THE GOOSE QUILL
"Not very obvious to me." I changed the subject. "Anyway," I said, "this man went to the summer-house to meet somebody. Who was that somebody?"
"Exactly the question," said Poirot. "You will remember that Mrs. Ackroyd and her daughter came over from Canada to live here?"
"Is that what you meant to-day when you accused them of hiding the truth?"
"Perhaps. Now another point. What did you think of the parlormaid's story?"
"What story?"
"The story of her dismissal. Does it take half an hour to dismiss a servant? Was the story of those important papers a likely one? And remember, though she says she was in her bedroom from nine-thirty until ten o'clock, there is no one to confirm her statement."
"You bewilder me," I said.
"To me it grows clearer. But tell me now your own ideas and theories."
I drew a piece of paper from my pocket.
"I just scribbled down a few suggestions," I said apologetically.
"But excellent—you have method. Let us hear them."
I read out in a somewhat embarrassed voice.
"To begin with, one must look at the thing logically———"
"Just what my poor Hastings used to say," interrupted Poirot, "but alas! he never did so."
"Point No. I.—Mr. Ackroyd was heard talking to some one at half-past nine.
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