington Pace?" " Yes, sir." "Ms. Havering is in a terrible state." "I've given her something to help her sleep." "I let the killer in..." "That's what I can't get over." " Describe this man." " He was wearing a big overcoat and he had a beard, a great, buchy thing." "He said he wanted to see mr." "Pace so I showed him to gun room, like I always do with visitors." " Yes?" "I went back into the living room and started clearing up, when..." "I heard the sound..." "The shot." "Like someone knocking at the door of Hell." " Who is it?" " It's me." "Come in, Hastings." " There's been a murder." " Who has been murdered?" "Harrington Pace, up Hunter's Lodge shot with one of his revolvers." "Mon Dieu!" "You are still not well, Poirot." " I must confess I feel a little weak." " You get back into bed, now." " You can leave this to me." " Comment?" "This investigation - you can leave it to me." "I'll report back to you, of course" "I know these people, Poirot." "And I know what are his ideas already." "What are his ideas, Hastings?" "You just relax." "Hastings, will you please stop taping your nose in that theatrical manner and tell me all that you know?" "We don't seem abble to find ms." "Middleton, sarge." "What you mean, can't find her?" "This is the Scotland Yard, Phil." " Find her!" " Right so, sergeant." " Japp, Scotland Yard." " Sergeant Forgan, Ashby Picard." " Feeling all right, sir?" " Are you trying to be funny?" "No, sir." " Rich, was he, the victim?" " Yes, sir." "Harrington Pace." "He was an owner of properties in New Market, Belgravia and Monte Carlo." " Who stands the benefict?" " Almost completely for his nephew," "Roger Havering." " And where is he?" "Spent the night at his club, in London." "We phoned him." "He's coming back in the first train." "He was shot by a man who just turned up at the door, asking to see him." "He must have got away through that window." "It was the game-keeper who came to warn us." "He is too to gain, sir He is the only other beneficiary." " Yes?" " Pace left him 4000 £." " Did he, by God?" " Excuse me, sergeant, but she's not in the premises, she is definitely gone." " Who's that?" " He'd asked me for Mrs. Middleton." " She's our killer, if you ask me." " She's our chief witness." "It is better a search begins." "How many men have you got?" "Men, man?" "Only one." "He." "You'll have to optimize your resources, aren't you?" "Sir." "Roger, what an terrible thing." "I feel awfully sorry." "Thank you." "I must go quick to the Lodge, Zoe needs me." "I need to pop by'n see Poirot on the way, he is feeling a bit poorly, so I am handling the case, though we must keep him informed." "I am profoundly ill, as you can see, but I will do my best to assist." " Thank you." " One thing Mr. Havering,if you please..." " Yes?" "Pardon, but what were you doing when your uncle was killed?" "Oh, it is all right, Roger was on his way to London." "I spent the night in my club, police rang me there." " It's a horrible business." " You went to London by train?" " Yes, I caught the 6h 15m." " You talked to anyone on the train?" " No." " You arrived at your club at what time?" "About ten o'clock--actually, it was a bit later." "I walked down from King's Cross." "Hum, it's fine." "Thank you." "Hastings..." "We'll get on to the Lodge, Poirot." "Very well, Hastings." " Hello, Reception desk." " Hello,yes,this is Hercule Poirot,room nr.5." "I require, if you please, a railway time-table." "I was in here with mr." "Pace when there was a knock at the door." "I heard ms." "Middleton go to answer and I got up to see who was." "Yes." "It was a man I didn't recognize, so I waited for ms." "Middleton to show him to the gun room and come 'n announce him." " What did he look like?" " Averagely height, hat, specs, I think..." "I couldn't be sure." " A beard." " What sort of beard?" "Bushy." "He looked like one of those anarchists in the cartoon in the Punch." "Do you remember at what time this man arrived?" "About a quarter to seven." "Please go on." "Well..." "Ms. Middleton knocked a minute later, said the man wouldn't give his name, but wanted to see mr." "Pace..." "Harry said he'd see what he wanted." "He got up and a few minutes later we heard the shot." "The housekeeper, ms." "Middleton, she was in the room with you, was she?" "Yes, she was clearing the drinks glasses." "Did this man arrive by car?" "I dunno." "I didn't hear anything." " Would you normally hear a car arriving'?" " Oh, yes." "Yes, if he came by car, he didn't bring it up to the house." " You carry on here." " Yes, sir." " Is his hotel of yours presentable, is it?" " Not too bad." "I'll book myself in." "What're their sandwiches like?" "Sandwiches?" "No idea." "Tell you what," "I put my money in this Middleton woman beeing lead with the killer." "On her own admission, she shows the fellow in." "Next morning, she's gone." "But she is the only person who's had a proper look at the killer." "What if she saw through his disguise?" " Disguise?" "What disguise?" " Bushy beard and glasses?" "I suppose she saw who he was under the disguise." "Perhaps we better start looking for another body, not a witness." "Well, Mr. Poirot." "You gettin' better, ain't you?" "I reckon you'll live to find another day." "Thank you very much, Mr. Asthruder." "Come in!" "Ah, Chief-Inspector Japp!" "Hastings!" "This is mr." "Anstruther, of the London Mainland Scotish railway." " Afternoon, gents." "Well, if you'll excuse me, I have to get back." "A railway don't run itself, you know?" "I'll drop in tomorrow with som'ore blackberry tea." "Thank you very much." " Don't forget my bike, will'ya?" " Certainly not." "That bike means a lot to me, it does." "Man 'n boy I've had that bike." "Au revoir." "Pauvre Mr. Anstruther, he is an man obsessed." "Obsessed with what?" "His bike?" "Yes indeed, Chief-Inspector." "It has been stolen." "He is also obsessed with other things." "He knows every final detail of the movements of the trains,in and out of his little station." "Oh, yes?" "Been doing some investigation, have you?" "How can I, Chief-Inspector?" "I am prostrated." "I toy with little lines of inquiry, that is all." "You, of course, will be well ahead of me." "Well, got a description of the murderer." "He's a man of medium height, wearing a broad brown hat, spotting a beard wide and fluffy." "How did you know that?" "That is the description of the man who stole the bicycle of mr.Anstruther" "It is essential that we find it, Hastings." "Oh, right." "Find what?" "The bicycle!" "And also I am most anxious to establish wether or not mr.Archie Avering has an alibi for the time that mr.Base was shot." "You didn't really like your uncle, did you?" " What are you implying?" " Look, I am so sorry, but" "I'm affraid I have to ask you." "Poirot wants to know what you were doing yesterday evening, at the time of your uncle death." " How dare you?" "What on earth makes you think I'd want to kill a man like my uncle Harry?" "Tell you, he was beneath contempt." "Mean, selfish." "You know that Stoddard, his game-keeper, was his half-brother?" " One of his father's bastards?" " Good Lord!" "His own blood, and he used him like a servant." "How did he get the money in first place?" "I'll tell you:" "He cheated his partner, in countervail then used the money to "profeteo" during the war." "And people liked him!" "He boasted about it and people applauded!" "Get out!" " Hello?" " Chief-Inspector?" " Ah!" "How is the cold, Poirot?" " It is not a cold, it is a deadly fever." " Nasty..." "I am now convinced that Mr. Havering is not telling the truth." "You say, Monsieur Havering, that that you arrived at London at nine o'clock." "The only witness you can produce is the doorman of your club,where you arrived at ten o'clock." "You say that you spent this hour walking between King's Cross and St. James and, yet, you can't describe none of your movements, no events, street names, nothing." "This isn't the line I've been following at all, Poirot." " What are driving at?" " I'm driving at a curve in the line of the local railway, a loop of arm which connects Ashby Picard to little station of Ashby Le Walkin." " What?" " It is quite possible, Mr. Havering, for a man to catch the 6h 15m in a train station and get off in the next." "With the aid of a bicycle, he returns to Hunter's Lodge, disguised with a beard and wearing a wide brimmed hat." "It shoots the man he wished to shoot." "Then, he catches the 7h 20m of Ashby Picard, a train that is faster then the 6h 15m, and get to London at ime to be in his club by 10h." "My God." " You're serious, aren't you?" " A crime is a serious affair!" "A man has been killed and you're about to being accused his murder." " Me?" " You, sir." "Do you not see it, monsieur?" "You must tell us of your movements in that night." "Absolutely not." "I can't." " For God's sake, Roger, why not?" " I just can't." "Well, Poirot?" "Carry on, Chief-Inspector." " Accompany me to police station, sir." " What?" "!" "I wish to question you in connection to the murder of your uncle, Mr. Harrington Pace, and with the disappearance of the housekeeper, ms." "Middleton." "Yes?" "It's for you, Chief-Inspector." "Japp." "Right." " What is it?" " They found ms." "Middleton." " We're not late, are we?" " She hasn't arrived yet." " Shouldn't you be in bed?" " Possibly, but, please, do not fuss." " You were at death's door, last night." "Unfortunately, Chief-Inspector, it was my appetite that was dead." "My " taîtrum à l'Engloise " it was fed to the cat." " Mrs. Middleton?" " Yes, I am mrs." "Middleton." "Whar you brought here for?" "The instructions for the agency were:" "to go up to Ashby Picard by train, and I'd be met there." "And the cengagement would be for 1 month." "So I did." "And I was met by a very nice Irish lady..." " Irish?" "Are you sure?" " Oh, yes!" "Se said she was mrs." "Pace and she said there'd beem an embarrassing mess-up." " What mess-up?" " She said they're canceling the shooting,this year, and there was no household for me to keep." "So, anyway, she said she'd be grateful if I didn't say anything to the agency, because she didn't want that them to think she was unreliable, you know." "And she was very generous." "She said she'd give me two months wages if I'd agree not to put myself in the agency books for a full month." " And you agreed?" " Yes." "She seemed very nice." " You kept very quiet." " I am unwell, and it changes everything, this testimony of Mme Middleton." "It seems pretty straigh forward to me." "And we still have to find the woman who pretended to be a housekeeper." "Agree?" "I think it would be more fruitful to find the bicycle of Mr. Anstruther." " What on earth for?" " Because, Hastings, it was used to transport the murderer to Hunter's Lodge." "Why has it disappeared?" " Sir!" "Sir!" " What is it, Vaughan?" "It's mr." "Havering, sir." "He's asking to see you." "I'll you what I was doing if you promise not to tell Zoe." "Well, let's hope it won't be necessary." "I make no promises." "Very well, then." "I was with Lord Quamby." "Lord Quamby?" "The racing one?" "Yes, he is Chairman of the Board in charge of the oncourse betting," "I wanted him to get me off the hook..." "Well, buy me some time to settle some of my debts." "Why were you so reluctant to tell us this?" "A few months ago, you see, I promised Zoe that I'd never bet on a horse as long as I lived." "And will Lord Quamby verify that you were with him?" "Of course he will." "Tell me, mademoiselle Joan, on the night of the crime, when was the last time that you saw madame Middleton?" "She was in the car with mr." "Havering, when they left me at home." "He was going on his way to the station and gave her a lift to Mr. Stoddard's house." " Mr. Stoddard, the gamekeeper." " Yes." "Yes, of course." "Mr. Stoddard." "You hope to be his wife, one day." " No-one's supposed to know that." " I comprehend." "Tell me more about madame Middleton." "She was that straight." "Always leaving little notes about the place." "Criticizing..." "Mr. Stoddard didn't like her..." "They used to be quite short with each other." "Did madame Middleton tell you something about herself?" "No, not really." "She said she was from Ireland." "Mayo, I think." "But she always kept herself to herself." "Mademoiselle Joan..." "This apron..." "Oh, that's mrs." "Middleton's, sir." "Thank you, that will be all." "So, when the Harrington Pace was living in Ireland, he cheated his partner and ruined him," "Then, this mysterious woman, who is also from county of Mayo, turns up and replaces mrs." "Middleton." "She was probably a relatiion of the ruined man." "She opens the door to her accomplice, the fellowt with the bushy beard, they kill Pace and both of them disappear." "Absolument, mon ami." "You have the story exact." "In your hot countries, of course, they use gaze hounds, hunts by sight." "With the moistness and higher air, we favour a dog that hunts by scent." "I tell you..." "She is a prime example of that, aren't you?" " She is the best of her kind, she is." " That is most interesting." "Tell me, monsieur Stoddard, if you please, on the night Mr. Pace was killed, madame Middleton to your house to collect some game birds, did she not?" "No." "You're right, I was expecting her, she never arrived." "I didn't see her 'til much later, when she came runing down down the lane, to tell me about the shooting." " Chief-Inspector, there a telephone at Hunter's Lodge, is there not?" " Yes, there is." "Then why did madame Middleton use it, to telephone to the police?" ""Aye", crossed my mind, then." "What she said was that mrs." "Havering was near hysterical at the horror of it." "She wanted to get to sleep before the police got there." " So, she asked me to fetch them." " Ah, yes..." "She needed a time alone in the home, yes, of course.Of course!" "Monsieur Stoddard, would you consider involving your excellent dog in a little experiment?" "She is clever with her nose, you say?" "She's got a nose that that could scent a poppy in a slurry stack." "Very well, Mr. Stoddard, our poppy, it is here." "It is essential that we determine the whereabouts of the person that calls herself madame Middleton." " Easier said than done." "Not a glimmer." "Road, rail, local gossip..." "Nothing." " That why I think..." " There we go?" "What's it, girl?" "Look, it looks." " Something's been buried..." " Something..." "It's a coat." "And a hat." " Look at this." " Swine me." "Bon." "Mr. Anstruther will be most pleased." "What so clever dog." " Is everyone here?" " In the gun room, sir." "Monsieur Harrington Pace was not a likable man." "He used his wealth to control his friends and his family." "For example, Mr. Stoddard, his unaknowledged brother, he emplyed as a gamekeeper, but refused to lend him the £300 to purchase his house and to get married." "His nephew, monsieur Archie Havering, he used as an estate manager, paying him, not with money, but with promises of a legacy." "His other nephew, Roger Havering, was also made "to dance" the attendance by assurance of wealth to come." "There are, I think, motives for murder." "N'est-ce pas?" " Now, look here, Poirot..." " No, no, please, Sr. Roger," "I make not the accusations, but merely speculate." "For instance, we know that you could not possibly have committed the murder, because, át 6h 15m, on that night, you were boarding a train for London." "But what we did not know was that another passenger also boarded that train..." "This person alightedt from the train at the very next stop and stole the bicycle of my friend, monsieur Anstruther." "A curious thing to do, uh?" "Hey, that's is my bike!" "But the next thing that this person did was even more curious." "He buried the bicycle." "Then he buried also the necessary cotume of a beard man." "And turned himself back into madame Middleton." " Mrs. Middleton was the bearded man?" " But yes, Hastings!" "You see, we only had the word of mrs." "Middleton herself that a bearded man came to the house that night, but of course that was not true." " No, I saw him." "Madame Havering, if you please, we will come to that in a minute." "As I've said all along, we've got to find this mrs." "Middleton." "May I suggest that you get on and do just that!" "So far, all you have done was ask impertinent questions and treat respectable people like they were criminals." " Please mr Roger, do not be in such haste..." "We may know that you did not commit a murder, but there are other things not so clear." "This crime was of a daring most extraordinary." "It had to be like clock work." "And the spurious Mme.Middleton had to have an accomplice to oil the spring." " Sorry, mrs." "Middleton." " At 5h 45m that night, the spring was ready to release" "The guests had departed, Ellie had left, and mile." "Joan had been given a lift in your car, Mr. Havering." "Mlle Joan was dully dropped at her cottage." "Mme Middleton was then to be driven to Mr. Stoddard's house to collect some gamebirds." "Of course she never arrived." "She was undergoing a transformation." "It was essencial, you see, that the suspect should be seen to alight from the train at the very next stop." "A suspect that could well be Mr. Roger Havering in disguise." "Why should I try to incriminate myself?" "Because, Mr. Havering, you had planned most carefully your alibi, your meeting with Lord Quamby, which you would seem to have every reason to keep in secret." "But once you were forced to reveal it, and after the release, it was most unlikely that the police would suspect you for the second time." " You're talking complete rubbish." " Non, non, non,I think not, Mr. Havering." "You see, while it continued your journey to London," "Mme Middleton returned to Hunter's Lodge." "Tour uncle was a very whealthy man." "In time, you would inherit his fortune, but your gambling debts grew heavier and Mr. Pace refused to bail tou out." "You desperately needed the money now." "And so, on that fateful night, Mr. Pace was shot in cold blood." "Prove it!" "You just prove it!" "It is a lying slander!" "We're going find yourself in court, mr. bloody Poirot!" "And who is this mrs." "Middleton I'm meant to be an accomplice?" "You can't even find her!" "So you busy yourself accusing everydy else!" "You think that Hercule Poirot is unable to find the mysterious Mme Middleton?" "Hercule Poirot knows a way  to make her appear in our midst as if by magic." "You do not believe in magic?" "Very well." "I have only to tap my cane in the floor three times." "So: un  deux  trois!" "Can we we not stop this charade?" "Inspector?" "I do not know, sir." "I've always enjoyed party games." "Stupid dog." "It sits down." "Will it be that someone can take it?" "Silly dog, sit down!" " Well, somebody take it away!" " It's alright, Zoe." "Come here." "Come." "Good girl!" "I don't know what your silly game is, but it seems to have horribly wrong." "Now leave her alone!" "She had nothing to do with this mrs." "Middleton." "On the contrary, Mr. Archie." "Mme. Havering had a very close relationship with her housekeeper, Mme. Middleton, the odd thing about it, was they were never once seen together." "This temporary housekeeper had only been recently employed for the family stay at Hunter's Lodge." "She left little notes for the servants." "And kept herself to herself." "If the mistress was at home, the housekeeper was absent." "The housekeeper was downstairs, the mistress was in her room." "And that is where, in the night of the murder, after being interviewed by the police," "Mme. Middleton disappeared forever from the face of the earth." "Because it was you." "Mme Zoe Havering." "Together with his husband, you planned and carried out this murder ingenious." "Together you pllotted to vanish your uncle that both hated and put your hands, at last, in the money." "I must ask you both to accompany me to the police station." "How dare you?" "This is gone far enough." "I don't intend to stand." "Oh, shut up, Roger!" " But why had she buried the bicycle?" " How could she leave it lying around?" "If it was found and identified by Mr. Anstruther as the one stolen, then it was sure that the murderer was still around the Hunter's Lodge." " Hello, mr." "Poirot!" " Monsieur Anstruther." " Did blackberry do the trick, then?" " Indeed it did, monsieur." "Besides, it stimulated so much the little grey cells so much, that it enabled me to locate your bicycle." " It's a bitof a muddy mess, isn't it?" " Yes, it got buried." " Buried?" " Buried." " It's all covered in mud and mould." " I am sorry I did not have time to clean it." "I cannot be seen riding a butt in that thing, it is completely dented fenders." "Do you or do you not want your bicycle?" "Leave it there." "I'll see if the boy can do anything with it." "Is this gratitude, Hastings?" "It is for this that Poirot exercises his talents?" "You wait gratitude?" "Don't make me laugh." "Now you know what a real detective feel like." "A real detective?" "!" "The Chief-Inspector is trully most amusing, don't you think, Hastings?" "Oh, yes, most amusing." "For a policeman."