"No sign of him yet." "We just lost sight of the Prime-Minister's car for two minutes..." "No, twenty seconds..." "There was a bend in the road..." "Just this side of Datchett..." "Yes..." "No, nobody knows at all." "We've kept it quiet." "Of course we searched!" "Eventually we came on here." "What else could we've done?" "Wait a minute!" "Here's the Prime minister's car!" "I'll call you back." "Call the Yard." "Tell them he's safe." "To report back to me." "We expected you an hour ago, sir." "What happened?" "I am quite all right." "Commander Daniels will tell you about it." " I-I have to get some rest." " Good night, sir." "Someone tried to hijack us." "But we only lost sight of you for a few seconds." "They had it all worked out." "Diverted us down an alley, a group of thugs waiting." "If it weren't for Egan there, I don't know what would have happened." "What did happen?" "One or two of the men had guns." "They was right across the road." "As soon as Egan saw them, he put his foot down in the accelerator." "drove staight down at them and they had to jump, that I can tell you." " Well done, Egan." " Thank you, sir." "Unfortunately, one of them fired his gun as we passed." "The bullet has crazed the Prime Minister's cheek." " Good God!" " He's alright." "I brought him bandaged in the hospital." "Well done, Commander Daniels." "Well done." "I wonder what can they've been after, these rufians, Hastings." " Who could they have been?" " Well, it doesn't say." "Just call them rufians." "And the next paragraph says thugs." "Another half inch on the waist, M. Poirot." "Non, non, Monsieur Fingler." "I am exactly the same size as I was last year." "It is your equipment that is at fault." "My equipment is at fault?" "A person could go cuckoo crazy." "Every year he tells me my tape shrinks." "Shrinks!" " Continue, Hastings." " No, that's all there is." " Continue, Hastings." " No, there is any more nothing." "Do you want to try Saville Row?" "Does it want to go to the Saville Row?" "Try Saville Row." "I trained those boys." "Finished." "First fitting, Wednesday." "And then we shall see if my equipment is faulty." "M. Fingler, can I tell you something?" "Tell me, M. Poirot, tell me." "I can hardly wait." " You must learn not to quetch." " I quetch?" "Hey, clear off!" "I don't know why you don't go to Saville Row, Poirot." "Monsieur Fingler is an artist, Hastings." "But like all the artists, he must be treated with a firm hand." "Non, non, Hastings." "One can not take this as a serious attempt of assassination." "A bunch of rufians, a gunshot with a revolver..." "Non, non, mon ami, this is mere enfantillage (childish behaviour)." "A gentleman called while you were out, Mr. Poirot." "Thank you, Miss Lemon." "Sir Bernard Dodge?" "Hastings, this is indeed an honor." " Is it?" " Oh, yes." "Sir Bernard Dodge, is permanent Undersecretary of State of the Foreign Office." "He'd like you to call on him at twelve o'clock." "Thank you, Miss Lemon." "Au revoir." " Mr. Poirot, good of you to come." " It is a pleasure to meet you, Sir Bernard." "And you too, of course, Lord Estair." "Our business is absolutely secret, you understand." "Well, the whole of England will know soon enough, anyway." "We simply have to move as quick as possible." "Very well." "It concerns the Prime Minister." "We are in a grave predicament." "The injury is serious, then?" "No, no." "Fortunately that attempt failed." "I wish I could say as much for the second attempt." " There was a second attempt?" " Yes." "But of different nature." "The Prime Minister has been kidnapped." "Kidnapped?" "But..." "How is this possible?" "If we knew that, we'd know everything." "Yes, of course." "You said just now, monsieur, that time was of the essence." "The Prime Minister's abscence from the League of Nation's disarmament conference in Paris, could be disastrous." " He's the one voice that can unify Europe and perhaps stop Germany re-arming." "I see, but perhaps this kidnapping is a direct attempt to bring about this disastrous outcome." "Exactly." "There are people who want Germany to go on re-arming." "That is the possibility." "He was on his way to Paris when it happened." "And the conference is to be held when?" "Half past eight tomorrow evening." " It is now a quarter past twelve." " Thirty two hours." "And a quarter." "do not forget a quarter, monsieur." "It may come in useful." "The Prime Minister and his Secretary crossed over to France in the early hours of this morning." "The Embassy car met them in Boulogne." "They never arrived in Paris." "And that was the last anyone saw the car and any of its occupants." "It was a bogus embassy car." "I must know everything, Sir Bernard." "I must know also about this shooting affair." "Last night, the Prime Minister accompanied by Commander Daniels, one of his secretaries, both were going for Windsor, to an audience with the King ." "This is the main road from Windsor to Datchett?" "Uh-- that's right." "The car of the Prime Minister is forced down that lane from this main road here, you say." "Apparently so." " How was it forced?" " We don't know." "There was a barrier across the road." "You received this information from the secretary of the Prime Minister?" " Commander Daniels, yes." " Who is this Commander Daniels?" "A good man." "Served with distinction in the Royal Navy." "His father was a Minister in Mr. Asquith's cabinet." "Until they had a row over how to rule." "The car following the Prime Minister, the car containing the detectives, did they see this barrier?" "No." "The road was clear by the time we arrived." "Mr. MacAdam is very impatient at any efforts to protect his person." "The car carrying the plain clothes detectives has to follow at a discreet distance." "They lost sight of him at that bend." "Of course the barrier could have been removed in seconds." "The thugs are strung out across the road." "The driver sees them." "He sees their guns." "He accelerates towards them, scattering them." "Yes." "One of them fires his revolver." "The bullet crazes the cheek of the Prime Minister." "Yes." "Just think." "One of them is as good as he runs the Foreign Office, the other one guards the Prime Minister." "Why should England tremble, hey?" "There's a destroyer waiting in Dover, M. Poirot, to take us to France." "And this destroyer, it will wait for how long, Sir Bernard?" "Well, the necessary, of course." "But..." "Yes, I know." "Well, it appears he takes his time, sir." "Yes, yes..." "I know, sir." "Uh, we have done all this, you know, Poirot." "No blood, no bullet hole." "Does it not strike you as strange, Chief-Inspector, that there is no bullet hole?" "But the bullet hit the Prime Minister." "No, no, Hastings." "The bullet grazed the Prime Minister." "Why was there no bullet in the car?" "Where did it go after it scratched his cheek?" "No, no." "Mr. MacAdam's head was outside the car when he was shot at." "When the car slowed down, he looked out of the window to see what was wrong." "Et bien...." "The car is in the lane." "The rufians are barrying the way." "M. MacAdam realizes that something is wrong." "He opens the window." "He puts his head outs of the window to see what is happening." "A shot rangs out." "I don't why we're wasting time with all this, Poirot." "The attempt didn't succeed." "The kidnapping did." "And that was in France." "Now, look here, Poirot..." "The driver Egan, monsieur..." " Yes?" " I want to speak with him." "I spoke to him last night, at Charing Cross." "He is the only witness that we have, Chief-Inspector." "He's off till Thursday." "His home address, if you please." "He didn't come in at all, last night." "I was up, waiting for him until after one o'clock this morning." "He is usually regular in his habits?" "As a clock work." "Is Monsieur Egan a fellow countryman of yours, Mme. Dennison?" "Sure." "He's from County Clare, like myself." "He was fortunate indeed, to find such a comfortable home and with such an charming landlady." "How long has he lodged with you?" "Six months next Sunday, he did, sir." "Monsieur Egan keeps his address book in a place most convenient, eh?" "He has his own methods, Sir Bernard." "I don't want method." "I want action." "I've never known him to fail, yet." "The Prime Minister disappears." "Commander Daniels disappears." "Monsieur Egan disappears." "At any moment I fully expect the entire Cabinet to disappear." "Are you alright, Poirot?" "Yes, yes, mon ami." "There was a small hotel back there." "It looked quite comfortable." "The ship's waiting for us." "Where's he off to, now?" "Well, I think he doesn't want to go on the destroyer." "You know how seasick he gets." "Seasick?" "I shall lose my pension if he carries on like this." "When they suggested him, they asked my opinion." "" Oh, yes ", I said." "" Just the man ", I said." "What is he doing?" "What is he doing now?" "Hmm?" " He's thinking." " Thinking?" "What on earth is he doing that for?" "Europe is in crisis." "And the one man who might advert a tragedy, the Prime Minister of this country, has been kidnapped!" "We are not paying your Mr. Poirot to think!" " Well..." " Please keep out of this, Chief-Inspector." "He's a detective." "We are paying him, and paying handsomely, I may say, to detect." "What do you expect him to do?" "Good grief!" "Do I have to teach him his job?" "Blood stains, fingerprints..." " He's done all that." " When?" "I haven't seen him." "I haven't seen him so much as look for a magnifying glass." "Poirot is ready." "Do you have that list I asked you for, Chief-Inspector?" "Excellent." "Back to the docks." "Back to Datchett." "Don't lose sight of him, sergeant." "We don't want anybody else getting kidnapped." "Right, sir." "He wasn't the one who went through that awful divorce last year?" " Who was it, Hastings?" " This Commander Daniels." "This was just more or less malicious exploitation and without foundation." "Yes, I remember." "It was in the newspapers." "It was all over the newspapers!" "Now what?" "I know what he is doing." "I just dunno why he's doing it." "Well, you're up on me." "I got him a list of all the hospitals between Datchett and London." "He is trying to find which one they took the Prime Minister to, to get his face bandaged." "Not this one." "Onward driver, if you please, to  Feltham." "Good night." "I would like to know if anyone brought the Prime Minister," "Mr. Was MacAdam, here yesterday?" "Thank you very much." "There's a cozyest hospital nearby but it is a bit off the big track." "And the driver was missing." "Right." "We can be back to Dover in an hour." "We will be in Boulogne by dawn." " They found the car in France." " The bogus Embassy car?" "At an abandoned farm house near Crecy." "Was there anyone inside the car?" "Commander Daniels, bound and gagged." "With a head injury, from where they knocked him out." "They flown him back to London." "No sign of the Prime Minister?" "Not even his body?" "No, nothing." "So now I suggest that we get over to France and join the search properly." "It is strange, is it not?" "That having tried to shoot the Prime Minister last evening, they now take so much trouble in order to keep him alive?" "Commander Daniels will appreciate some visitors, I think." "Bye goes my pension." "We've come to see Commander Daniels." "Sir Bernard Dodge and some gentlemen to see you, Commander." "Show them in, Shi-Mong." "Then take my bag and unpack it, will you?" "Yes, sir." "Gentlemen, please." "Good to see you, Daniels." "Bad show, this." "And I don't come out of it very well, I'm affraid, Sir Bernard." "Nonsense, my dear chap!" "What could you do?" "You know Chief-Inspector Japp, I believe." "We met last night." "And this is Mr. Hercule Poirot and his colleague, Captain Hastings." "How do you do?" "We are full of apologies, Commander, but this is a matter of greatest importance." "Of course." "Sit down, please." "If you would be kind enough, Commander, to tell us what happened when you arrived at Boulogne." "Well, Mr. MacAdam had managed to get some sleep on the crossing, but he was still shaken, I could tell." "There was a staff car waiting for us on the quay." "Tell me about the driver." "I didn't take much notice of him." "One doesn't, I'm afraid." "Of course." "We started off for Paris." "We passed through Nampont-Saint-Martin just as the sun was coming out, about six o'clock." "And then?" "The last thing I remember was of passing sur Vron." "I looked at my watch." "It was ten past six." "Then, nothing." "Well,nothing until four hours later, when I woke up in the car in a spiny, very efficiently tied up and gagged." "No sign of the Prime Minister." " Or the driver." " Or the driver," "I managed to open the door with my feet, but it's as far as I'd got." "And a little girl found me." "I must have frighten the life out of her." "Blood all over my face." "Anyway, she got the local gendarmes." "So you remember nothing of the abduction." "I am afraid not." "Well, this frequently happens, Commander, as a result of a trauma." "But your memory, it will soon return." "May I use your telephone?" " Yes, yes, of course." " Thank you." "Ah!" "Non. non." "My friend, he will have retired for the night." "Thank you, Commander Daniels, you have been most helpful." "Well, I wouldn't say that." "I am preparing a report, Sir Bernard." "Good." "Good share, Daniels." "Ah, Mon Dieu!" "I shall forget my own funeral." " Commander, what hospital did you go to?" " Hospital?" "To get the head of the Prime Minister bandaged." "Oh, yes." "I don't know the name of it." "I was attending to Mr. MacAdam." "I told the driver to take us to a hospital, but didn't pay much attention, I'm afraid, to where we were going." "I understand." "Good night." " Good night, sir." " Good night." "I don't care, Poirot, when I first met you, at noon today," "I told how urgent this matter was." "It seems to me you've waisted some twelve hours meandering aimlessly about the countryside, a hundred miles from where the crime took place, talking to people who could have no possible connection" "I understand your feelings, Sir Bernard." "I doubt it." "And now, we've waisted hours turning back to London to talk to Commander Daniels, who, as I could have told you, was able to tell us precisely nothing." "On the contrary, Sir Bernard." "Now I have to report to Lord Estair..." "What do you mean " on the contrary "?" "Commander Daniels was able to tell me almost everything I needed to know." "Chief-Inspector, I wonder if you'd be kind enough to do something for me?" "If I can..." "I want you to check for me two things." "The record of the driver, Egan." "And the maiden name of the former Mme. Daniels." "Mrs. Daniels?" "What on earth can that woman have to do with anything?" "Now look, this exactly what I mean." "We've checked Egan." "Egan is old news." "Perhaps." "But you see, the kidnappers always had one flaw to their plan." "They knew it, and they did their best to conceal it." "But their best is is not good enough for Hercule Poirot, perhaps." "Good night, Sir Bernard." "Where are you going?" " To bed." " You don't seem to realize, Poirot..." "This is a national emergency." "I do not intend to sleep until the Prime Minister is found." "I am sure it will make you feel very virtuous, Sir Bernard, but it will not help the Prime Minister." "For myself, I need to restore the " little grey cells "." "Chief-Inspector..." "If Monsieur MacAdam is still alive, he will be in Paris in time for the conference." "He never left his country, you see." " I shall go in alone, Hastings." " Sure about this, are you, Poirot?" " Quite sure." " I'm here, if you need me." "Yes?" "Who are you?" "Bonjour, Mme. Daniels." "I am Hercule Poirot." " The Belgian detective?" " Madame is too kind." "What do you want with me?" "Madame, I saw your former husband last night." "What a treat." "If he sent you here, you can leave right away." "Non, non, non, madame." "Commander Daniels has no idea that I am here." " But he is in great trouble." " Oh!" "How wonderful..." "The Police suspect him of a grave crime." "The Police?" "Well, he didn't murder me that's the only crime I imagine he'd be interested in." "Non, madame, it is not murder." "Not yet." "You are being tiresomely misterious." "Commander Daniels had the means to commit the crime." "He had the opportunity to commit the crime, but as yet, the Police could not find no motif for the crime." "Now, you know him better that anybody." "Too well." "Perhaps you can help them." "I wish I could." "Would he go to jail?" "God!" "I'd love to see him go to jail..." "You know what that bastard did to me." "Only what I read in the newspapers, madame." "Yes." "And didn't they love it." "Madame, how would you describe the politics of your ex-husband?" "Torpid." "He neve had a political thought in his life." " How is Mrs. Daniels?" " Formidable." "I would not wish to be her enemy, I think." " You must take care, Hastings." " How do you mean?" "I want you to wait here." "When she comes out, I want you to follow her." "Do not lose sight of her, for one second." "Telephone me when you can." "Scotland Yard, if you please." "No, sir..." "Well, it's up to me, is it?" "Well, yes..." "Oh, I thought he was just the man for the job." "Come in!" "No, sir..." "Well, I couldn't agree with that, sir." "No, he is not slow." "He is thorough." "Yes, well most of our men are already in France, sir." "Guess who he was talking about." "Modesty forbids, Chief-Inspector." "Little grey cells rested, are they?" "Indeed." "Thank you." "Do you have the information I asked you for?" "Ah!" "Yes." "Much good it will do you." "John Patrick Egan." "Born in Milltown, County Clare, in 1901." "Been driver for a mobile's firm until he came over to England, a couple of years ago." "Joined Minitery of Work as driver/mechanich six months later." "Good references, good worker." "And Mme. Daniels?" "Maiden name Donoghue." "Is that not also an Irish name?" "Well, sort of." "She is the third daughter of the earl de Connemara." "I don't understand what you're after, Poirot." "Chief-Inspector, did you ever read about the divorce of Commander Daniels?" "I should say I did!" "Very juicy." "After such a divorce, having been dragged through the courts, humiliated in the newspapers, do you think the husband would keep in his desk a framed photograph of his ex-wife?" "How well do you know John Egan?" "John Egan?" "He drove you and the Prime Minister to Windsor." "Oh, Egan!" "Know him?" "He is a driver." "There are three or four on Downing Street." "But you see, Commander, he has not been seen since he drove back the car to the garage that night." "Really?" "He did not return to his lodgings." "I'm sorry." "Well, it is not important." "I am sorry... to have disturbed your breakfast." "Erin Go Bragh ("Ireland for ever" in Irish)." "All we can do is wait, Chief-Inspector." "Miss Lemon, has Captain Hastings telephoned yet?" "No, Mr. Poirot." "Alors..." "This is all very "fine and large", Poirot what if Mrs. Daniels doesn't leave?" "Oh!" "She'd have left already, Chief-Inspector, I am sure of it." "Hello?" "Yes?" "Yes." "Japp." "Yes, Cantwell, What's happening?" "They what?" " Thank you, Miss Lemon." " Why?" "Uh..." "What time was this?" "Nothing said?" "Right." "They've arrested a vagrant in some unpronounceable village." "A tramp?" "Suspected of abducting the Prime Minister?" "When in doubt, arrest a vagrant." "They let him go again." "Hello." "Yes, Hastings!" "Where are you?" " I'm afraid I've lost her, Poirot." " You've lost her." "He's lost her." "But where are you?" "Between Basingstoke and Andover." "Let me get a map, Hastings." "The map, if you please, Miss Lemon." "Between Basingstoke and Andover?" "She turned off the main road and we went through a village called Spratling." "She must have seen me just after that." "I wonder if the Daniels have any local connections, Hastings?" "Go back to the village and ask if the Daniels have a house in the neighborhood." "Or you could try the name of Donoghue." "Yes, that is the maiden name of Mme. Daniels." "Lady Imogen Donoghue." "Yes, Hastings, and call me back when you have that." "Goodbye." "I'll get on to the Yard, tell them to contact the Basingstoke police." "She is the daughter of the earl of Connemara, isn't she?" "You, English!" "You are all experts in the aristocracy." "Only what was in the papers, a year ago." "No, two years ago." " What was, Miss Lemon?" " There was a big fire." "I can see the headline, " Earl's Mansion destroyed "." "There was a picture of him." "Fine looking man, Mr. Poirot." "Of that, I have no doubt, Miss Lemon, but where was the house?" "It was in Berkshire..." " Good, good!" "." " It was in..." "Try, Miss Lemon." "It was called something " Hall "." " In a village called..." " We can find that out." "Cantwell, can you find out the name of the house that belonged to the earl of Connemara that burnt out a couple of years ago." "The "Hall" was the same name as the village." "It was a name like..." "Batleigh." " Batleigh?" " Like Batleigh." "Catleigh?" "Datleigh?" "Fatleigh?" "Gatleigh?" "Hatleigh?" " Summerscote Hall." " Yes!" "Tell that to Captain Hastings when he telephones." "I hope this is not a wild goose chase, Poirot." "Non, non, non, mon ami." "The only wild goose chase they intended us to be on, was in France." "You know, they have been planning this for years." "It was only when they could get somebody sympathetic to their cause in the position of one of the drivers of the Prime minister, was the abduction possible." "But what is their cause?" "German rearmament?" "Indirectly." "There is a strong element in Ireland that does not care that Germany re-arms, so long as it causes hurt for England." "But how did Daniels get involved?" "I understand about his wife." "It seems she was always a bit of a rebel." "The father of Commander Daniels was valiantly opposed to Lord Asquith in 1914, in the Irish Home Rule." "That was the end of his career in politics." "I think that has fasten inside the Commander Daniels all of his life." "He did not need so much persuading." "Just a few hours more." "In four hours they'll have voted in Paris." "It will be too late for the Prime-Minister to do a thing about it." "Anyway, what's it got to do with Britain if Germany rearms?" " We're just coming to Summerscote now, sir." " Right." "There's a turning on the left on the other side of the village." "I thought this place was Summerscote not the Somme." " They are all ready." " Very well, Major." "Thank you, sir." " I'm sure I heard something." " Maybe it's your husband." "No." "It must have been the wind." "From here we can see everything." "It seems I may owe you an apology, M. Poirot." "Non, non, Sir Bernard." "You were cleverly misled." "How did you get on to it?" "Whenever the occasion arises, Sir Bernard, to look into someone's address book, always firt look under the letter "X", because that is where the secrets are kept." "In the address book of Monsieur Egan, that I found under his pillow, under the letter "X"." "there was only one number, no name, just "X"." "It was a Mayfair number, which I thought strange." "But when I pretended to use the telephone of Commander Daniels," "I noticed that his number was the same as that in the address book." "Oh, no." "My friend he will have retired for the night." "An interesting connection, n'est-ce pas?" "Excuse me, sir, all in place, now." "Go easy, Major, we don't want anybody getting hurt." "What's that?" "There is somebody out there." "Poirot!" "We caught him trying to get through the cord." "What is all this, Daniels?" "Have you gone mad?" "Let me go to Imogen." "You are a traitor, Daniels." "A disgrace." "Let me go to Imogen." "Police!" "Police everywhere." "And so, they've just send the army for us." "Jack, I'm not going, but you must." "I'll even create a diversion for you." "Come out one by one with your hands in the air." " What do we do?" " There's no way out!" " I don't know." " Give yourself up!" "Perhaps there are still useful things I can do for Ireland." " You don't stand a chance." " Give me the gun." "Come on, it will be worse if they take you with it." "Good luck." "I am going to count to five..." "One." "Two." "Three." "Four." "Five." "on the tower!" "It's Mrs. Daniels." "Hey, come back..." "Whatch out!" "Stop him!" "Erin Go Bragh!" "Don't!" "Yes." "Erin Go Bragh." "Ireland forever." " Sir, it's the Prime Minister." " Go help him." "The only thing I don't understand, is how you knew it was a double they'd sent for France." "When I ascertained that, as a result of the supposed assassination attempt the Prime Minister went to France with his face bound up." "it was then that I began to comprehend" "But the man who impersonated the Prime Minister was seen by everyone." "Non, non, Hastings." "He was not seen by anyone who knew him intimately." "And with his face bandaged..." "But now, mon ami, a far more difficult case." "A fitting with Monsieur Fingler." "So, the Daniels' divorce was just a smoke screen." "The purest theater, Hastings." "To ensure that the last thing anyone could suspect was collusion between those two." "They loved each other, yes." "They were willing to sacrifice that and everything else, for their cause." "You know, Hastings, the worst kind of fanatic, is the quiet unobtrusive fanatic." "And the worst kind of customer is the customer who can't keep still." "Monsieur Fingler, this jacket is too tight." " Oh!" "It is too tight, is it?" " Yes." "I shall scarcely manage to button it up." " And do you know why it is too tight?" " Because you made it too small." "No, no, no." "Because you have grown too big." "This jacket has been made by last year's measurements." "Now, are we having a fitting, or what?" "A fitting, by all means, Monsieur Fingler."