This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the authorâs imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.
HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd.
1 London Bridge Street
London SE1 9GF
www.harpercollins.co.uk
First published in Great Britain by
The Bodley Head Ltd 1924
Agatha Christie® Poirot® Poirot Investigatesâ¢
Copyright © 1924 Agatha Christie Limited. All rights reserved.
www.agathachristie.com
Cover design © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2016
Title lettering by Ghost Design
Cover layout design © HarperCollâinsPublishers Ltd 2016. Title lettering by Ghost Design. Cover photograph © Mark Owen/Arcangel Images
Agatha Christie asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.
A catalogue copy of this book is available from the British Library.
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this ebook on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins ebooks
HarperCollinsPublishers has made every reasonable effort to ensure that any picture content or written content in this ebook has been included or removed in accordance with the contractual and technological constraints in operation at the time of publication
Source ISBN: 9780008164836
Ebook Edition © September 2016 ISBN: 9780007422715
Version: 2017-07-27
I was standing at the window of Poirotâs rooms looking out idly on the street below.
âThatâs queer,â I ejaculated suddenly beneath my breath.
âWhat is, mon ami?â asked Poirot placidly, from the depths of his comfortable chair.
âDeduce, Poirot, from the following facts! Here is a young lady, richly dressedâfashionable hat, magnificent furs. She is coming along slowly, looking up at the houses as she goes. Unknown to her, she is being shadowed by three men and a middle-aged woman. They have just been joined by an errand boy who points after the girl, gesticulating as he does so. What drama is this being played? Is the girl a crook, and are the shadowers detectives preparing to arrest her? Or are they the scoundrels, and are they plotting to attack an innocent victim? What does the great detective say?â
âThe great detective, mon ami, chooses, as ever, the simplest course. He rises to see for himself.â And my friend joined me at the window.
In a minute he gave vent to an amused chuckle.
âAs usual, your facts are tinged with your incurable romanticism. This is Miss Mary Marvell, the film star. She is being followed by a bevy of admirers who have recognized her. And, en passant, my dear Hastings, she is quite aware of the fact!â
I laughed.
âSo all is explained! But you get no marks for that, Poirot. It was a mere matter of recognition.â
âEn vérité! And how many times have you seen Mary Marvell on the screen, mon cher?â
I thought.
âAbout a dozen times perhaps.â
âAnd Iâonce! Yet I recognize her, and you do not.â
âShe looks so different,â I replied rather feebly.
âAh! Sacré!â cried Poirot. âIs it that you expect her to promenade herself in the streets of London in a cowboy hat, or with bare feet, and a bunch of curls, as an Irish colleen? Always with you it is the non-essentials! Remember the case of the dancer, Valerie Saintclair.â
I shrugged my shoulders, slightly annoyed.
âBut console yourself, mon ami,â said Poirot, calming down. âAll cannot be as Hercule Poirot! I know it well.â
âYou really have the best opinion of yourself of anyone I ever knew!â I cried, divided between amusement and annoyance.
âWhat will you? When one is unique, one knows it! And others share that opinionâeven, if I mistake it not, Miss Mary Marvell.â
âWhat?â
âWithout doubt. She is coming here.â
âHow do you make that out?â
âVery simply. This street, it is not aristocratic, mon ami! In it there is no fashionable doctor, no fashionable dentistâstill less is there a fashionable milliner! But there is a fashionable detective. Oui, my friend, it is trueâI am become the mode, the dernier cri!