Пуаро ведёт следствие
X. The Adventure of the Italian Nobleman
Whatcanhavehappened?”
“Apatientofyours?”askedPoirot.
“Iattendedhimforsomeslightailmentafewweeksago.AnItalian,buthespeaksEnglishperfectly.Well,Imustwishyougoodnight,MonsieurPoirot,unless——”Hehesitated.
“Iperceivethethoughtinyourmind,”saidPoirot,smiling.“Ishallbedelightedtoaccompanyyou.Hastings,rundownandgetholdofataxi.”
Taxisalwaysmakethemselvessoughtforwhenoneisparticularlypressedfortime,butIcapturedoneatlast,andweweresoonbowlingalonginthedirectionofRegent’sPark.Regent’sCourtwasanewblockofflats,situatedjustoffSt.John’sWoodRoad.Theyhadonlyrecentlybeenbuilt,andcontainedthelatestservicedevices.
Therewasnooneinthehall.Thedoctorpressedthelift-bellimpatiently,andwhentheliftarrivedquestionedtheuniformedattendantsharply.
“Flatii.CountFoscatini.There’sbeenanaccidentthere,Iunderstand.”
Themanstaredathim.
“FirstI’veheardofit.Mr.Graves—that’sCountFoscatini’sman—wentoutabouthalfanhourago,andhesaidnothing.”
“IstheCountaloneintheflat?”
“No,sir,he’sgottwogentlemendiningwithhim.”
“Whataretheylike?”Iaskedeagerly.
Wewereintheliftnow,ascendingrapidlytothesecondfloor,onwhichFlatiiwassituated.
“Ididn’tseethemmyself,sir,butIunderstandthattheywereforeigngentlemen.”
Hepulledbacktheirondoor,andwesteppedoutonthelanding.No.iiwasoppositetous.Thedoctorrangthebell.Therewasnoreply,andwecouldhearnosoundfromwithin.
