'So it does,' said Mr. Barnes.
He added after a minute or two, 'Don't you think so?'
'Yes, I do.'
'Well, then -'
'We may be wrong,' said Hercule Poirot.
'I never thought of that,' said Mr. Barnes. 'So we may.'
They walked on for a little way, then Barnes asked curiously:
'What are you thinking about?'
Hercule Poirot quoted:
'Because thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, he hath also rejected thee from being King.'
'Hm – I see -' said Mr. Barnes. 'Saul – after the Amalekites. Yes, you could think of it that way.'
They walked on a little further, then Barnes said:
'I take the tube here. Good-night, Poirot.'
He paused, then said awkwardly:
'You know – there's something I'd like to tell you.'
'Yes, mon ami?'
'Feel I owe it to you. Led you astray unintentionally. Fact of the matter is, Albert Chapman, Q.X.912.'
'Yes?'
'I'm Albert Chapman. That's partly why I was so interested. I knew, you see, that I'd never had a wife.'
He hurried away, chuckling.
Poirot stood stock still. Then his eye opened, his eyebrows rose.
He said to himself:
'Nineteen, twenty, my plate's empty -'
And went home.
