Murder on the Orient Express - Agatha Christie [63]
M. Bouc looked at him coldly.
‘Have you anything better to suggest yourself?’ he asked.
‘At the moment—no,’ admitted Poirot.
‘All the same,’ he went on, ‘I do not think you have either of you appreciated the most interesting point about that watch.’
‘Does question No. 6 deal with it?’ asked the doctor. ‘To that question—was the murder committed at that time—1.15—I answer, “No.”’
‘I agree,’ said M. Bouc. ‘“Was it earlier?” is the next question. I say yes. You, too, doctor?’
The doctor nodded.
‘Yes, but the question “Was it later?” can also be answered in the affirmative. I agree with your theory, M. Bouc, and so, I think, does M. Poirot, although he does not wish to commit himself. The First Murderer came earlier than 1.15, the Second Murderer came after 1.15. And as regards the question of left-handedness, ought we not to take steps to ascertain which of the passengers is left-handed?’
‘I have not completely neglected that point,’ said Poirot. ‘You may have noticed that I made each passenger write either a signature or an address. That is not conclusive, because some people do certain actions with the right hand and others with the left. Some write right-handed, but play golf left-handed. Still it is something. Every person questioned took the pen in their right hand—with the exception of Princess Dragomiroff, who refused to write.’
‘Princess Dragomiroff, impossible,’ said M. Bouc.
‘I doubt if she would have had the strength to inflict that particular left-handed blow,’ said Dr Constantine dubiously. ‘That particular wound had been inflicted with considerable force.’
‘More force than a woman could use?’
‘No, I would not say that. But I think more force than an elderly woman could display, and Princess Dragomiroff’s physique is particularly frail.’
‘It might be a question of the influence of mind over body,’ said Poirot. ‘Princess Dragomiroff has great personality and immense will power. But let us pass from that for the moment.’
‘To questions Nos. 9 and 10. Can we be sure that Ratchett was stabbed by more than one person, and what other explanation of the wounds can there be? In my opinion, medically speaking, there can be no other explanation of those wounds. To suggest that one man struck first feebly and then with violence, first with the right hand and then with the left, and after an interval of perhaps half an hour inflicted fresh wounds on a dead body—well, it does not make sense.’
‘No,’ said Poirot. ‘It does not make sense. And you think that two murderers do make sense?’
‘As you yourself have said, what other explanation can there be?’
Poirot stared straight ahead of him.
‘That is what I ask myself,’ he said. ‘That is what I never cease to ask myself.’
He leaned back in his seat.
‘From now on, it is all here,’ he tapped himself on the forehead. ‘We have thrashed it all out. The facts are all in front of us—neatly arranged with order and method. The passengers have sat here, one by one, giving their evidence. We know all that can be known—from outside…’
He gave an affectionate smile at M. Bouc.
‘It has been a little joke between us, has it not—this business of sitting back and thinking out the truth? Well, I am about to put my theory into practice— here before your eyes. You two must do the same. Let us all three close our eyes and think…’
‘One or more of those passengers killed Ratchett. Which of them?’
Chapter 3
Certain Suggestive Points
It was quite a quarter of an hour before anyone spoke.
M. Bouc and Dr Constantine had started by trying to obey Poirot’s instructions. They had endeavoured to see through the maze of conflicting particulars to a clear and outstanding solution.
M. Bouc’s thoughts had run something as follows:
‘Assuredly I must think. But as far as that goes I have already thought…Poirot obviously thinks this English girl is mixed up in the matter. I cannot help feeling that that is most unlikely…The English are extremely cold. Probably