to Dorcas, ‘I don’t know what to do; scandal between husband and wife is a dreadful thing.’ At 4 o’clock she has been angry, but completely mistress of herself. At 5 o’clock she is in violent distress, and speaks of having had a great shock.
“Looking at the matter psychologically, I drew one deduction which I was convinced was correct. The second ‘scandal’ she spoke of was not the same as the first—and it concerned herself!
“Let us reconstruct. At 4 o’clock, Mrs. Inglethorp quarrels with her son,
you’re right about that man, Poirot. I don’t like him.”
“He is clever,” observed Poirot meditatively.
“Oh, clever as the devil! I must say I was overjoyed to see him in the plight he was in on Tuesday. You never saw such a spectacle!” And I described the doctor’s adventure. “He looked a regular scarecrow! Plastered with mud from head to foot.”