“Poirot,” I cried, “I congratulate you! This is a great discovery.”
“What is a great discovery?”
“Why, that it was the coco and not the coffee that was poisoned. That explains everything! Of course it did not take effect until the early morning, since the coco was only drunk in the middle of the night.”
“So you think that the coco—mark well what I say, Hastings, the coco—contained strychnine?”
“Of course! That salt on the tray, what else could it have been?”
“It might have been salt,” replied Poirot placidly.
it in your hands. Though, if it is as we suspect, it seems a clear enough case. God forgive me if I am wronging him!”
I looked at my watch. It was six o’clock. I determined to lose no time.
Five minutes’ delay, however, I allowed myself. I spent it in ransacking the library until I discovered a medical