The door was opened to him by Geronimo who welcomed him as an old friend. There was a constable standing in the hall and Geronimo drew Poirot into the dining room and closed the door.
“It is terrible,” he whispered, as he assisted Poirot off with his overcoat. “We have police here all time! Ask questions, go here, go there, look in cupboards, look in drawers, come into Maria’s kitchen even. Maria very angry. She say she like to hit policeman with rolling pin but I say better not. I say policeman not like being hit by rolling pins and they make us more embarrassment if Maria do that.” “You have the good sense,” said Poirot, approvingly. “Is Mrs. Hubbard at liberty?” “I take you upstairs to her.” “A Ettle moment,” Poirot stopped him.
“Do you remember the day when certain electric light bulbs disappeared?” “Oh yes, I remember. But that long time ago now.
One-twhree month ago.” “Exactly what electric light bulbs were taken?” “The one in the hall and I think in the Common Room. Someone make joke. Take all the bulbs out.” “You don’t remember the exact date?” Geronimo struck an attitude as he thought.
“I do not remember,” he said. “But I think it was on day when policeman come, some time in February-was “A policeman? What did a policeman come here for?” “He come here to see Mrs. Nicoletis about a student. Very bad student. come from Africa. Not do work. Go to labour exchan e, get National Assistance, then have woman and she go out with men for him.
Very bad that. Police not like comt. All this in Manchester, I think, or Sheffield so he ran away from there and he come here, but police come after him and they talk to Mrs. Hubbard about him. Yes. And she say he not stop here because she no like him and she send him away.” “I see. They were trying to trace I”.gg@.
“Scusi?” “They were trying to find him?” “Yes, yes, that is right. They find him and then they put him in prison because he live on woman and live on woman must not do. This is nice house here. Nothing like that here.” “And that was the day the bulbs were missing?” “Yes. Because I turn switch and nothing happen.
And I go into Common Room and no bulb there, and I look in drawer here for spares and I see bulbs have been taken away. So I go down to kitchen and ask Maria if she know where spare bulbs-but she angry because she not like police come and she say spare bulbs not her business, so I bring just candles.” Poirot digested this story as he followed Geronimo up the stairs to Mrs. Hubbard’s room.
Poirot was welcomed warmly by Mrs. Hubbard, who was looking tired and harassed. She held out, at once, a piece of paper to him.
“I’ve done my best, Mr. Poirot, to write down these things in the proper order but I wouldn’t like to say that it’s a hundred percent accurate now. You see, it’s very difficult when you look back over a period of months to remember just when this, that or the other happened.” “I am deeply grateful to you, Madame. And how is Mrs. Nicoletis?” “I’ve given her a sedative and I hope she’s asleep now. She made a terrible fuss over the search warrant. She refused to open the cupboard in her room and the Inspector broke it open and quantities of empty bottles tumbled out.” “Ah,” said Poirot, making a tactful sound.
“Which really explains quite a lot of things,” said Mrs. Hubbard. “I really can’t imagine why I didn’t think of that before, having seen as much of drink as I have out in Singapore. But all that, I’m sure, isn’t what interests you.” “Everything interests me,” said Poirot.
He sat down and studied the piece of paper that Mrs. Hubbard had handed to him.
“Ah!” he said, after a moment or two. “I see that now the rucksack heads the list.” “Yes. It wasn’t a very important thing, but I do remember now, definitely, that it happened before the jewelry and those sort of things began to disappear. It was all rather mixed up with some trouble we had about one of the coloured students. He’d left a day or two before this happened and I remembered thinking that it might have been a revengeful act on his part before he went. There’d been-well-a little trouble.” “Ah! Geronimo has recounted to me something like that. You had, I believe, the police here? Is that right?” “Yes. It seems they had an enquiry from Sheffield or Birmingham or somewhere. It had all been rather a scandal. L equals oral earnings and all that sort of thing.