Caroline said there would be no difficulty about that. Our Annie’s dearest friend was Miss Gannett’s maid, Clara. And Clara was walking out with the boots at the Three Boars. The whole thing was simplicity itself, and by the aid of Miss Gannett, who cooperated loyally, at once giving Clara leave of absence, the matter was rushed through at express speed.

It was when we were sitting down to lunch that Caroline remarked, with would-be unconcern: “About those boots of Ralph Paton’s.”

“Well,” I said, “what about them?”

“ M. Poirot thought they were probably brown. He was wrong. They’re black.”

And Caroline nodded her head several times. She evidently felt that she had scored a point over Poirot.