Убийство в Восточном экспрессе
8. Further Surprising Revelations
“You’llexcuseme,”hesaid,“butnoonewouldbelieveittolookatyou.Itakeoffmyhattoyou.Ido,indeed.”
“Youaretookind,M.Hardman.”
“Notatall.I’vegottohandittoyou.”
“Allthesame,”saidPoirot,“theproblemisnotyetquitesolved.CanwesaywithauthoritythatweknowwhokilledM.Ratchett?”
“Countmeout,”saidMr.Hardman.“I’mnotsayinganythingatall.I’mjustfullofnaturaladmiration.Whatabouttheothertwoyou’venothadaguessatyet?TheoldAmericandameandthelady’smaid?Isupposewecantakeitthatthey’retheonlyinnocentpartiesonthetrain?”
“Unless,”saidPoirot,smiling,“wecanfitthemintoourlittlecollectionas—shallwesay?—housekeeperandcookintheArmstronghousehold.”
“Well,nothingintheworldwouldsurprisemenow,”saidMr.Hardmanwithquietresignation.“Bughouse—that’swhatthisbusinessis—bughouse!”
“Ah,moncher,thatwouldbeindeedstretchingcoincidencealittletoofar,”saidM.Bouc.“Theycannotallbeinit.”
Poirotlookedathim.
“Youdonotunderstand,”hesaid.“Youdonotunderstandatall.Tellme,”hesaid,“doyouknowwhokilledRatchett?”
“Doyou?”counteredM.Bouc.
Poirotnodded.
“Oh,yes,”hesaid.“Ihaveknownforsometime.ItissoclearthatIwonderyouhavenotseenitalso.”HelookedatHardmanandasked,“Andyou?”
Thedetectiveshookhishead.HestaredatPoirotcuriously.
“Idon’tknow,”hesaid.“Idon’tknowatall.Whichofthemwasit?”
Poirotwassilentaminute
