“_Mais oui._ Do you realize that there are three separate motives staring us in

the face. Somebody certainly stole the blue envelope and its contents. That is

one motive. Blackmail! Ralph Paton may have been the man who blackmailed Mrs.

Ferrars. Remember, as far as Hammond knew, Ralph Paton had not applied to his

uncle for help of late. That looks as though he were being supplied with money

elsewhere. Then there is the fact that he was in some—how do you

say—scrape?—which he feared might get to his uncle’s ears. And finally there is

the one you have just mentioned.”

 

“Dear me,” I said, rather taken aback. “The case does seem black against him.”

 

“Does it?” said Poirot. “That is where we disagree, you and I. Three motives—it

is almost too much. I am inclined to believe that, after all, Ralph Paton is

innocent.”

 

CHAPTER XIV

 

MRS. ACKROYD

 

After the evening talk I have just chronicled, the affair seemed to me to enter

on a different phase. The whole thing can be divided into two parts, each clear

and distinct from the other. Part I. ranges from Ackroyd’s death on the Friday

evening to the following Monday night.