confirming the evidence of the housekeeper. She said, you remember, that she

found the silver table lid open and closed it down in passing.”

 

“What about her statement that she went into the drawing-room to see if the

flowers were fresh?”

 

“Ah! we never took that very seriously, did we, my friend? It was patently an

excuse, trumped up in a hurry, by a woman who felt it urgent to explain her

presence—which, by the way, you would probably never have thought of

questioning. I considered it possible that her agitation might arise from the

fact that she had been tampering with the silver table, but I think now that we

must look for another cause.”

 

“Yes,” I said. “Whom did she go out to meet? And why?”

 

“You think she went to meet some one?”

 

“I do.”

 

Poirot nodded.

 

“So do I,” he said thoughtfully.

 

There was a pause.