Chapter 12 Chapter Eleven Megan Barnard

As I said, Megan Barnard's words, still with a crisp and businesslike tone, really surprised me. Poirot, however, merely bowed his head solemnly. "A la bonne heure," said he, "you are very shrewd, madam." ① French, meaning: at that moment. ——Annotation. Megan Barnard said, still with the same tone of detachment: "I liked Betty a lot, but that didn't blind me so much that she wasn't the kind of little fool she was — I even said to her sometimes 'that's how sisters are.'" "Did she heed your suggestion?" "Probably not," Megan said sarcastically.

"Miss, you can be more precise." The girl hesitated for a minute or two. Poirot said with a faint smile: "I'll help you. I heard what you said to Hastings just now, that your sister is a bright, jovial girl with no boyfriends. It's—sort of, it's the other way around, isn't it?" ?” Megan said slowly: "Betty's no harm, I hope you understand that. She's a decent person, she's not the weekend type, she never does. But she likes being invited out and dancing, cheap Words of flattery and praise, things like that." "She's pretty, isn't she?"

This is the third time I have heard this question, and this time I got a clear answer. Megan left the table, went to her case, snapped it open, took out an object and handed it to Poirot. In a leather frame is a smiling girl with beautiful hair.The hair, which had clearly been permed, grew out of her head in a mass of curls.The smile on her face was mischievous and artificial.It was clearly not a face you could call beautiful, but it had a palpable and cheap brilliance. Poirot handed back the frame and said at the same time: "You don't look like her, miss." "Oh! I'm an ordinary-looking person in this house. I know that." She seemed to brush that fact aside as unimportant.

"In what respects do you think your sister is acting foolishly? You mean, perhaps, her association with Mr. Donald Fraser?" "True. Don's a very quiet kind of guy, but he—oh, of course he gets upset about certain things, and—" "Then what, miss?" His eyes were fixed on her. It might just be my fancy—she seemed hesitant, and answered after a moment: "I'm afraid she'll give her up, and that would be a pity. He's a very steady, hardworking man, and he's sure to make a good husband." Poirot continued to gaze at her.Instead of flushing under his gaze, she responded with the same composure and composure—which reminded me of her defiant arrogance at first.

"So that's the way it is," he finally said, "and we don't want to talk about the truth." She shrugged and turned towards the door. "Oh," she said, "I've done everything I can to help you." Poirot's idea restrained her. "Wait a minute, miss, I have something to tell you, please come back." I could see that she stopped reluctantly. To my amazement, Poirot raptly told the whole story of the ABC letter, the Andover murders, and the railway guide book found next to the body. He had no reason to complain about her lack of interest.Her lips parted, her eyes sparkled, and she asked him anxiously.

"Is all this true, M. Poirot?" "Yes, it's all true." "You mean my sister was really murdered by some killer?" "Exactly." She took a deep breath. "Oh, Betty, Betty, this is horrible." "You see, miss, you don't have to worry about whether you will hurt others, you should provide what I want to know without any effort." "Yes, I understand now." "Let's get on with the conversation. I've developed the opinion that that Donald Fraser could be a grumpy and jealous man, right?" Megan Barnard said quietly:

"I believe you now, Monsieur Poirot. I will tell you the absolute truth. As I say, the Don is a very quiet man—a very closed man, if you understand me. He is usually unable to use words. To express his thoughts and feelings, but after all this, his attitude towards things is extremely bad. He is very jealous, he is always jealous of Betty. He loves her with all his heart-of course she likes him very much, but Betty is not only She just likes one person and doesn't pay attention to others. She is not like this. Well, he pays attention to the men who are elegant and can accompany her. Of course, at the Yellow Cat Restaurant, she can always meet some men-especially On summer holidays. She's always sharp, and if those people make fun of her, she'll be sure to give it back. Then she'll probably go on a date with them, go to the movies or something. No big deal things—there was never such a thing—but she just likes to have fun with it. She always said that one day she would live peacefully with Don, but as long as she can, she will be as happy as she is now."

Megan stopped, and Poirot said: "I understand. Go ahead, please." "What Don can't understand is the way she behaves. If she's really devoted to him, then he can't understand why she's going out with other people. Once or twice they got into a big fight about it." "That Mr. Tang, he will never be calm again?" "Like all quiet people, when they were about to lose their temper, they threw a tantrum. Don looked so grumpy that even Betty was terrified." "When did that happen?" "There was an argument about a year ago, and the other was a lot more violent - just a month ago. I was home for the weekend. I tried to calm them down, and I was trying to get Betty to have some brains - and She says she's really a bit of a fool. She'll say it's nothing to be afraid of. Oh, that's all right, but she can still be a hazard. You see, after that fight a year ago, she's formed a a habit of telling a few useful little lies from time to time on the principle of being easy and harmless, as she told Don she was going to Hastings to see a girl friend, only to find out that she was actually going with certain men— Eastbourne. The commotion came at last. He was a married man, being engaged, and he was always a little tight-lipped about it, which just made it worse. It was a terrible scene of their quarrel - Betty Claiming that she is not yet married to him, and has the right to go out with whoever she pleases. Tang is pale and trembling with anger, and threatens that one day, one day..."

"what?" "He'll kill her—" Megan whispered. She stopped talking and stared at Poirot. He nodded sullenly a few times. "Therefore, naturally, you are concerned..." "I don't think he will really do it. I don't think so at all. But I'm afraid that these—the quarrel and what he said will be found out. Many people know about it." Poirot nodded sullenly again. "That's it. Miss, I'd like to say that if it weren't for the selfish vanity of the killer, that's what might have happened. If Donald Fraser was cleared, it would be thanks to the manic bragging of the ABC. "He was silent for a while, then said:

"Did you know that your sister recently met some married man or something?" Megan shook her head in denial. "I don't know. I don't live here, you know." "So what do you think?" "She probably never saw the guy again. He probably thought there was going to be an argument and avoided it, but I wouldn't be in the least surprised if Betty lied to Don again. She does like dancing and movies, you know. , and Tang certainly couldn't tell from the beginning to the end that she went in and out of those places." "If that's the case, does she confide in anyone else? The girl who works in the restaurant, for example?"

"I don't think that's a big deal. Betty can't take that Higley girl. She thinks she's mediocre and the other girls are new. Betty's not the type to pour out her heart." The electric bell above the girl's head rang sharply. She went to the window and looked out sideways.She quickly withdrew again. "It's Tang..." "Tell him in," said Poirot quickly. "I want to speak to the inspector before he comes across him." Megan Barnard flashed out of the kitchen, and a few seconds later she came back into the room dragging Donald Fraser by the hand.