Загадочное происшествие в Стайлзе
Chapter VII. Poirot Pays His Debts
“Iamveryanxious,Messieurs,thatheshouldnotbearrested.”
“Idaresay,”observedSummerhayesarcastically.
JappwasregardingPoirotwithcomicalperplexity.
“Can’tyougoalittlefurther,Mr.Poirot?Awink’sasgoodasanod—fromyou.You’vebeenonthespot—andtheYarddoesn’twanttomakeanymistakes,youknow.”
Poirotnoddedgravely.
“ThatisexactlywhatIthought.Well,Iwilltellyouthis.Useyourwarrant:ArrestMr.Inglethorp.Butitwillbringyounokudos—thecaseagainsthimwillbedismissedatonce!Commeça!”Andhesnappedhisfingersexpressively.
Japp’sfacegrewgrave,thoughSummerhayegaveanincreduloussnort.
Asforme,Iwasliterallydumbwithastonishment.IcouldonlyconcludethatPoirotwasmad.
Japphadtakenoutahandkerchief,andwasgentlydabbinghisbrow.
“Idaren’tdoit,Mr.Poirot.I’dtakeyourword,butthere’sothersovermewho’llbeaskingwhatthedevilImeanbyit.Can’tyougivemealittlemoretogoon?”
Poirotreflectedamoment.
“Itcanbedone,”hesaidatlast.“IadmitIdonotwishit.Itforcesmyhand.Iwouldhavepreferredtoworkinthedarkjustforthepresent,butwhatyousayisveryjust—thewordofaBelgianpoliceman,whosedayispast,isnotenough!AndAlfredInglethorpmustnotbearrested.ThatIhavesworn,asmyfriendHastingshereknows.See,then,mygoodJapp,yougoatoncetoStyles?”
“Well,inabouthalfanhour.We’reseeingtheCoronerandthedoctorfirst.”
“Good.
