A shambling young man entered the room. He had a very round face, and foolish-looking eyebrows raised as though in perpetual surprise. He grinned awkwardly as he shook hands. This was clearly the “wanting” son.
Presently we all went in to dinner. Dr. Treves left the room—to open some wine, I think—and suddenly the boy’s physiognomy underwent a startling change. He leant forward, staring at Poirot.
“You’ve come about Father,” he said, nodding his head. “I know. I know lots of things—but nobody thinks I do. Mother will be glad when Father’s dead and she can marry Dr. Treves. She isn’t my own mother, you know. I don’t like her. She wants Father to die.”
It was all rather horrible. Luckily, before Poirot had time to reply, the doctor came back, and we had to carry on a forced conversation.
And then suddenly Poirot lay back in his chair with a hollow groan. His face was contorted with pain.
“My dear sir, what’s the matter?” cried the doctor.
“A sudden spasm. I am used to them. No, no, I require no assistance from you, doctor. If I might lie down upstairs.”
His request was instantly acceded to, and I accompanied him upstairs, where he collapsed on the bed, groaning heavily.
For the first minute or two I had been taken in, but I had quickly realized that Poirot was—as he would have put it—playing the comedy, and that his object was to be left alone upstairs near the patient’s room.
Hence I was quite prepared when, the instant we were alone, he sprang up.
“Quick, Hastings, the window. There is ivy outside. We can climb down before they begin to suspect.”
“Climb down?”
“Yes, we must get out of this house at once. You saw him at dinner?”
“The doctor?”
“No, young Templeton. His trick with his bread. Do you remember what Flossie Monro told us before she died? That Claud Darrell had a habit of dabbing his bread on the table to pick up crumbs. Hastings, this is a vast plot, and that vacant-looking young man is our archenemy—Number Four! Hurry.”
I did not wait to argue. Incredible as the whole thing seemed it was wiser not to delay. We scrambled down the ivy as quietly as we could and made a beeline for the small town and the railway station. We were just able to catch the last train, the 8:34 which would land us in town about eleven o’clock.
“A plot,” said Poirot thoughtfully. “How many of them were in it, I wonder? I suspect that the whole Templeton family are just so many agents of the Big Four. Did they simply want to decoy us down there? Or was it more subtle than that? Did they intend to play the comedy down there and keep me interested until they had had time to do—what? I wonder now.”
He remained very thoughtful.
Arrived at our lodgings, he restrained me at the door of the sitting room.
“Attention, Hastings. I have my suspicions. Let me enter first.”
He did so, and, to my slight amusement, took the precaution to press on the electric switch with an old galosh. Then he went round the room like a strange cat, cautiously, delicately, on the alert for danger. I watched him for some time, remaining obediently where I had been put by the wall.
“It seems all right, Poirot,” I said impatiently.
“It seems so, mon ami, it seems so. But let us make sure.”
“Rot,” I said. “I shall light the fire, anyway, and have a pipe. I’ve caught you out for once. You had the matches last and you didn’t put them back in the holder as usual—the very thing you’re always cursing me for doing.”
I stretched out my hand. I heard Poirot’s warning cry—saw him leaping towards me—my hand touched the matchbox.
Then—a flash of blue flame—an ear-rending crash—and darkness—
I came to myself to find the familiar face of our old friend Dr. Ridgeway bending over me. An expression of relief passed over his features.
“Keep still,” he said soothingly. “You’re all right. There’s been an accident, you know.”
“Poirot?” I murmured.
“You’re in my digs. Everything’s quite all right.”
A cold fear clutched at my heart. His evasion woke a horrible fear.
“Poirot?” I reiterated. “What of Poirot?”
He saw that I had to know and that further evasions were useless.
“By a miracle you escaped—Poirot—did not!”
A cry burst from my lips.
“Not dead? Not dead?”
Ridgeway bowed his head, his features working with emotion.
With desperate energy I pulled myself to a sitting position.
“Poirot may be dead,” I said weakly. “But his spirit lives on. I will carry on his work! Death to the Big Four!”
Then I fell back, fainting.
XVI
The Dying Chinaman
Even now I can hardly bear to write of those days in March.
Poirot—the unique, the inimitable Hercule Poirot—dead! There was a particularly diabolical touch in the disarranged matchbox, which was certain to catch his eye, and which he would hasten to rearrange—and thereby touch off the explosion. That, as a matter of fact, it was I who actually precipitated the catastrophe never ceased to fill me with unavailing remorse. It was, Dr. Ridgeway said, a perfect miracle that I had not been killed, but had escaped with a slight concussion.
Although it had seemed to me as though I regained consciousness almost immediately, it was in reality over twenty-four hours before I came back to life. It was not until the evening of the day following that I was able to stagger feebly into an adjoining room, and view with deep emotion the plain elm coffin which held the remains of one of the most marvellous men this world has ever known.
From the very first moment of regaining consciousness I had had only one purpose in mind—to avenge Poirot’s death, and to hunt down the Big Four remorselessly.
I had thought that Ridgeway would have
