Chapter 17 Chapter 16 Suspicious People

Dr. Leidner jumped to his feet. "Impossible! Absolutely impossible! Such an idea is ridiculous!" M. Poirot looked at him very calmly, but said nothing. "Are you trying to assume my wife's ex-husband was one of the staff and she didn't recognize him?" "Exactly. You just have to think a little about the facts. Almost twenty years ago your wife lived with this man for only a few months. After all this time, if she happened to meet him, would she recognize him? I No way. His face had changed; his figure had changed—his voice might not have changed much, but it was a little thing he could take care of himself. And, remember, she Wouldn't look for him in her own house. She imagined him somewhere out there—a stranger, yes. I thought she wouldn't recognize him, and there was another possibility. The brother—the Kid, the kid who loved his brother. He's a grown man now. Would you recognize a guy in his late thirties as the kid from ten, or twelve years ago? Yes, now we're going to take it seriously It was young William Basner. Remember, in his eyes, his brother may not loom large as a traitor, but a patriot, a man who died for his own country, Germany. A martyr. In his eyes, Mrs. Leidner was a traitor—a murderer of his beloved brother! A sensitive child is likely to have hero worship. A child's mind can't get rid of certain ideas , and that concept will last until he grows up."

"Exactly," said Dr. Reilly. "The common notion that a child forgets things easily is not true. Many people grow up holding on to the ideas that were imprinted on them when they were very young." "Bien (OK), you have these two possibilities: Frederick Basner, who is now in his fifties, and William Basner, who is in his mid-thirties. Now let's look at your staff from these two perspectives." "That's fantastic," Dr. Leidner muttered. "My staff! My own team." "So it can be considered that there is no suspicion," Poirot said coldly. "This is a very useful idea. Let's start now! Who can't be Frederick or William?"

"The girls." "Naturally, we can strike out the names of Miss Johnson and Mrs. McGado. Who else?" "Jarley, I've been working with him for years even before I knew Louis—" "And he's not the right age. As far as I can tell, he's in his mid-thirties, too young for Frederick and too old for William. Now for the rest. Father Lavigne and Mr. McGado, they could all be Fredericks." "But, my lord," cried Dr. Leidner, with a mixture of irritation and amusement in his voice, "Father Lavigne is a world-renowned expert on epigraphs. McGado works in a famous museum in New York. years. They couldn't be who you imagined them to be!"

Poirot waved his hand briskly. "Impossible—impossible—I would never consider those three words! I have always studied the impossible very carefully. But, for the moment, I can take it out of the way. What else do you have? Man? Carl Reiter, a young man with a German name. David Emmott—" "Remember, he's been working with me for two excavations." "He's a naturally patient young man. If he commits a crime, he doesn't do it in haste. Everything will fall into place." Dr. Leidner showed a gesture of disappointment. "Finally, Bill Coleman," continued Poirot.

"He's English." "Pourquoi Pas? (Why not?) Didn't Mrs Leidner say the boy left America and was never seen again? He was probably brought up in England." "You have an answer for everything," Dr. Leidner said. I thought desperately.At first I thought Mr. Coleman's attitude made one feel more like a character in Udhow's humorous novel than a vigorous young man.Had he always played a part in the murder? Poirot was making notes in a little notebook. "Let us proceed in an orderly manner," he said. "The first persons to consider are Father Lavigne and Mr. McGado. The second are Coleman, Emmott, and Rhett.

"Now we turn to the other side of the matter--the means and the chance. Who on this mission had the means and the opportunity to commit the crime? Jaley at the excavation site, Coleman at Harsha Ni, you're on the roof by yourself, so that leaves Father Lavigne, Mr. McGado, Mrs. McGado, David Emmott, Carl Ritter, Miss Johnson, and Nurse Leatheran." "Ah!" I yelled at the same time as my body bounced on the chair. Poirot looked at me with twinkling eyes. "Yes, Miss Nurse, I'm afraid you'll be counted too. You might easily go over and kill Mrs Leidner when the yard is empty. You're strong and strong, and you'll be able to kill me when your blows hit you." She won't suspect you before she kills you."

I was too sad to say a word when I noticed that Dr. Rayleigh thought it was funny. "A nurse killing her patients one by one, funny, funny!" he whispered. I gave him a hard look. Dr. Leidner thought of something different. "It won't be Emmott, Monsieur Poirot," he objected. "You can't include him. Remember, he was on the roof with me during those ten minutes." "We can't exclude him, though. He might come down, go straight to Mrs. Leidner's room, beat her to death, and then call the kid back. Or he might come down while he's sending the kid Kill her on the way to the roof."

Dr. Leidner shook his head and murmured: "What a nightmare! All this—it was unexpected." It was strange that Poirot said the same thing. "Yes, really. It was an unexpected murder. We don't come across cases like this very often. Murders are usually done in a dirty way--very innocent, but, it was an unusual murder." .Dr. Leidner, I take it that your wife is a very unusual woman." His words hit the nail on the head and he guessed very accurately.I couldn't help but jump in surprise. "Is that true, Miss Nurse?" he asked. Dr. Leidner said calmly, "Miss Nurse, tell him what Louise is like. You are not prejudiced."

I'm quite frank. "She's lovely," I said, "and you can't help admiring her and wanting to do something for her. I've never met anyone like her before." "Thank you," Dr. Leidner smiled at me. "That is an extremely valuable piece of evidence from the mouth of an outsider." Poirot said politely, "Well, let's go ahead. Under the 'method' and 'opportunity', we have seven names Nurse Leatheran, Miss Johnson, Mrs. McGado, Mr. McGado, Mr. Rhett, Mr. Emmott, and Father Lavigne." He cleared his throat again.I've always noticed the weirdest noises foreigners can make.

"Let us now assume that our third idea is correct. That the murderer was Frederick or William Basner, and that Frederick or William Basner was one of your staff .At this point we compare the two lists and we can narrow down our suspects to four. Father Lavigne, Mr. McGado, Carl Ritter, and David Emmott." "Father Lavigne can never be the murderer," said Dr. Leidner. "He is a friar of the Carthage Blanc Order." "Besides, his beard is real." I interjected. "Miss Nurse," said Poirot, "a first-rate murderer never pretends to have a beard!"

"How do you know that the murderer is top-notch?" I asked stubbornly. "Because, if he is not, at this moment, I can see the truth at this moment." That's purely Yelang's arrogant statement - I thought to myself. "Anyway," I said, returning to the beard, "it takes a long time to grow that long." "That is a very practical observation," said Poirot. Dr. Leidner said irritably: "But it's ridiculous—very ridiculous. Both he and McGado are famous people. They've been famous for years." Poirot turned to him and said: "You don't really have an imagination. You don't see the point. If Frederick isn't dead, what has he been doing all these years? He must have taken a different name. He must have made a career out of it." .” "Being a Friar Blanc?" asked Dr. Rayleigh suspiciously. "The idea is speculative, yes," admitted Poirot, "but we cannot think that it is not worth considering. Besides, there are other possibilities." "Those young men?" said Reilly. "If you ask me to give an opinion, on the face of it, it seems reasonable to say that there is only one person you suspect." "Who is that?" "Young Karl Reiter. There's actually no evidence against him, but, if we stop and think about it, there are a few facts you'll have to admit—his age is appropriate, he has a German name, He's new this year, and he has a chance to kill. To do such a vicious thing, he just needs to come out of the studio and walk across the courtyard. Afterwards, he can come back when there is no one in the courtyard. .When he wasn't in the studio, he could always say he was in the dark room if someone walked in by accident. I'm not saying he's the murderer you're looking for, I just think that if you're going to suspect someone, and Compared with the others, he is the most likely." M. Poirot did not seem to take his opinion very seriously.He nodded gravely, but doubtfully. "Yes," he said, "he seems the most likely to do so. But the truth may not be that simple." Then he said, "Let's not say any more for now. Now if I can, I would like to go to the murder scene." Check it out." "Of course." Dr. Leidner fumbled in his pocket, then looked at Dr. Rayleigh. "The key has been taken by Captain Maitland," said he, "Maitlan is in my hands," said Dr. Rayleigh. "He must get out of here and go to the Kurd case." He took out the key. Dr. Leidner said hesitantly, "Would you mind if I didn't—maybe Miss Nurse—" "Of course, of course," said Poirot, "I understand very well. I will never let you suffer any more. Please come with me, Miss Nurse." "of course can."