Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-03-07

poiSonS. l suspected son or a
brother, or some other undesirable
male relation. All. but must go. 1t
| is the time of the lunch"
/ stay and lunch with u.s." / sug-
gested.
Poirot shook his head. A faint
twinkle came into his eye.
Not again today. l. should not
like to force Mademoise1le Caroline to
adopt vegetarian diet two days in
succession"
1t occurred to me that there was not
much which escaped Hercule Poirot.
CHAPTER XXI.
The Paragraph in the Paper.
Caroline, of course, had not failed
to see Miss Russell come to the sur
gerry door. l had anticipated this,
and had ready an elaborate account
of the lady's bad knee. But Caroline
was not In a cross-questioning mood.
Her point of view was that she knew
| what Miss Russell had really come
for and that I didn't.
Pumping you, James," said Caro-
line. Pumping you in the most
shameless manner, I've not a doubt.
It's no good interrupting. ] dare say
you hadn't the least idea she was
doing 1t even. Men are so simple.
She knows that you are In NJ. Poirot's
| confidence. and she wants to find out
things. Do you know what think.
james,"
II couldn't begin to imagine. You
think so many extraordinary things"
ITS no good being sarcastic.
think Miss Russell knows more about
Mr.. Ackroyd's death than she Is pre-
pared to admit"
Caroline leaned back triumphantly
in her chair.
"Do you really think so?" said
absently.
"You are very dull today, James.
No animation. about you. It's that
| liver of yours"
Our conversation then dealt with
purely personal matters.
The paragraph inspired by Poirot
duly appeared in our daily paper the
next morning. / was in the dark as
to it's purpose, but its effect on Caro-
line was immense.
She began by stating, most I'M
truly, that she had said SO much all
along. / raised my eyebrows, but
did not argue. Caroline, however,
must have felt a prick of conscience,
for she went on:
II mayn't have actually mentioned
Liverpool, but / knew he'd try to get
away to America. That's what Grip.
pen did"
without much success" re-
minded her.
Poor boy, and so they've caught
him. / consider, James, that it's
your duty to see that he isn't hung"
What do you expect me to do?"
"Why, you're a medical man, aren't
you? You've known him from a boy
upwards. Not mentally responsible
That's the line to take, clearly. 1
read only the other day that they're
very happy in Broadmoor--it's quite
like a high-class club"
But Caroline's words had reminded
me Of something.
IT never knew that Poirot had an
imbecile nephew" I said curiously.
4 Didn't you? Oh, he told me all
about it. Poor lad. It's great grief
to all the family. They've kept him
at home so far, but it's getting to
such pitch that they're afraid he'll
have to go into some kind of
institution"
II suppose you know pretty we'll
everything there is to know about
Poirot's family by this time / said,
exasperated.
Pretty we'll" said Caroline. COM
| placently. IT'S a great relief to peo-
pie to be able to tell all their troubles
| to some one.
at might be-" said, eff they were
ever allowed to do SO spontaneously.
Whether they enjoy having conf
dences screwed out Of them by force
is another matter"
Caroline merely looked at me with
the air Of a Christian martyr enjoy.
ing martyrdom.
"You are SO self-contained, James,"
she said. "You hate speaking out. or
parting with any information your
self, and you think everybody else
must be just like you. ! should hope
that l never screw condolences out of
anybody. For instance. If NJ. Poirot
comes in this afternoon, as he said
he might do, shall not dream of
asking him who it was arrived at his
house early this morning
EARLY this morning." / queried.
CONTINUED in Tomorrow's starr