Убийство в Восточном экспрессе
3. Poirot Refuses a Case
”
HerculePoirotwassilentaminuteortwo,thenhesaid:
“Whatisityouwishmetodoforyou,M.—er—Ratchett?”
“Mr.Poirot,Iamarichman—averyrichman.Meninthatpositionhaveenemies.Ihaveanenemy.”
“Onlyoneenemy?”
“Justwhatdoyoumeanbythatquestion?”askedRatchettsharply.
“Monsieur,inmyexperiencewhenamanisinapositiontohave,asyousay,enemies,thenitdoesnotusuallyresolveitselfintooneenemyonly.”
RatchettseemedrelievedbyPoirot’sanswer.Hesaidquickly:
“Why,yes,Iappreciatethatpoint.Enemyorenemies—itdoesn’tmatter.Whatdoesmatterismysafety.”
“Safety?”
“Mylifehasbeenthreatened,Mr.Poirot.Now,I’mamanwhocantakeprettygoodcareofhimself.”Fromthepocketofhiscoathishandbroughtasmallautomaticintosightforamoment.Hecontinuedgrimly.“Idon’tthinkI’mthekindofmantobecaughtnapping.ButasIlookatitImightaswellmakeassurancedoublysure.Ifancyyou’rethemanformymoney,Mr.Poirot.Andremember—bigmoney.”
Poirotlookedathimthoughtfullyforsomeminutes.Hisfacewascompletelyexpressionless.Theothercouldhavehadnoclueastowhatthoughtswerepassinginthatmind.
“Iregret,Monsieur,”hesaidatlength.“Icannotobligeyou.”
Theotherlookedathimshrewdly.
“Nameyourfigure,then,”hesaid.
Poirotshookhishead.
“Youdonotunderstand,Monsieur.Ihavebeenveryfortunateinmyprofession.Ihavemadeenoughmoneytosatisfybothmyneedsandmycaprices.Itakenowonlysuchcasesas—interestme
