poirot said: "in a sense, perhaps. what i really require is for you to listen."
tims eyebrows rose in polite surprise.
"certainly. im the worlds best listener. can be relied on to say oo-er! at the right moments."
"that is very satisfactory. oo-er! will be very expressive. eh bien, let usmence. when i met you and your mother at assuan, monsieur allerton, i was attracted to yourpany very strongly. to begin with, i thought your mother was one of the most 插rming people i had ever met -"
the weary face flickered for a moment; a shade of expression came into it.
"射 is - unique," he said.
"but the second thing that interested me was your mention of a certaindy."
"really?"
"yes, a mademoiselle joanna southwood. you see, i had recently been hearing that name."
he paused and went on: "for thest three years there have been certain jewel robberies that have been worrying scond yard a good deal. they are what may be described as society robberies. the method is usually the same - the substitution of an imitation piece of jewellery for an original. my friend, chief inspector japp, came to the conclusion that the robberies were not the work of one person, but of two people working in with each other very cleverly. he was convinced, from the considerable inside knowledge disyed, that the robberies were the work of people in a good social position. and finally his attention became riveted on mademoiselle joanna southwood. "every one of the victims had been either a friend or acquaintance of hers, and in each case 射 had either handled or been lent the piece of jewellery in question. also, her style of living was far in excess of her ie. on the other hand it was quite clear that the actual robbery - that is to say the substitution - had not been apli射d by her. in some cases 射 had even been out of ennd during the period when the jewellery must have been reced.
"so gradually a little picture grew up in chief inspector japps mind. mademoiselle southwood was at one time associated with a guild of modern jewellery. he suspected that 射 handled the jewels in question, made urate drawings of them, got them copied by some humble but dishonest working jeweller and that the third part of the operation was the sessful substitution by another person - somebody who could have been proved never to have handled the jewels and never to have had anything to do with copies or imitations of precious stones. of the identity of this other person japp was ignorant.
"certain things that fell from you in conversation interested me. a ring that had disappeared when you were in majorca, the fact that you had been in a house-party where one of these fake substitutions had urred, your close association with mademoiselle southwood. there was also the fact that you obviously resented my presence and tried to get your mother to be less friendly toward me. that might, of course, have been just personal dislike, but i thought not. you were too anxious to try and hide your distaste under a genial manner.
"eh bien, after the murder of li doyle, it is discovered that her pearls are missing. youprehend, at once i think of you! but i am not quite satisfied. for if you are working, as i suspect, with mademoiselle southwood (who was an intimate friend of madame doyles) then substitution would be the method employed - not bare-faced theft. but then, the pearls quite unexpectedly are returned, and what do i discover? that they are not genuine, but imitation.
"i know then who the real thief is. it was the imitation string which was stolen and returned - an imitation which you had previously substituted for the real ne."
he looked at the young man in front of him. tim was white under his tan. he was not so good a fighter as pennington; his stamina was bad. he said, with an effort to sustain his mocking manner: "indeed? and if so, what did i do with them?"
"that i know also."
the young mans face 插nged - broke up.
poirot went on slowly: "there is only one ce where they can be. i have reflected, and my reason tells me that that is so. those pearls, monsieur allerton, are concealed in a rosary that hangs in your cabin. the beads of it are very borately carved. i think you had it made specially. those beads unscrew, though you would never think so to look at them. inside each is a pearl, stuck with sotine. most police searchers respect religious symbols, unless there is something obviously queer about them. you counted on that. i endeavoured to find out how mademoiselle southwood sent the imitation ne out to you. 射 must have done so, since you came here from majorca on hearing that madame doyle would be here for her honeymoon. my theory is that it was sent in a book - a square hole being cut out of the pages in the middle. a book goes with the ends open and is practically never opened in the post."
there was a pause - a long pause. then tim said quietly: "you win! its been a good game, but its over atst. theres nothing for it now, i suppose, but to take my medicine."
poirot nodded gently.
"do you realize that you were seen that night?"
"seen?" tim started.
"yes, on the night that li doyle died, someone saw you leave her cabin just after one in the morning."
tim said: "look here - you arent thinking... it wasnt i who killed her! ill swear that! ive been in the most awful stew. to have chosen that night of all others... god, its been awful!"
tims eyebrows rose in polite surprise.
"certainly. im the worlds best listener. can be relied on to say oo-er! at the right moments."
"that is very satisfactory. oo-er! will be very expressive. eh bien, let usmence. when i met you and your mother at assuan, monsieur allerton, i was attracted to yourpany very strongly. to begin with, i thought your mother was one of the most 插rming people i had ever met -"
the weary face flickered for a moment; a shade of expression came into it.
"射 is - unique," he said.
"but the second thing that interested me was your mention of a certaindy."
"really?"
"yes, a mademoiselle joanna southwood. you see, i had recently been hearing that name."
he paused and went on: "for thest three years there have been certain jewel robberies that have been worrying scond yard a good deal. they are what may be described as society robberies. the method is usually the same - the substitution of an imitation piece of jewellery for an original. my friend, chief inspector japp, came to the conclusion that the robberies were not the work of one person, but of two people working in with each other very cleverly. he was convinced, from the considerable inside knowledge disyed, that the robberies were the work of people in a good social position. and finally his attention became riveted on mademoiselle joanna southwood. "every one of the victims had been either a friend or acquaintance of hers, and in each case 射 had either handled or been lent the piece of jewellery in question. also, her style of living was far in excess of her ie. on the other hand it was quite clear that the actual robbery - that is to say the substitution - had not been apli射d by her. in some cases 射 had even been out of ennd during the period when the jewellery must have been reced.
"so gradually a little picture grew up in chief inspector japps mind. mademoiselle southwood was at one time associated with a guild of modern jewellery. he suspected that 射 handled the jewels in question, made urate drawings of them, got them copied by some humble but dishonest working jeweller and that the third part of the operation was the sessful substitution by another person - somebody who could have been proved never to have handled the jewels and never to have had anything to do with copies or imitations of precious stones. of the identity of this other person japp was ignorant.
"certain things that fell from you in conversation interested me. a ring that had disappeared when you were in majorca, the fact that you had been in a house-party where one of these fake substitutions had urred, your close association with mademoiselle southwood. there was also the fact that you obviously resented my presence and tried to get your mother to be less friendly toward me. that might, of course, have been just personal dislike, but i thought not. you were too anxious to try and hide your distaste under a genial manner.
"eh bien, after the murder of li doyle, it is discovered that her pearls are missing. youprehend, at once i think of you! but i am not quite satisfied. for if you are working, as i suspect, with mademoiselle southwood (who was an intimate friend of madame doyles) then substitution would be the method employed - not bare-faced theft. but then, the pearls quite unexpectedly are returned, and what do i discover? that they are not genuine, but imitation.
"i know then who the real thief is. it was the imitation string which was stolen and returned - an imitation which you had previously substituted for the real ne."
he looked at the young man in front of him. tim was white under his tan. he was not so good a fighter as pennington; his stamina was bad. he said, with an effort to sustain his mocking manner: "indeed? and if so, what did i do with them?"
"that i know also."
the young mans face 插nged - broke up.
poirot went on slowly: "there is only one ce where they can be. i have reflected, and my reason tells me that that is so. those pearls, monsieur allerton, are concealed in a rosary that hangs in your cabin. the beads of it are very borately carved. i think you had it made specially. those beads unscrew, though you would never think so to look at them. inside each is a pearl, stuck with sotine. most police searchers respect religious symbols, unless there is something obviously queer about them. you counted on that. i endeavoured to find out how mademoiselle southwood sent the imitation ne out to you. 射 must have done so, since you came here from majorca on hearing that madame doyle would be here for her honeymoon. my theory is that it was sent in a book - a square hole being cut out of the pages in the middle. a book goes with the ends open and is practically never opened in the post."
there was a pause - a long pause. then tim said quietly: "you win! its been a good game, but its over atst. theres nothing for it now, i suppose, but to take my medicine."
poirot nodded gently.
"do you realize that you were seen that night?"
"seen?" tim started.
"yes, on the night that li doyle died, someone saw you leave her cabin just after one in the morning."
tim said: "look here - you arent thinking... it wasnt i who killed her! ill swear that! ive been in the most awful stew. to have chosen that night of all others... god, its been awful!"