‘And then, I suppose, the Duke of Merton appeared on the scene?’
‘Yes, sir. He was doing a tour through the States. Love at first sight it was with him.’
‘And so goodbye to Bryan Martin’s chances?’
Ellis nodded.
‘Of course Mr Martin made an enormous amount of money,’ she explained. ‘But the Duke of Merton had position as well. And her ladyship is very keen on position. Married to the Duke, she’d have been one of the first ladies in the land.’
The maid’s voice held a smug complacency. It amused me.
‘So Mr Bryan Martin was—how do you say—turned down? Did he take it badly?’
‘He carried on something awful, sir.’
‘Ah!’
‘He threatened her with a revolver once. And the scenes he made. It frightened me, it did. He was drinking a lot, too. He went all to pieces.’
‘But in the end he calmed down.’
‘So it seemed, sir. But he still hung about. And I didn’t like the look in his eye. I’ve warned her ladyship about it, but she only laughed. She’s one who enjoys feeling her power, if you know what I mean.’
‘Yes,’ said Poirot thoughtfully. ‘I think I know what you mean.’
‘We’ve not seen so much of him just lately, sir. A good thing in my opinion. He’s beginning to get over it, I hope.’
‘Perhaps.’
Something in Poirot’s utterance of the word seem to strike her. She asked anxiously:
‘You don’t think she’s in danger, sir?’
‘Yes,’ said Poirot gravely. ‘I think she is in great danger. But she has brought it on herself.’
His hand, running aimlessly along the mantelshelf, caught a vase of roses and it toppled over. The water fell on Ellis’s face and head. I had seldom known Poirot clumsy, and I could deduce from it that he was in a great state of mental perturbation. He was very upset—rushed for a towel—tenderly assisted the maid to dry her face and neck and was profuse in apologies.
Finally a treasury note changed hands and he escorted her towards the door, thanking her for her goodness in coming.
‘But it is still early,’ he said, glancing at the clock. ‘You will be back before your mistress returns.’
‘Oh! that is quite all right, sir. She is going out to supper, I think, and anyway, she never expects me to sit up for her unless she says so special.’
Suddenly Poirot flew off at a tangent.
‘Mademoiselle, pardon me, but you are limping.’
‘That’s nothing, sir. My feet are a little painful.’
‘The corns?’ murmured Poirot in the confidential voice of one sufferer to another.
Corns, apparently, it was. Poirot expatiated upon a certain remedy which, according to him, worked wonders.
Finally Ellis departed.
I was full of curiosity.
‘Well, Poirot?’ I said. ‘Well?’
He smiled at my eagerness.
‘Nothing more this evening, my friend. Tomorrow morning early, we will ring up Japp. We will ask him to come round. We will also ring up Mr Bryan Martin. I think he will be able to tell us something interesting. Also, I wish to pay him a debt that I owe him.’
‘Really?’
I looked at Poirot sideways. He was smiling to himself in a curious way.
‘At any rate,’ I said, ‘you can’t suspect him of killing Lord Edgware. Especially after what we’ve heard of tonight. That would be playing Jane’s game with a vengeance. To kill off the husband so as to let the lady marry someone else is a little too disinterested for any man.’
‘What profound judgement!’
‘Now don’t be sarcastic,’ I said with some annoyance. ‘And what on earth are you fiddling with all the time?’
Poirot held the object in question up.
‘With the pince-nez of the good Ellis, my friend. She left them behind.’
‘Nonsense! She had them on her nose when she went out.’
He shook his head gently.
‘Wrong! Absolutely wrong! What she had on, my dear Hastings, were the pair of pince-nez we found in Carlotta Adams’ handbag.’
I gasped.
Chapter 29
Poirot Speaks
It fell to me to ring up Inspector Japp the following morning.
His voice sounded rather depressed.
‘Oh! it’s you, Captain Hastings. Well, what’s in the wind now?’