minutes. He pushed open a door on his right. It led into a kind of lounge with small tables and some so-called easy-chairs covered with a depressing pattern of cretonne. Three old ladies and one fierce-looking old gentleman raised their heads and gazed at the intruder with deadly venom. Hercule Poirot blushed and withdrew.
He walked farther along the passage and came to a staircase. On his right a passage branched at right angles to what was evidently the dining-room.
A little way along this passage was a door marked 'office'.
On this Poirot tapped. Receiving no response, he opened the door and looked in. There was a large desk in the room covered with papers but there was no one to be seen. He withdrew, closing the door again. He penetrated to the dining-room.
A sad-looking girl in a dirty apron was shuffling about with a basket of knives and forks with which she was laying the tables.
Hercule Poirot said apologetically: 'Excuse me, but could I see the manageress?'
The girl looked at him with lacklustre eyes.
She said: 'I don't know, I'm sure.'
Hercule Poirot said: 'There is no one in the office.'
'Well, I don't know where she'd be, I'm sure.'
'Perhaps,' Hercule Poirot said, patient and persistent, 'you could find out?'
The girl sighed. Dreary as her day's round was, it had now been made additionally so by this new burden laid upon her. She said sadly: 'Well, I'll see what I can do.'
Poirot thanked her and removed himself once more to the hall, not daring to face the malevolent glare of the occupants of the lounge. He was staring up at the baize-covered letter rack when a rustle and a strong smell of Devonshire violets proclaimed the arrival of the Manageress.
Mrs Harte was full of graciousness. She exclaimed: 'So sorry I was not in my office. You were requiring rooms?'
Hercule Poirot murmured: 'Not precisely. I was wondering if a friend of mine had been staying here lately. A Captain Curtis.'
'Curtis,' exclaimed Mrs Harte. 'Captain Curtis? Now where have I heard that name?'
Poirot did not help her. She shook her head vexedly.
He said: 'You have not, then, had a Captain Curtis staying here?'
'Well, not lately, certainly. And yet, you know, the name is certainly familiar to me. Can you describe your friend at all?'
'That,' said Hercule Poirot, 'would be difficult.' He went on: 'I suppose it sometimes happens that letters arrive for people when in actual fact no one of that name is staying here?'
'That does happen, of course.'
'What do you do with such letters?'
'Well, we keep them for a time. You see, it probably means that the person in question will arrive shortly. Of course, if letters or parcels are a long time here unclaimed, they are returned to the post office.'
Hercule Poirot nodded thoughtfully.
He said: 'I comprehend.' He added: 'It is like this, you see. I wrote a letter to my friend here.'
Mrs Harte's face cleared.
'That explains it. I must have noticed the name on an envelope. But really we have so many ex-Army gentlemen staying here or passing through – Let me see now.'
She peered up at the board.
Hercule Poirot said: 'It is not there now.'
'It must have been returned to the postman, I suppose. I am so sorry. Nothing important, I hope?'
'No, no, it was of no importance.'
As he moved towards the door, Mrs Harte, enveloped in her pungent odour of violets, pursued him.
'If your friend should come -'
'It is most unlikely. I must have made a mistake…'
'Our terms,' said Mrs Harte, 'are very moderate. Coffee after dinner is included. I would like you to see one or two of our bed-sitting-rooms…'
With difficulty Hercule Poirot escaped.
V
The drawing-room of Mrs Samuelson was larger, more lavishly furnished, and enjoyed an even more stifling amount of central heating than that of Lady Hoggin. Hercule Poirot picked his way giddily amongst gilded console tables and large groups of statuary.
Mrs Samuelson was taller than Lady Hoggin and her hair was dyed with peroxide. Her Pekinese was called Nanki Poo. His bulging eyes surveyed Hercule Poirot with arrogance. Miss Keble, Mrs Samuelson's companion, was thin and scraggy where Miss Carnaby had been plump, but she also was voluble and slightly breathless. She, too, had been blamed for Nanki Poo's disappearance.
'But really, Mr Poirot, it was the most amazing thing. It all happened in a second. Outside Harrods it was. A nurse there asked me the time -'
Poirot interrupted her.
'A nurse? A hospital nurse?'
'No, no – a children's nurse. Such a sweet baby it was, too! A dear little mite. Such lovely rosy cheeks. They say children don't look healthy in London, but I'm sure -'
'Ellen,' said Mrs Samuelson.
Miss Keble blushed, stammered, and subsided into silence.
Mrs Samuelson said acidly: 'And while Miss Keble was bending over a perambulator that had nothing to do with her, this audacious villain cut Nanki Poo's lead and made off with him.'
Miss Keble murmured tearfully: 'It all happened in a second. I looked round and the darling boy was gone – there was just the dangling lead in my hand. Perhaps you'd like to see the lead, Mr Poirot?'
'By no means,' said Poirot hastily. He had no wish to make a collection of cut dog leads. 'I understand,' he went on, 'that shortly afterwards you received a letter?'
The story followed the same course exactly – the letter – the threats of violence to Nanki Poo's ears and tail. Only two things were different – the sum of money demanded – ?300 – and the address to which it was to be sent, this time it was to Commander Blackleigh, Harrington Hotel, 76 Clonmel Gardens, Kensington.
Mrs Samuelson went on: 'When Nanki Poo was safely back again, I went to the place myself, Mr Poirot. After all, three hundred pounds is three hundred pounds.'
'Certainly it is.'
'The very first thing I saw was my letter enclosing the money in a kind of rack in the hall. Whilst I was waiting for the proprietress I slipped it into my bag. Unfortunately -'
Poirot said: 'Unfortunately, when you opened it it contained only blank sheets of paper.'
'How did you know?' Mrs Samuelson turned on him with awe.
Poirot shrugged his shoulders.
'Obviously, chere Madame, the thief would take care to recover the money before he returned the dog. He would then replace the notes with blank paper and return the letter to the rack in case its absence should be noticed.'
'No such person as Commander Blackleigh had ever stayed there.'
Poirot smiled.
'And of course, my husband was extremely annoyed about the whole thing. In fact, he was livid – absolutely livid!'
Poirot murmured cautiously: 'You did not – er – consult him before dispatching the money?'
'Certainly not,' said Mrs Samuelson with decision.
Poirot looked a question. The lady explained.
