Убийство в Восточном экспрессе
8. The Evidence of Colonel Arbuthnot
“Monsieur,Iamabouttoappealtoyou.YouandMissDebenhamaretheonlytwoEnglishpeopleonthetrain.ItisnecessarythatIshouldaskyoueachyouropinionoftheother.”
“Highlyirregular,”saidColonelArbuthnotcoldly.
“Notso.Yousee,thiscrime,itwasmostprobablycommittedbyawoman.Themanwasstabbednolessthantwelvetimes.Eventhechefdetrainsaidatonce,‘Itisawoman.’Well,then,whatismyfirsttask?TogiveallthewomentravellingontheStamboul-CalaiscoachwhatAmericanscallthe‘onceover.’ButtojudgeofanEnglishwomanisdifficult.Theyareveryreserved,theEnglish.SoIappealtoyou,Monsieur,intheinterestsofjustice.WhatsortofapersonisthisMissDebenham?Whatdoyouknowabouther?”
“MissDebenham,”saidtheColonelwithsomewarmth,“isalady.”
“Ah!”saidPoirotwitheveryappearanceofbeingmuchgratified.“Soyoudonotthinkthatsheislikelytobeimplicatedinthiscrime?”
“Theideaisabsurd,”saidArbuthnot.“Themanwasaperfectstranger—shehadneverseenhimbefore.”
“Didshetellyouso?”
“Shedid.Shecommentedatonceuponhissomewhatunpleasantappearance.Ifawomanisconcerned,asyouseemtothink(tomymindwithoutanyevidencebutmereassumption),IcanassureyouthatMissDebenhamcouldnotpossiblybeindicated.”
“Youfeelwarmlyinthematter,”saidPoirotwithasmile.
ColonelArbuthnotgavehimacoldstare.
“Ireallydon’tknowwhatyoumean,”hesaid.
ThestareseemedtoabashPoirot.Hedroppedhiseyesandbeganfiddlingwiththepapersinfrontofhim.
