Chapter 7 Section 7

After Alexander left, the three leaned closer to the table. Japp took off the cap of his pen. "There were eleven passengers and two flight attendants in the back of the plane. Among the thirteen were the murderers. Some were British, some were French, and I will hand over the latter to Ford. Mr. Neal, I'm going to investigate the British. Fournier, your investigation will be in Paris." "It's not just in Paris," Fournier said. "Giselle has been to French seaside resorts this summer for business talks, Deauville, Pinet and Winmeroo, and she's also been to cities in the South. Such as Antibes and Nice."

"Very well, I remember a passenger who also went to Pinett. Now let's see who occupies the most likely position to shoot the poisonous needle." Japp spread out a sketch of the rear seat of the plane in the middle of the table. "This M. Poirot should be fired, so that there are only ten passengers." Poirot shook his head helplessly, "You can't trust anyone." "Well, if you don't mind, you're included," said Japp kindly. "And the flight attendants. They're not like them from a likelihood standpoint, they're not likely to borrow a large sum of money, but they're the most likely from a location standpoint because they're always in the best launch position. But I am sure that any of their actions will be seen by the passengers, although some of them will turn a blind eye to what happened. But-after all, murders happen all the time."

"And it was done beautifully," said Poirot. "The three of us sat down and talked about it, but to no avail. It cannot be said to be a great success." "And it's a miracle," Fournier said. "Miracle or not," said Japp, "we have the medical test results, and the murder weapon. Granted, we can't rule out the two flight attendants, but I think they're extremely unlikely. Agree?" , M. Poirot?" "Do you remember? Everyone present cannot be ruled out, including me." "Okay. Let's start with the pantry and the bathroom. Seat No. 16 is..." Japp said, pointing to the sketch with his pen, "the girl from the barbershop, Jane Gray. Tee squandered the money. That shows that she is a gambler, and may have borrowed money from Giselle because of her financial difficulties, but it must not be a large amount. She is just a small fish to us and Giselle. Besides, Miss Jane is very It's hard to get any poisonous snakes because you don't need them for hair and facial massage."

"We should start with whether we can get snake venom. Only one in fifty people has this knowledge. It seems that the scope of our investigation can be further narrowed." "That makes one point very clear," said Poirot. Fournier gave him a suspicious look, and Japp was gathering his thoughts. He continued: "The murderer must meet two conditions. First, he has been to some strange places in the world. The snake venom is understood. This is the first condition." "What about the other one?" "Scientific prowess. The toxin, called Boomslan, is generally only found in top-notch laboratories. According to Wintersp, snake venom, specifically cobra venom, is also sometimes used in pharmaceutical formulations to treat epilepsy. disease, and it is very effective. The treatment of diseases with snake venom has been extensively studied in the medical profession."

"Interesting and inspiring," Fournier said. "Right. Look at Miss Gray again. She doesn't have any of those things: lack of motivation, no access to poison, and unlikely use of a blowpipe as a murder weapon." The three buried their heads in the sketch.Japp went on: "This is seat 16, and this is seat 2 where the deceased sat, with such a gap in between. If she hadn't left her seat, as everyone thought, she wouldn't have been able to point the weapon at the deceased. neck. We have every reason to exclude her." "Looking at seat 12 across from her, there's Norman Gale, the dentist. They're in almost a similar situation, and I don't think it's very likely that he's had access to snake venom."

"Dentists don't use it for injections," said Poirot, "otherwise it would be more of a public murder than a cure." Japp blinked. "However, it is possible that he may have been exposed to certain special drugs due to his work relationship, and may have made friends in the technology world. However, from the perspective of possibility, he should be excluded. He has left his seat." , but only went to the bathroom, and then went straight back to his seat. Also, he was facing the exact opposite direction from the deceased." "I agree," Fournier said, "now the next one."

"Seat 17 across the aisle." "It was my seat," said Poirot. "A lady said she wanted to sit with a friend, and I gave it to her." "It's Miss Venetia. She may ask Giselle to borrow money. Although she has never had any bad records in her life, we have to be careful. There is a possibility of her location. She and the deceased happened to be in the back cabin Both ends of the diagonal. But it's unlikely that she's going to get some strange poison from far away." "I thought so too," Fournier said. "I don't see how I can connect the murder to her."

"Seat No. 13 is Mrs. Horbury," said Japp, "and I should not be surprised if she has some dark secret." "As far as I know," Fournier said, "this lady is a regular at a casino in Pinett." "But she never left her seat, as the other 11 passengers can testify." "Numbers 9 and 10..." Fournier moved his fingers over the sketch. "Mr. Poirot and Dr. Bryant," said Japp. "Mr. Poirot, please tell me?" "I have something wrong with my stomach." Poirot shook his head resignedly. "At this moment my brain is the servant of my stomach."

"Then Dr. Bright is unlikely to ask a French woman to borrow money, but in terms of his scientific research ability, he is more suspicious. It is not easy to get a test tube of snake venom from a certain laboratory." "There's something interesting about what you said," Fournier said. "Besides, he was the one who diverted everyone's attention, why didn't he say it was heart failure - a natural death?" "I think," said Poirot, "that was the doctor's first impression. After all it resembled a natural death, and it might also be due to the wasp. Don't forget, there was also a wasp."

"Never forget," said Japp. "Don't nag." "However," continued Poirot, "when I picked up a deadly needle from the ground, it all proved murder." "Sooner or later it will be discovered." Poirot shook his head. "The murderer had every opportunity to pick it up without being noticed." "Bryant?" "Or someone else?" "That's right," Japp said. "Bryant should have been included as a suspect. He probably poked his head up and blew the needle from his seat. But why doesn't anyone see it?"

"There's a reason for psychological attention," Fournier said. "If a moving train passes a burning house, all eyes are on the window. On this particular occasion, a person Draw your dagger and stab someone else, and they won't notice he's stabbing." "We were able to find this moment of distraction on the plane ..." said Poirot, "and it should be said that the occurrence of this moment was deliberately caused by the murderer." "Exactly," said French police officer Fournier. "Well, we'll record it as a suspect," said Japp. "Daniel Clancy's seat is below. In my opinion, he's the prime suspect. Most authors of mystery novels have extensive Interesting. To get some snake venom, it's not easy to find a chemist to prepare the poison. Don't forget, he's the only one passing Giselle's seat, and only him." "Don't worry," said Poirot, "I have not forgotten." Japp went on: "When he passed Giselle, he blew the poison needle at the target at close range and didn't need that kind of distracting timing. Also, the blowpipe he took out today, who knows if he was two years old Bought before? No one is healthy who thinks about crime and detective stories all the time, and every now and then he has some ideas." "A writer with ideas can write good works." Poirot said. Japp went back to the sketch. "Ryder's seat number 4 was right in front of the dead man. He had gone to the bathroom and had to pass Giselle on his way back to his seat. But if he did it, the two French Archaeologists, once they're concentrating on the conversation, they don't notice anything going on around them, they only care about the world 5,000 years ago." Japp was still puzzled, "Then let's see the Duponts. Fournier?" "Armand Dupont is a well-known French archaeologist." "That's not a problem. He's the closest, across the aisle, in front of Giselle. I think they must have been to many strange places in the world, and have been exposed to some kind of snake venom from the aborigines." "Possibly," said Fournier, "but I don't believe it was him. Mr. Dupont was a scholar who gave up a better business opportunity to devote himself to archaeology, and father and son gave their all to the cause. I don't believe it." They're connected to it." "Okay." Japp collected the sketches and notes, cleared his throat, "From the perspective of possibility, Jane Gray is almost zero, Gail is impossible, Miss Kerr is unlikely, and Mrs Hobre Possibly. And M. Poirot, only he can create that moment of distraction." Japp thought his concluding remark was amusing, Poirot managed to smile back, but Fournier had some misgivings.Japp continued: "Bryant is possible, Clancy is possible but the motive is unknown, Ryder is somewhat possible; in terms of motive, the possibility of the DuPonts is almost zero, but in terms of the chance of obtaining poison Another big suspect. That's the only conclusion we can make at the moment, but some routine investigations are needed. I'll start with Clancy and Bryant to see if they have a bad track record, whether There have been unusual behaviors recently, as well as some of their activities this year. I will also investigate Mr. Ryder in the same way, and I will ask Detective Wilson to send someone to investigate. Then, Mr. Fournier, you will be in charge of the Duponts." "I'm going back to Paris tonight. Maybe I can get some information from Giselle's servant Élise, and I'm going to investigate Giselle's recent activities, such as her visit to Pinett in the summer. Yes, there is. Lots of things to do." Both looked at the thoughtful Poirot at the same time. "What are you going to do?" Japp asked. Poirot stood up. "I want to go to Paris with Fournier. I've been wondering where you got this blowpipe?" "Good question! You were almost locked up because of it." Poirot shook his head. "That's not what I mean. I'm not thinking about how it was found under my seat, but how it was brought about." "That doesn't make sense to me," said Japp. "It can be hidden anywhere. How could a murderer take the risk by keeping it on him?" "True. But you may have noticed when you inspected the plane that the windows on the plane cannot be opened, but there is a vent on the top of each passenger seat, and the murderer could have stuck the murder weapon out of the vent and never been caught. Find." "I have a different opinion, in doing so he will be seen by others." "Then," said Poirot, "he is not afraid of being seen shooting poison needles with a blowpipe, but is he afraid of being seen pushing the murder weapon out of the window?" "It's kind of ridiculous," said Japp, "after all we found the blowpipe under that seat." Poirot didn't answer, Fournier asked curiously: "What's your idea?" Poirot nodded approvingly. "Is the detailed list of the passengers' belongings ready?"