‘You owe Ellis a debt of gratitude, Madame,’ said Poirot seriously.
‘I suppose I do. That inspector had got it all taped out, hadn’t he?’
She laughed, Poirot did not. He said in a low voice:
‘All the same—this gives one furiously to think. Yes, furiously to think.’
‘Ellis,’ called Jane.
The maid came in from the next room.
‘M. Poirot says it’s very lucky you made me go to that party last night.’
Ellis barely cast a glance at Poirot. She was looking grim and disapproving.
‘It doesn’t do to break engagements, m’lady. You’re much too fond of doing it. People don’t always forgive it. They turn nasty.’
Jane picked up the hat she had been trying on when we came in. She tried it again.
‘I hate black,’ she said disconsolately. ‘I never wear it. But I suppose, as a correct widow I’ve just got to. All those hats are too frightful. Ring up the other hat place, Ellis. I’ve got to be fit to be seen.’
Poirot and I slipped quietly from the room.
Chapter 7
The Secretary
We had not seen the last of Japp. He reappeared about an hour later, flung down his hat on the table and said he was eternally blasted.
‘You have made the inquiries?’ asked Poirot sympathetically.
Japp nodded gloomily.
‘And unless fourteen people are lying, she didn’t do it,’ he growled.
He went on:
‘I don’t mind telling you, M. Poirot, that I expected to find a put-up job. On the face of it, it didn’t seem likely that anyone else could have killed Lord Edgware. She’s the only person who’s got the ghost of a motive.’
‘I would not say that. Mais continuez.’
‘Well, as I say, I expected to find a put-up job. You know what these theatrical crowds are—they’d all hang together to screen a pal. But this is rather a different proposition. The people there last night were all big guns, they were none of them close friends of hers and some of them didn’t know each other. Their testimony is independent and reliable. I hoped then to find that she’d slipped away for half an hour or so. She could easily have done that—powdering her nose or some such excuse. But no, she did leave the dinner table as she told us to answer a telephone call, but the butler was with her—and, by the way, it was just as she told us. He heard what she said. “Yes, quite right. This is Lady Edgware.” And then the other side rang off. It’s curious, that, you know. Not that it’s got anything to do with it.’
‘Perhaps not—but it is interesting. Was it a man or a woman who rang up?’
‘A woman, I think she said.’
‘Curious,’ said Poirot thoughtfully.
‘Never mind that,’ said Japp impatiently. ‘Let’s get back to the important part. The whole evening went exactly as she said. She got there at a quarter to nine, left at half-past eleven and got back here at a quarter to twelve. I’ve seen the chauffeur who drove her—he’s one of Daimler’s regular people. And the people at the Savoy saw her come in and confirm the time.’
‘Eh bien, that seems very conclusive.’
‘Then what about those two in Regent Gate? It isn’t only the butler. Lord Edgware’s secretary saw her too. They both swear by all that’s holy that it was Lady Edgware who came here at ten o’clock.’
‘How long has the butler been there?’
‘Six months. Handsome chap, by the way.’
‘Yes, indeed. Eh bien, my friend, if he has only been there six months he cannot have recognized Lady Edgware since he had not seen her before.’
‘Well, he knew her from her pictures in the papers. And anyway the secretary knew her. She’s been with Lord Edgware five or six years, and she’s the only one who’s absolutely positive.’
‘Ah!’ said Poirot. ‘I should like to see the secretary.’
‘Well, why not come along with me now?’
‘Thank you, mon ami, I should be delighted to do so. You include Hastings in your invitation, I hope?’
Japp grinned.
‘What do you think? Where the master goes, there the dog follows,’ he added in what I could not think was the best of taste.