“Of course! I am an idiot. If the tramp was Georges Conneau, it was
after the stormy interview with him that Mr. Renauld apprehended
danger. He sent away the chauffeur, Masters, whom he suspected of being
in the other’s pay, he wired to his son, and sent for you.”
A faint smile crossed Poirot’s lips.
“You do not think it strange that he should use exactly the same
expressions in his letter as Madame Renauld used later in her story? If
the mention of Santiago was a blind, why should Renauld speak of it,
and—what is more—send his son there?”
“It is puzzling, I admit, but perhaps we shall find some explanation
later. We come now to the evening, and the visit of the mysterious
lady. I confess that that fairly baffles me, unless it was Madame
Daubreuil, as Françoise all along maintained.”
Poirot shook his head.
“My friend, my friend, where are your wits wandering? Remember the
fragment of cheque, and the fact that the name Bella Duveen was faintly
familiar to Stonor, and I think we may take it for granted that Bella
Duveen is the full name of Jack’s unknown correspondent, and that it
was she who came to the Villa Geneviève that night. Whether she
intended to see Jack, or whether she meant all along to appeal to his
father we cannot be certain, but I think we may assume that this is
what occurred. She produced her claim upon Jack, probably showed
letters that he had written her, and the older man tried to buy her off
by writing a cheque. This she indignantly tore up. The terms of her
letter are those of a woman genuinely in love, and she would probably
deeply resent being offered money. In the end he got rid of her, and
here the words that he used are significant.”
“‘Yes, yes, but for God’s sake go now,’” I repeated. “They seem to me
a little vehement, perhaps, that is all.”
“That is enough. He was desperately anxious for the girl to go. Why?
Not only because the interview was unpleasant. No, it was the time that
was slipping by, and for some reason time was precious.”
“Why should it be?” I asked, bewildered.
“That is what we ask ourselves. Why should it be? But later we have the
incident of the wrist watch—which again shows us that time plays a very
important part in the crime. We are now fast approaching the actual
drama. It is half-past ten when Bella Duveen leaves, and by the
evidence of the wrist watch we know that the crime was committed, or at
any rate that it was staged, before twelve o’clock. We have reviewed
all the events anterior to the murder, there remains only one unplaced.
By the doctor’s evidence, the tramp, when found, had been dead at least
forty-eight hours—with a possible margin of twenty-four hours more.
Now, with no other facts to help me than those we have discussed, I
place the death as having occurred on the morning of June 7th.”