13. Summary of the Passengers’ Evidence

           “Asmalldarkmanwithawomanishvoice,”saidM.Bouc.

           ThethreeconductorsandHildegardeSchmidthadbeendismissed.

           “ButIunderstandnothing—butnothingofallthis!TheenemythatthisRatchettspokeof,hewasthenonthetrainafterall?Butwhereishenow?Howcanhehavevanishedintothinair?Myhead,itwhirls.Saysomething,then,myfriend,Iimploreyou.Showmehowtheimpossiblecanbepossible!”

           “Itisagoodphrasethat,”saidPoirot.“Theimpossiblecannothavehappened,thereforetheimpossiblemustbepossibleinspiteofappearances.”

           “Explaintomethen,quickly,whatactuallyhappenedonthetrainlastnight.”

           “Iamnotamagician,moncher.Iam,likeyou,averypuzzledman.Thisaffairadvancesinaverystrangemanner.”

           “Itdoesnotadvanceatall.Itstayswhereitwas.”

           Poirotshookhishead.

           “No,thatisnottrue.Wearemoreadvanced.Weknowcertainthings.Wehaveheardtheevidenceofthepassengers.”

           “Andwhathasthattoldus?Nothingatall.”

           “Iwouldnotsaythat,myfriend.”

           “Iexaggerate,perhaps.TheAmerican,Hardman,andtheGermanmaid—yes,theyhaveaddedsomethingtoourknowledge.Thatistosay,theyhavemadethewholebusinessmoreunintelligiblethanitwas.”

           “No,no,no,”saidPoirotsoothingly.M.Boucturneduponhim.

           “Speak,then,letushearthewisdomofHerculePoirot.”

           “DidInottellyouthatIwas,likeyou,averypuzzledman?Butatleastwecanfaceourproblem.Wecanarrangesuchfactsaswehavewithorderandmethod.”

           “Praycontinue,Monsieur,”saidDr.Constantine.