Убийство на поле для гольфа
2. An Appeal for Help
Ifwesucceed,weshallmakeourfortunes!”
“Donotbetoosureofthat,myfriend.Arichmanandhismoneyarenotsoeasilyparted.Me,Ihaveseenawell-knownmillionaireturnoutatramfulofpeopletoseekforadroppedhalfpenny.”
Iacknowledgedthewisdomofthis.
“Inanycase,”continuedPoirot,“itisnotthemoneywhichattractsmehere.Certainlyitwillbepleasanttohavecarteblancheinourinvestigations;onecanbesurethatwayofwastingnotime,butitissomethingalittlebizarreinthisproblemwhicharousesmyinterest.Youremarkedthepostscript?Howdiditstrikeyou?”
Iconsidered.
“Clearlyhewrotetheletterkeepinghimselfwellinhand,butattheendhisself-controlsnappedand,ontheimpulseofthemoment,hescrawledthosefourdesperatewords.”
Butmyfriendshookhisheadenergetically.
“Youareinerror.Seeyounotthatwhiletheinkofthesignatureisnearlyblack,thatofthepostscriptisquitepale?”
“Well?”Isaidpuzzled.
“MonDieu,monami,butuseyourlittlegreycells!Isitnotobvious?M.Renauldwrotehisletter.Withoutblottingit,herereaditcarefully.Then,notonimpulse,butdeliberately,headdedthoselastwords,andblottedthesheet.”
“Butwhy?”
“Parbleu!sothatitshouldproducetheeffectuponmethatithasuponyou.”
“What?”
“Mais,oui—tomakesureofmycoming!Herereadtheletterandwasdissatisfied.
