discover her gagged and bound, and almost at the same moment news was brought that M. Renauld’s body had been discovered, stone dead, stabbed in the back.”
“Where?”
“That is one of the most extraordinary features of the case. M. Poirot, the body was lying, face downward, in an open grave.
“What?”
“Yes. The pit was freshly dug—just a few yards outside the boundary of the villa grounds.”
“And he had been dead—how long?"
Dr. Durand answered this.
“I examined the body this morning at ten o’clock. Death must have taken place at least seven, and possibly ten hours previously.”
“H’m, that fixes it at between midnight and three a.m.”
“Exactly, and Madame Renauld’s evidence places it at after two a.m., which narrows the field still further. Death must have been instantaneous, and naturally could not have been self-inflicted.”
Poirot nodded, and the commissary resumed:
“Madame Renauld was hastily freed from the cords that bound her, by the horrified servants. She was in a terrible condition of weakness, almost unconscious from the pain of her bonds. It appears that two masked men entered the bedroom, gagged and bound her, while forcibly abducting her husband. This we know at second hand from the servants. On hearing the tragic news, she fell at once into an alarming state of agitation. On arrival, Dr. Durand immediately prescribed a sedative, and we have not yet been able to question her. But without doubt she will awake more calm, and be equal to bearing the strain of the interrogation.”
The commissary paused.
“And the inmates of the house, monsieur?”
“There is old Françoise, the housekeeper, she lived for many years with the former owners of the Villa Geneviéve. Then there are two young girls, sisters, Denise and Léonie Oulard. Their home is in Merlinville, and they come of the
19
