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Finally, at Poirot's request, he pressed a spring in the wall, a panel,lid aside, and a short passage led us into the priest's hole.
'You see,' said Waverly. 'There is nothing here.' The tiny room was bare enough, there was not even the mark of a footstep on the floor. I joined Poirot where he was bending attentively over a mark in the corner.
'What do you make of this, my friend?' There were four imprints close together.
'A dog,' I cried.
'A very small dog, Hastings.' 'A Porn.' 'Smaller than a Porn.' 'A griffon?' I suggested doubtfully.
'Smaller even than a griffon. A species unknown to the Ke
'I was right,' he murmured. 'I knew I was right. Come, Hastings.' As we stepped out into the hall and the panel closed behind ua, a young lady came out of a door farther down the passage. Mr Waverl? presented her to us.
'Miss Collins.' Miss Collins was about thirty years of age, brisk and alert in
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At Poirot's request, we passed into a small morning-room, and he questioned her closely as to the servants and particularly as to Tredwell. She admitted that she did not like the butler.
'He gives himself air,' she explained.
They then went into the question of the food eaten by Mrs Waverly on the night of the zSth. Miss Collins declared that she had partaken of the same dishes upstairs in her sitting-room and had felt no ill effects. As she was departing I nudged Poirot.
'The dog,' I whispered.
'Ah, yes, the dog? He smiled broadly. 'Is there a dog kept here by any chance, mademoiselle?' 'There are two retriever in the ke
When he finally withdrew, pontifical to the last, I met Poirot's quizzical eyes.
'What do you make of it all, Hastings?' 'What do you?' I parried.
'How cautious you become. Never, never will the grey cells function unless you stimulate them. Ah, but I will not tease youl Let us make our deductions together. What points strike us specially as being difficult?' 'There is one thing that strikes me,' I said. 'Why did the man who kidnapped the child go out by the south lodge instead of by the east lodge where no one would see him?' 'That is a very good point, Hastings, an excellent one. I will match it with another. Why warn the Waverlys beforehand? Why not simply kidnap the child and hold him to ransom?' 'BeCause they hoped to get the money without being forced to actiol.'
'Surely it was very unlikely that the money would be paid on a mere threat?' 'Also they wanted to focus attention on twelve o'clock, so that when the tramp man' was seized, the other could emerge from his hiding-place and get away with the child u
'In fact, there is a deliberate playing of the farce! Now let us approach the question from another side. Everything goes to show that there was an accomplice inside the house. Point number one, the mysterious poisoning of Mrs Waverly. Point number two, the letter pi
'Now then, we have four people in the house. We can exclude the nurse, since she could not have swept out the priest's hole, though she could have attended to the other three points. Four people, Mr and Mrs Waverly, Tredwell, the butler, and Miss Collins. We will take Miss Collins first. We have nothing much against her, except that we know very little about her, that she is obviously an intelligent young woman, and that she has only been here a year.' 'She lied about the dog, you said,' I reminded him.
'Ah, yes, the dog.' Poirot gave a peculiar smile. 'Now let us pass to Tredwell. There are several suspicious facts against him.
For one thing, the tramp declares that it was Tredwell who gave him the parcel in the village.' 'But Tredwell can prove an alibi on that point.' 'Even then, he could have poisoned Mrs Waverly, pi
'Well, then?'
'We must proceed logically - however absurd it may seem. We will briefly consider Mrs Waverly. But she is rich, the money is hers. It is her money which has restored this impoverished estate.
There would be no reason for her to kidnap her son and pay over her money to herself. Her husband, now, is in a different position.
He has a rich wife. It is not the same thing as being rich himself-in fact I have a little idea that the lady is not very fond of parting with her money, except on a very good pretext. But Mr Waverley, you can see at once, he is bon viveur.'
'Impossible,' I spluttered.
'Not at all. Who sends away the servants? Mr Waverly. He can write the notes, drug his wife, put on the hands of the clock, and establish an excellent alibi for his faithful retainer Tredwell.
Tredwell has never liked Mrs Waverley. He is devoted to his master and is willing to obey his orders implicitly. There were three of them in it. Waverly, Tredwell, and some friend of Waverly. That is the mistake the police made, they made no further inquiries about the man who drove the grey car with the wrong child in it. He was the third man. He picks up a child in a village near by, a boy with flaxen curls. He drives in through the east lodge and passes out through the south lodge just at the right moment, waving his hand and shouting. They ca
'But what about the dog?' I asked. 'And Miss Collins lying?'
'That was my little joke. I asked her if there were any toy dog in the house, and she said no - but doubtless there are some - in the nurseryl You see, Mr Waverly placed some toys in the priest's hole to keep Joh
'I know everything, monsieur. I give you twenty-four hours to return the boy. Your ingenuity will be equal to the task of explaining his reappearance. Otherwise, Mrs Waverly will be informed of the exact sequence of events.' Mr Waverly sank down in a chair and buried his face in his hands. 'He is with my old nurse, ten miles away. He is happy and well cared for.' 'I have no doubt of that. If I did not believe you to be a good father at heart, I should not be willing to give you another chance:' 'The scandal ' 'Exactly. Your name is an old and honoured one. Do not jeopardize it again. Good evening, Mr Waverly. Ah, by the way, one word of advice. Always sweep in the cornersl'