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.

‘reminds me of the elizabeth canning case,’ said japp. ‘you remember? how at least a score of witnesses on either side swore they had seen the gipsy, mary squires, in two different parts of england. good reputable witnesses, too. and she with such a hideous face there couldn’t be two like it. that mystery was never cleared up. it’s very much the same here. here’s a separate lot of people prepared to swear a woman was in two different places at the same time. which of ’em is speaking the truth?’

‘that ought not to be difficult to find out.’

‘so you say – but this woman – miss carroll, really knew lady edgware. i mean she’d lived in the house with her day after day. she wouldn’t be likely to make a mistake.’

‘we shall soon see.’

‘who comes into the title?’ i asked.

‘a nephew, captain ronald marsh. bit of a waster, i understand.’

‘what does the doctor say as to the time of death?’ asked poirot.

‘we’ll have to wait for the autopsy to be exact, you know. see where the dinner had got to.’ japp’s way of putting things was, i am sorry to say, far from refined. ‘but ten o’clock fits in well enough. he was last seen alive at a few minutes past nine when he left the dinner table and the butler took whisky and soda into the library. at eleven o’clock when the butler went up to bed the light was out – so he must have been dead then. he wouldn’t have been sitting in the dark.’

poirot nodded thoughtfully. a moment or two later we drew up at the house, the blinds of which were now down.

the door was opened to us by the handsome butler.

japp took the lead and went in first. poirot and i followed. the door opened to the left, so that the butler stood against the wall on that side. poirot was on my right and, being smaller than i was, it was only just as we stepped into the hall that the butler saw him. being close to him, i heard the sudden intake of his breath and looked sharply at the man to find him staring at poirot with a kind of startled fear visible on his face. i put the fact away in my mind for what it might be worth.

japp marched into the dining-room, which lay on our right, and called the butler in after him.

‘now then, alton, i want to go into this again very carefully. it was ten o’clock when this lady came?’

‘her ladyship? yes, sir.’

‘how did you recognize her?’ asked poirot.

‘she told me her name, sir, and besides i’ve seen her portrait in the papers. i’ve seen her act, too.’

poirot nodded.

‘how was she dressed?’

‘in black, sir. black walking dress, and a small black hat. a string of pearls and grey gloves.’

poirot looked a question at japp.

‘white taffeta evening dress and ermine wrap,’ said the latter succinctly.

the butler proceeded. his tale tallied exactly with that which japp had already passed on to us.

‘did anybody else come and see your master that evening?’ asked poirot.

‘no, sir.’

‘how was the front door fastened?’

‘it has a yale lock, sir. i usually draw the bolts when i go to bed, sir. at eleven, that is. but last night miss geraldine was at the opera so it was left unbolted.’

‘how was it fastened this morning?’

‘it was bolted, sir. miss geraldine had bolted it when she came in.’

‘when did she come in? do you know?’

‘i think it was about a quarter to twelve, sir.’

‘then during the evening until a quarter to twelve, the door could not be opened from outside without a key? from the inside it could be opened by simply drawing back the handle.’

‘yes, sir.’

‘how many latchkeys were there?’

‘his lordship had his, sir, and there was another key in the hall drawer which miss geraldine took last night. i don’t know if there were any others.’

‘does nobody else in the house have a key?’

‘no, sir. miss carroll always rings.’

poirot intimated that that was all he wished to ask and we went in search of the secretary.

we found her busily writing at a large desk.

miss carroll was a pleasant efficient-looking woman of about forty-five. her fair hair was turning grey and she wore pince-nez through which a pair of shrewd blue eyes gleamed out on us. when she spoke i recognized the clear businesslike voice that had spoken to me through the telephone.

‘ah! m. poirot,’ she said as she acknowledged japp’s introduction. ‘yes. it was with you i made that appointment for yesterday morning.’

‘precisely, mademoiselle.’

i thought that poirot was favourably impressed by her. certainly she was neatness and precision personified.

‘well, inspector japp?’ said miss carroll. ‘what more can i do for you?’

‘just this. are you absolutely certain that it was lady edgware who came here last night?’

‘that’s the third time you’ve asked me. of course i’m sure. i saw her.’

‘where did you see her, mademoiselle?’

‘in the hall. she spoke to the butler for a minute then she went along the hall and in at the library door.’

‘and where were you?’

‘on the first floor – looking down.’

‘and you were positive you were not mistaken?’

‘absolutely. i saw her face distinctly.’

‘you could not have been misled by a resemblance?’

‘certainly not. jane wilkinson’s features are quite unique. it was her.’

japp threw a glance at poirot as much as to say: ‘you see.’

‘had lord edgware any enemies?’ asked poirot suddenly.

‘nonsense,’ said miss carroll.

‘how do you mean – nonsense, mademoiselle?’

‘enemies! people in these days don’t have enemies. not english people!’

‘yet lord edgware was murdered.’

‘that was his wife,’ said miss carroll.

‘a wife is not an enemy – no?’

‘i’m sure it was a most extraordinary thing to happen. i’ve never heard of such a thing happening – i mean to anyone in our class of life.’

it was clearly miss carroll’s idea that murders were only committed by drunken members of the lower classes.

‘how many keys are there to the front door?’

‘two,’ replied miss carroll promptly. ‘lord edgware always carried one. the other was kept in the drawer in the hall, so that anybody who was going to be late in could take it. there was a third one, but captain marsh lost it. very careless.’

‘did captain marsh come much to the house?’

‘he used to live here until three years ago.’

‘why did he leave?’ asked japp.

‘i don’t know. he couldn’t get on with his uncle, i suppose.’

‘i think you know a little more than that, mademoiselle,’ said poirot gently.

she darted a quick glance at him.

‘i am not one to gossip, m. poirot.’

‘but you can tell us the truth concerning the rumours of a serious disagreement between lord edgware and his nephew.’

‘it wasn’t so serious as all that. lord edgware was a difficult man to get on with.’

‘even you found that?’

‘i’m not speaking of myself. i never had any disagreement with lord edgware. he always found me perfectly reliable.’

‘but as regards captain marsh –’

poirot stuck to it, gently continuing to goad her into further revelations.

miss carroll shrugged her shoulders.

‘he was extravagant. got into debt. there was some other trouble – i don’t know exactly what. they quarrelled. lord edgware forbade him the house. that’s all.’

her mouth closed firmly. evidently she intended to say no more.

the room we had inteviewed her in was on the first floor. as we left it, poirot took me by the arm.

‘a little minute. remain here if you will, hastings. i am going down with japp. watch till we have gone into the library, then join us there.’

i have long ago given up asking poirot questions beginning ‘why?’ like the light brigade ‘mine not to reason why, mine but to do or die,’ though fortunately it has not yet come to dying! i thought that possibly he suspected the butler of spying on him and wanted to know if such were really the case.

i took up my stand looking over the banisters. poirot and japp went first to the front door – out of my sight. then they reappeared walking slowly along the hall. i followed their backs with my eye until they had gone into the library. i waited a minute or two in case the butler appeared, but there was no sign of anyone, so i ran down the stairs and joined them.

the body had, of course, been removed. the curtains were drawn and the electric light was on. poirot and japp were standing in the middle of the room looking round them.

‘nothing here,’ japp was saying.

and poirot replied with a smile:

‘alas! not the cigarette ash – nor the footprint – nor a lady’s glove – nor even a lingering perfume! nothing that the detective of fiction so conveniently finds.’

‘the police are always made out to be as blind as bats in detective stories,’ said japp with a grin.

‘i found a clue once,’ said poirot dreamily. ‘but since it was four feet long instead of four centimetres no one would believe in it.’

i remembered the circumstance and laughed. then i remembered my mission.

‘it’s all right, poirot,’ i said. ‘i watched, but no one was spying upon you as far as i could see.’

‘the eyes of my friend hastings,’ said poirot in a kind of gentle mockery. ‘tell me, my friend, did you notice the rose between my lips?’

‘the rose between your lips?’ i asked in astonishment. japp turned aside spluttering with laughter.

‘you’ll be the death of me, m. poirot,’ he said. ‘the death of me. a rose. what next?’

‘i had the fancy to pretend i was carmen,’ said poirot quite undisturbed.

i wondered if they were going mad or if i was.

‘you did not observe it, hastings?’ there was reproach in poirot’s voice.

‘no,’ i said, staring. ‘but then i couldn’t see your face.’

‘no matter.’ he shook his head gently.

were they making fun of me?

‘well,’ said japp. ‘no more to do here, i fancy. i’d like to see the daughter again if i could. she was too upset before for me to get anything out of her.’

he rang the bell for the butler.

‘ask miss marsh if i can see her for a few moments?’

the man departed. it was not he, however, but miss carroll who entered the room a few minutes later.

‘geraldine is asleep,’ she said. ‘she’s had a terrible shock, poor child. after you left i gave her something to make her sleep and she’s fast asleep now. in an hour or two, perhaps.’

japp agreed.

‘in any case there’s nothing she can tell you that i can’t,’ said miss carroll firmly.

‘what is your opinion of the butler?’ asked poirot.

‘i don’t like him much and that’s a fact,’ replied miss carroll. ‘but i can’t tell you why.’

we had reached the front door.

‘it was up there that you stood, was it not, last night, mademoiselle?’ said poirot suddenly, pointing with his hands up the stairs.

‘yes. why?’

‘and you saw lady edgware go along the hall into the study?’

‘yes.’

‘and you saw her face distinctly?’

‘certainly.’

‘but you could not have seen her face, mademoiselle. you can only have seen the back of her head from where you were standing.’

miss carroll flushed angrily. she seemed taken aback.

‘back of her head, her voice, her walk! it’s all the same thing. absolutely unmistakable! i tell you i know it was jane wilkinson – a thoroughly bad woman if there ever was one.’

and turning away she flounced upstairs.

第七章 秘书

贾普离开房间后一直没在我们面前露面。直到一个小时后他才又露面。把帽子扔到桌上，说他筒直倒霉透了。

“你已经调查过了？”波洛同情地问他。

贾普愁苦地点点头。

“除非那十四个人都在说谎，照他们所说的情形，不是她干的。”他低吼着。

他又继续说道。

“我不妨对你说，波洛先生，我本来以为这是一个阴谋。从表面上看，好像没有其他什么人可能要谋杀埃奇韦尔男爵。她是惟一有杀人动机的人。”

“我可不那样想。你接着说。”

“晤，就像我刚才讲的。我本以为这是一个阴谋。你知道这些演艺圈的人是怎么样的——他们会齐力庇护一个老朋友。但这次情形不同。咋天宴会上的都是有头有脸的大人物。其中没有一个是她的老友，有的甚至还互不认识的。他们的证词都是独立可信的。我希望能发现她曾经溜出去半小时左右。这是很容易做到的——只消说去补补妆或其它什么理由就行。但实际上没有。正如她所说的，她曾离席出去接过电话，但那是和管家在一起，另外，那个电话内容也和她说的一样。她说的话，管家都听见了，‘对，我是埃奇韦尔夫人。’但电话的那一端就挂上了。这一点，要知道，是很奇怪的。不过，不一定与这个案子有关。”

“也许无关——但真有趣。那个打电话的人是男的还是女的？”

“是个女的，我记得她说过。”

“这真是怪了。”波洛若有所思地说。

“先别管这个了。”贾普不耐烦地说道，“我们继续回到重要之处吧。整个晚上的经过和她说的完全一致。她九点差一刻到达那里，十一点半离开。回到萨伏依饭店是十二点差一刻。我已经见了那个为她开车的司机——他是戴姆勒车行的长期雇员。萨伏依饭店里的人看见她进来的。能证实她所讲的时间。”

“那么。似乎毫无怀疑的余地了。”

“那么摄政门的两个人的证词又是怎么回事呢？不仅仅是管家看到她了。埃奇韦尔的秘书也看到她了。他们都对天发誓说那天晚上十点钟到那去的人是埃奇韦尔夫人。”

“管家在那干了多久了？”

“六个月。谈起他来，还真是一个英俊小生。”

“是的，我的朋友。我的朋友，如果他只在那工作了六个月。他不可能认为埃奇韦尔夫人，为他以前从未见过她。”

“晤。他可以从报纸上她的照片认识她。况且秘书是知道她的。这位秘书为埃奇韦尔男爵已经干了五六年了。她是惟一有把握的人。”

“啊！”波洛说道，我倒想见见那个秘书。”

“那么，不同我一块儿去一趟？”

“谢谢你，的朋友。我很高兴去。你的邀请也包括我的朋友黑斯廷斯，吧？”

贾普咧嘴笑了。

“你认为呢？主人到哪，巴狗就跟到哪。”他这样补充道。我听着觉得很不是味。

“这案子使我想起了伊丽莎白。坎宁案。”贾普说道，“他们还记得吗？两方面都至少有二十个证人发誓说他们看到过那个叫玛丽·斯夸尔斯的吉普赛女子，且是同一时候在英国两个不同的地方。那些证人也都是非常令人尊敬的人物。并且她长的那副讨厌的尊容，也找不出第二个了，那件谜案一直未破。这一次也很相似。这次有许多互不相识的人可以发誓，证明同时在两个不同的地方看到过她。可是他们中的哪些人说的是实话呢？”

“那不难弄明白。”

“你是这样说——但这位女士——卡罗尔小姐的确认识埃奇韦尔夫人。我是说，曾经和简终日住在一座房子里面。她总不该认错人吧？”

“我们不久就会弄清楚的。”

“谁来继承爵位？”我问道。

“一个侄子。罗纳德·马什上尉。听说是个有点不务正业的浪荡子。”

“关于死亡时间，医生怎么说的？”波洛问道。

“我还得等验尸结果。你知道，要想精确些，就得这样。看看晚饭吃的东西到达哪了。”贾普讲述事情的方式，我实在不敢恭维，有点不雅。

“不过十点钟可以和各种事实相吻合。人们最后一次看到他是在九点过几分的时候，他离开了餐桌。管家将威士忌和苏打水送到书房。当十一点，管家去睡觉时，灯已经熄了——那时他一定已经死了。他不可能一直在黑暗中坐着。”

波洛若有所思地点点头。过了一会，我们的车子在埃奇韦尔府邱前停下来。窗帷已经拉了下来。

为我们开门的是那位英俊的管家。

贾普在前面带路，先进去。我和波洛跟在他后面。那个门是向左开的，所以管家就靠着那面墙站着。波洛在我的右边，因为他比我长得矮小，所以直到我们走进了前厅，管家才看见他。我离这个人很近，所以可以听见他重重地吸了一口气，我望了望他，发现他正惊慌地盯着波洛，虽然我想其中必有原因。但一转念就过去了。

餐厅就在我们右面，贾普大步走了进去，并叫管家也进去。

“奥尔顿，现在我要仔细地再问你一遍，当那位女士走进来时。是十点吗？”

“你是说男爵夫人？是的。先生。”

“你怎么认出是她的？”波洛发问。

“她向我说了她的名字。先生。另外我在报纸上看到过她的照片，也看过她演戏。”

波洛点点头。

“她穿着什么样的衣服？”

“黑色的。先生，外面披着黑色的外套，戴着一顶小黑帽，挂着一串珠子。戴着一副灰手套。”

波洛用疑问的目光望着贾普。

“里面穿着白色绪纹绸的晚礼服，披着貂皮的披肩。”后者简明地加以说明。

管家继续说，他要讲的和贾普告诉我们的完全一致。

“那晚还有人来拜访你家主人吗？”波洛问道。

“没有。先生。”

“前门是怎样锁的？”

“用的是耶鲁锁。先生。我通常是睡觉前再把门闩上，先生。也就是十一点的时候。但是，昨天晚上杰拉尔丁小姐出去看戏，所以门没有闩。”

“今天清晨门是怎么关着的？”

“是闩住的，先生。是杰拉尔丁小姐回来后把门闩上的。”

“她什么时候回来的，你知道吗？”

“我想大约在差一刻十二点的时候，先生。”

“那么，在晚上十二点差一刻前，没有钥匙就不能从外面开门进来，是不是？但从里面只要将手捅一转就可以开门了。”

“是的，先生。”

“有几把钥匙？”

“男爵有一把，先生。还有一把放在前厅抽屉里的，昨晚杰拉尔丁小姐拿去了。另外还有没有，我就不知道了。”

“这房子里，别人没有钥匙吗？”

“没有，先生。卡罗尔小姐总是按门铃的。”

波洛告诉他，自己要问的就这些了。然后我们去找那个女秘书。

我们看到，她正伏在一张大桌前忙碌地写着什么。

卡罗尔小姐大约四十多岁，是位悦人的、样子很干练的女士。她头发斑白，戴着一副夹鼻眼镜，一双精明的蓝眼睛，透过玻璃片炯炯有神地望着我们。当她开口说话时，那干脆利落、公事公办的声音使我立刻意识到是电话里通过话的那一位。

“啊！波洛先生，”经过贾普的介绍，她说道，“是的，我就是与您约定昨天上午与公爵会面的。”

“一点不错，小姐。”

我觉得波洛对她的印象颇好。的确她个性简洁干练。

“那么，贾普警督？”卡罗尔小姐问道，“我还能为您做什么？”

“就是这一点。你绝对肯定昨晚来这的那位是埃奇韦尔夫人吗？”

“这是您第三次问我了。我当然肯定。我看见了她。”

“你看见她在哪里，女士？”

“在大厅里。她与管家说了一会，就穿过大厅，走人书房的门。”

“那时你在哪里？”

“在二楼——向下看。”

“你肯定不会认错吧？”

“当然。我看得很渭楚。”

“会不会是一个长得很像的人，你把她误认为男爵夫人了？”

“当然不会。简·威尔金森的五官长得很特殊的。就是她。”

贾普向波洛瞥了一眼，好像是在说；“你明白了吧。”

“埃奇韦尔男爵有什么敌人吗？”波洛突然问道。

“乱说！”卡罗尔小姐说道。

“女士，‘乱说’——你是什么意思？”

“敌人！现在人们不会有敌人。特别是英国人，不会有的。”

“但埃奇韦尔男爵被谋杀了。”

“那是他太太。”卡罗尔小姐说道。

“太太不是敌人一不是吗？”

“我相信这只是一件特殊的、非同寻常的事。我从未听说过发生这样的事——我是说像我们这样有身份的人。”

按卡罗尔小姐的意识，只有下层的酒鬼们才会杀人。

“前门有几把钥匙？”

“两把。”卡罗尔小姐立即回答道，“埃奇韦尔男爵总爱自己带一把。另外一把放在前厅抽屉里，这样，谁回来得晚，就可以用那一把。还有一把，马什上尉给弄丢了。真是很不小心的。”

“马什上尉经常来这房子吗？”

“三年前，他是一直住这的。”

“他为什么离开了？”贾普间道。

“我不清楚。我想是和他叔叔合不来吧。”

“小姐，我想你知道的不只这些吧？”波洛温和地问道。

她迅速地瞧了一眼他。

“我不是那种乱讲闲话的人，波洛先生。”

“外面传言埃奇韦尔男爵和他的侄儿有很严重的不和，关于这点，你可以告诉我们实情吗？”

“事实上根本没有那样严重。埃奇韦尔男爵是一个很难相处的人。”

“你都发现这一点了？”

“我不是说我自己。我与埃奇韦尔男爵从未有过不和。他始终认为我很可靠。”

“但关于马什上尉——”

波洛紧迫不舍，一点点地引导她说出实情。

“他挥霍无度，最后欠馈。还有其它的麻烦——我也不清楚确切是什么。他们两人大吵一通，埃奇韦尔男爵把他轰出了门。就是这些。”

现在她紧闭双唇。很明显。她不打算再说什么了。

我们与她谈话的房间在二楼，当我们离开的时佞。波洛拉住我的胳膊。

“等——下，黑斯廷斯，再在这呆一下，好吗？我现在同贾普下楼去。看着我们走人书房后，再往下走和我们会合。”

很久以前，我就不再问他什么“为什么”的问题了。就像《轻骑兵》里写的那样：“我的问题不是问为什么，而是去战还是去死。”幸亏还没到去死的程度。我以为他是怀疑管家会在监视他，于是让我注意是否如此。

我站住由栏杆上往下望。波洛和贾普先到前门处——这时候就看不见他们了。然后他们又重新出现，慢慢地顺着大厅走。我眼睛盯着他们的背影，一直到他们走人书房。我又等了一两分钟。恐怕那个管家出现。但没有人出现。因此我跑下褛去和他们会合。

当然，尸体已经移走了。窗帷都拉了下来。屋里开着灯。波洛和贾普站在屋中央。环视着四周。

“这儿没有什么。”贾普说道。

波洛笑着回答说，

“天哪！没有烟灰——没有脚印——没有女人的手套——甚至没有残留的香味！没有任何像小说中侦探很容易找到的东西。”

“在侦探小说中，警察总被写得跟蝙蝠一样瞎。”贾普咧嘴笑着说。

“我曾经找到过线索，”波洛心不在焉地说，“但因为那线索是四英尺长，而不是四英寸，所以没人相信。”

我想起了那回事，不禁大笑了。然后我想起他交代给我的任务。

“波洛。没问题。”我说道，“我观察过了，就我所观察的情形看，没人监视你。”

“黑斯廷斯的眼睛在看着我们，”波洛带着一种咯微嘲弄的口吻说道，“告诉我，我的朋友，你注意到我的嘴里夹着一朵玫瑰花吗？”

“你嘴里夹着玫瑰花？”我惊讶地问道。贾普转向一边哈哈大笑。

“波洛先生，你让我笑死了。”他说道，“一朵攻瑰花，接着又是什么？”

“我是假设我就是卡门。”波洛毫不在意地回答道。

我真弄不明白，是他们有毛病，还是我有问题。

“黑斯廷斯，你没注意到吗？”波洛的话里含着一种责备的口吻。

“没有。”我瞪着眼睛说道，“我根本看不清你的脸。”

“没关系的。”他轻轻地摇摇头。

他们是在和我开玩笑吗？

“得了，”贾普说，“我想这里也没什么要做的了。如果可能的话，我想再和他的女儿谈谈。先前去问她的时候，她太伤心了，什么也没说。”

他按铃叫管家。

“去问一下马什小姐，我能不能和她谈一会？”

管家去了。几分钟以后，不是他。倒是卡罗尔小姐出现了。

“杰拉尔丁在睡觉。”她说道，“这可怜的孩子，她受的打击太大了。你走后，我给她吃了点药让她睡觉。现在她正睡得香呢。大概一两个小时后会醒来的。”

贾普点点头。

“不论什么事，她能告诉你们的，我也能。”卡罗尔坚决地说。

“你对管家怎么看？”波洛问道。

“我不太喜欢他。这是事实。”卡罗尔小姐说，“但我不能说出原因。”

这时我们已经走到了前门。

“小姐，昨晚你是站在那上面，是不是？”波洛手指着楼上问。

“是的。怎么了？”

“那么你看着埃奇韦尔夫入穿过大厅、走入书房的？”

“是的。”

“她的脸。你看得很清楚吗？”

“当然。”

“但是，小姐，你不可能看得到她的脸。从你站的地方，你只能看见她的后脑勺。”

卡罗尔小姐脸气得涨红了，她似乎很吃惊。

“她的后脑勺，她的声音。还有她走路的样子！都是一样的。我绝对不会错的！我告诉你，我知道她是简·威尔金森——一个世上坏透顶的女人。”

于是她转过身，气冲冲地快步上楼去了。