movements very carefully. It will be well to know where she has been during the summer. She was, I know, at Le Pinet once or twice. We may get information as to her contacts with some of the English people involved. Ah, yes, there is much to do.'
They both looked at Poirot, who was absorbed in thought.
'You going to take a hand at all, M. Poirot?' asked Japp.
Poirot roused himself.
'Yes, I think I should like to accompany M. Fournier to Paris.'
'Enchante,' said the Frenchman.
'What are you up to, I wonder?' asked Japp. He looked at Poirot curiously. 'You've been very quiet over all this. Got some of your little ideas, eh?'
'One or two – one or two – but it is very difficult.'
'Let's hear about it.'
'One thing that worries me,' said Poirot slowly, 'is the place where the blowpipe was found.'
'Naturally! It nearly got you locked up.'
Poirot shook his head.
'I do not mean that. It is not because it was found pushed down beside my seat that it worries me – it was its being pushed down behind any seat.'
'I don't see anything in that,' said Japp. 'Whoever did it had got to hide the thing somewhere. He couldn't risk its being found on him.'
'Evidemment. But you may have noticed, my friend, when you examined the plane, that although the windows cannot be opened, there is in each of them a ventilator – a circle of small, round holes in the glass which can be opened or closed by turning a fan of glass. These holes are of a sufficient circumference to admit the passage of our blowpipe. What could be simpler than to get rid of the blowpipe that way? It falls to the earth beneath and it is extremely unlikely that it will ever be found.'
'I can think of an objection to that – the murderer was afraid of being seen. If he pushed the blowpipe through the ventilator, someone might have noticed.'
'I see,' said Poirot. 'He was not afraid of being seen placing the blowpipe to his lips and dispatching the fatal dart, but he was afraid of being seen trying to push the blowpipe through the window!'
'Sounds absurd, I admit,' said Japp, 'but there it is. He did hide the blowpipe behind the cushion of a seat. We can't get away from that.'
Poirot did not answer, and Fournier asked curiously:
'It gives you an idea, that?'
Poirot bowed his head assentingly.
'It gives rise to, say, a speculation in my mind.'
With absent-minded fingers he straightened the unused ink-stand that Japp's impatient hand had set a little askew.
Then lifting his head sharply, he asked:
'А propos, have you that detailed list of the belongings of the passengers that I asked you to get me?'
Chapter 8
'I'm a man of my word, I am,' said Japp.
He grinned and dived his hand into his pocket, bringing out a mass of closely typewritten paper.
'Here you are. It's all here, down to the minutest detail! And I'll admit that there is one rather curious thing in it. I'll talk to you about it when you've finished reading the stuff.'
Poirot spread out the sheets on the table and began to read. Fournier moved up and read them over his shoulder.
Pockets. Linen handkerchief marked J. Pigskin note case – seven ?1 notes, three business cards. Letter from partner, George Elbermann, hoping 'loan has been successfully negotiated… otherwise we're in Queer Street.' Letter signed Maudie making appointment Trocadero following evening. Cheap paper, illiterate handwriting. Silver cigarette case. Match folder. Fountain pen. Bunch of keys. Yale door key. Loose change in French and English money.
Attache Case. Mass of papers concerning dealings in cement. Copy of 'Bootless Cup' (banned in this country). A box of Immediate Cold Cures.
Pockets. Two linen handkerchiefs. Note case containing ?20 and 500 francs. Loose change in French and English money. Engagement book. Cigarette case. Lighter. Fountain pen. Yale door key. Bunch of keys.
Flute in case. Carrying 'Memoirs of Benvenuto Cellini' and 'Les Maux de l'Oreille.'
Pockets. Silk handkerchief. Wallet containing ?1 in English money and 600 francs. Loose change. Business cards of two French firms, makers of dental instruments. Bryant May match box, empty. Silver lighter. Briar pipe. Rubber tobacco pouch. Yale door key.
Attache Case. White-linen coat. Two small dental mirrors. Dental rolls of cotton wool. La Vie Parisienne. The Strand Magazine. The Autocar.
Pockets. Wallet containing 1000 francs and ?10 in English. Spectacles in case. Loose change in French money. Cotton handkerchief. Packet of cigarettes, match folder. Cards in case. Toothpick.
Attache Case. Manuscript of proposed address to Royal Asiatic Society. Two German archaeological publications. Two sheets of rough sketches of pottery. Ornamented hollow tubes – said to be Kurdish pipe stems. Small basketwork tray. Nine unmounted photographs – all of pottery.
Pockets. Note case containing ?5 in English and 300 francs. Cigarette case. Cigarette holder – ivory. Lighter. Fountain pen. Two pencils. Small notebook full of scribbled notes. Letter in English from L. Marriner, giving invitation to lunch at restaurant near Tottenham Court Road. Loose change in French.
Pockets. Handkerchief – ink-stained. Fountain pen – leaking. Note case containing ?4 and 100 francs. Three newspaper cuttings dealing with recent crimes. One poisoning by arsenic, and two embezzlement. Two letters from house agents with details of country properties. Engagement book. Four pencils. Penknife. Three receipted and four unpaid bills. Letter from 'Gordon' headed 'S.S. Minotaur.' Half-done crossword puzzle cut from Times. Notebook containing suggestions for plots. Loose change in Italian, French, Swiss and English money. Receipted hotel bill, Naples. Large bunch of keys.
In overcoat pocket. Manuscript notes of 'Murder on Vesuvius.' Continental Bradshaw. Golf ball. Pair of socks. Toothbrush. Receipted hotel bill, Paris.
