Пуаро ведёт следствие
VI. The Adventure of the Egyptian Tomb
ItwasthenthatPoirotreceivedabriefnotefromLadyWillard,widowofthedeadarchaeologist,askinghimtogoandseeheratherhouseinKensingtonSquare.Iaccompaniedhim.
LadyWillardwasatall,thinwoman,dressedindeepmourning.Herhaggardfaceboreeloquenttestimonytoherrecentgrief.
“Itiskindofyoutohavecomesopromptly,MonsieurPoirot.”
“Iamatyourservice,LadyWillard.Youwishedtoconsultme?”
“Youare,Iamaware,adetective,butitisnotonlyasadetectivethatIwishtoconsultyou.Youareamanoforiginalviews,Iknow,youhaveimagination,experienceoftheworld,tellme,MonsieurPoirot,whatareyourviewsonthesupernatural?”
Poirothesitatedforamomentbeforehereplied.Heseemedtobeconsidering.Finallyhesaid:
“Letusnotmisunderstandeachother,LadyWillard.Itisnotageneralquestionthatyouareaskingmethere.Ithasapersonalapplication,hasitnot?Youarereferringobliquelytothedeathofyourlatehusband?”
“Thatisso,”sheadmitted.
“Youwantmetoinvestigatethecircumstancesofhisdeath?”
“Iwantyoutoascertainformeexactlyhowmuchisnewspaperchatter,andhowmuchmaybesaidtobefoundedonfact?Threedeaths,MonsieurPoirot—eachoneexplicabletakenbyitself,buttakentogethersurelyanalmostunbelievablecoincidence,andallwithinamonthoftheopeningofthetomb!Itmaybemeresuperstition,itmaybesomepotentcursefromthepastthatoperatesinwaysundreamedofbymodernscience.Thefactremains—threedeaths!AndIamafraid,MonsieurPoirot,horriblyafraid.
