Chapter 20 Chapter 20 Surprising Inferences

A minute later, Poirot hugged me warmly, pressing his cheek against mine. "You've come to a conclusion at last! And all on your own. Great: you go on. You're right. Forget about George Connor, but you're absolutely wrong." I was so dazed by the little man's approval that I could hardly think any further.But in the end I still concentrated my thoughts and continued to deduce. "George Connor disappeared twenty years ago, but we have no reason to think he is dead." "Aucunement," agreed Poirot, "go on." "I therefore assume he is alive."

"Exactly." ①French: Absolutely not. ——Annotation, "With regard to the first few points, the question seems to be whether we adopt the theory of 'blackmail' or the theory of 'fetishism'?" "Blackmail, that's for sure. You heard what Stoner said about Raynor's conduct, habits, and so on." "Madame Renaud did not confirm his point," I argued. "We have learned that Madame Reynaud's testimony is not reliable. On that, we have to take Stoner at his word. " "However, if Renault hooked up with a woman named Bella, then it's not entirely impossible that he also hooked up with Mrs. Dobler."

"I agree with you that it's not entirely out of the question. But is he hooking up with Bella?" "The letter, Poirot. You have forgotten the letter." "No, I haven't. But what makes you think that the letter was addressed to M. Renault?" "Well, the letter was found in his pocket, and . . . and . . . " "That's over!" interrupted Poirot. "There is no mention of whom the letter was addressed to. Since it was found in the deceased's coat pocket, we assume it was addressed to him. Well, mon ami, there is something about that coat that strikes me as odd. I took a measurement and said it was too long for him. That should make you think about it."

"I thought you were just talking," I admitted. "Ah, quelleidee! Then you saw me measuring Mr. Jack Reynolds. French: my friend.—Annotation. ②French: What is this saying? ——Annotation. coat. Eh bien "Mr. Jack Raynor's coat is so short. Put those two things together and add a third, and that's Jack Raynor rushing out of the house and hurrying to Paris. Tell me, this What do you think now?" "I see," I said slowly, and Poirot's words brought a sudden realization to me. "The letter was addressed to Jack Raynor, not to his father. In his haste and anger he took the wrong coat."

Poirot nodded. "Precisement②! We'll come back to the point later. Let's consider the letter irrelevant to old Renault for the time being, and then we'll see what happened next." "'May 23rd,'" I read, "'There was a quarrel between father and son because the son was going to marry Martha Dobler. The son left for Paris.' On this point, I can't think of anything. There's nothing more to say, but the change of the will the next day was obvious. It was a direct consequence of the quarrel." "I agree, mon ami — at least as far as the cause is concerned. But what is the real motive behind this action of M. Reynolds?"

My eyes widened in surprise. "Of course it's a resentment against his son." "And yet he wrote him an affectionate letter and sent it to Paris." "Jack Raynor said so, but he couldn't produce the letter." "Well, let's talk further." ①French: Hello. ——Annotation. ②French: Exactly. ——Annotation. ③French: my friend.Annotation one by one. "Now comes the day of tragedy. You have put the events of the morning in order. Have you any good reason?" "I have established that the letter addressed to me was sent at the same time as the telegram was sent. Master was told that he would be on vacation shortly. The quarrel with the bum preceded all this, as I see it."

"I don't understand how you can get that time so accurate, unless you ask Miss Dobler again." "No need. I'm sure of that. If you don't understand that, you don't understand anything, Hastings!" I looked at him for a moment. "Of course! I'm an idiot. If that bum was George Connor, Mr. Renault didn't feel any danger until after a violent quarrel with him. He sent Master, the driver, away because he suspected Connor Nob bought him off. Then he sent a telegram to his son and a letter to you." A slight smile played on Poirot's lips.

"Don't you wonder that he used exactly the same terms in his letter as Madame Reynolds used in her later explanation? If Santiago was a smokescreen, why did Reynolds talk about it? Besides, he Send your son there!" "It's incomprehensible, I admit, but we may find an explanation later on. We now come to that evening and the mysterious guest.This, I admit, does baffle me, unless it is really Madame Dobler that François insists on. " Poirot shook his head. "My friend, my friend, where are you going? Don't forget the fragment of the check, and the fact that Stoner knew Bella Duveen's name. I think we can take it for granted that Bella Duveen was the unknown correspondent who wrote to Jack, and she was the one who came to the Villa Genevieve that night. Whether she came to see Jack, or to ask his father for help, we cannot be sure, but I think We may assume that this was the case. She made a request of Jack, possibly showing him some of Jack's previous letters to her.

The old man wrote a check to buy her off.She tore up the check angrily. The wording of her letter was that of a woman in real love, who might be offended by paying her off.In the end he dismissed her, and what he said here had a special meaning. " "'Well, well, but for God's sake let's go now,'" I repeated, "perhaps a little too much for me, that's all." "That's enough. He's desperately anxious to get rid of the girl. Why? Not because the conversation was unpleasant.No, that's because time is slipping away.And for some reason, time is precious. "

"Why precious?" I asked.I am confused. "That's the question we have to ask ourselves. Why is it valuable? Because then the watch happened, which again shows that time plays a very important role in the crime. We are not far from the actual scene. It was ten-thirty when Bella Duveen left, and from the evidence of the watch we know that the crime was committed before twelve o'clock, or at any rate was scheduled before twelve o'clock. We have reviewed everything before the murder incident, but one thing remains unaccounted for. According to the doctor's testimony, the tramp had been dead for at least forty-eight hours when he was found, and possibly twenty-four hours earlier. There is nothing other than the facts we have discussed. Facts can be used as a basis, and I set the death on the morning of June 7th."

I stared at him blankly in embarrassment. "How did it happen? Why? How could you possibly know?" "Because only then can the ins and outs of the matter be reasonably explained. Monami①, I will guide you step by step. It is so obvious, can't you see clearly?" "My dear Poirot. I can't see clearly, and I thought I was beginning to figure out the way ahead, but now I'm in a complete fog. For God's sake, go on and tell me who killed Mr Renault." "That's exactly what I'm not sure about." "But you said it was very obvious!" "We are contradicting ourselves, my friend. Don't forget, we are investigating two crimes. As I pointed out, we would have to have two dead bodies. Alas, alas, nevous impatiente pas ②! I will one by one Explanation. First of all, we have to apply psychology. We found that Mr. Renault's views and actions showed obvious changes in three points, so there are three psychological problems. The first time was when he arrived in Melanville It happened not long after, the second after a quarrel with my son on a certain subject, and the third on the morning of June 7. Three reasons must now be explained. The first we can attribute to a collision To Mrs. Dobler. The second reason is indirectly connected with Mrs. Dobler, because it involves the marriage of M. Renaud's son to her daughter. But the third reason I ①French: my friend. Translator. ②French: Be patient. ——Annotation. We don't know yet.We have to do some generalization to find it.Now, monami, let me ask you a question, who planned this crime?" "George Conor," I said uncertainly, eyeing Poirot warily. "Exactly. But Giroux made it a rule that a woman lies to save herself, to save her loved ones, or her children. Since we know very well that George Connor ordered her to lie, and George Connor is not her son, so the third case cannot be established. Besides, if the crime is still attributed to George Connor, the first case is also untenable. Thus, we have to accept the second case, that Mrs. Reynolds lied for the sake of her loved one; or in other words, for the sake of George Connor.Do you agree?" "Agreed," I admitted, "seems reasonable enough." "Eh bien! Madame Reynolds loves George Connor. So who is this George Connor?" "The tramp." "What proof do we have that Madame Reynolds loved the tramp?" "No, but..." "Very well. Don't cling to a theory that cannot be proved by facts. Instead, ask yourself: Who did Madame Renaud love?" I shook my head in bewilderment. "Maisoui ③, you know very well. Madame Reynolds is deeply in love with ① French: my friend. Annotation one by one. ②French: Wow.Annotation one by one. ③ French: To be honest. — Annotation. Who, that she fainted when she saw his dead body!" I couldn't help being dumbfounded. "Her husband?" I gasped. Poirot nodded. "Her husband, or George Connor, or whatever you want." I brace myself. "But that's impossible." "Why 'impossible'? Didn't we agree just now? Mrs. Dobler may be blackmailing George Connor. " "Yes, but..." "Hasn't her blackmailing of Mr. Reynolds had a great effect?" "That may be true, but..." "Is it not true that we know nothing of M. Reynaud's youth and upbringing? It is also true that he suddenly appeared as a French-Canadian exactly twenty-two years ago?" "Although," I said more firmly, "it seems to me that you are missing the main point." "Which point, my friend?" "Well, we have admitted that George was the mastermind of the crime. And that leads to the ridiculous conclusion that he was the mastermind of his own murder!" "Eh bien, monami," said Poirot calmly, "that's exactly what he does!" ①French: Hello, my friend. ——Annotation.