“Exactly,” agreed the other man.

“Yet there must have been some reason for his thinking so,” mused Poirot. “Oh! no,” he held up his hand in protest, “I know the reason you will give⁠—but it is not enough. We must seek elsewhere. I will put it this way. From the beginning of the case I have been struck by one thing⁠—the nature of those words which Mr. Raymond overheard. It has been amazing to me that no one has commented on them, has seen anything odd about them.”

He paused a minute, and then quoted softly:⁠—

“ ⁠ ⁠… the calls on my purse have been so frequent of late that I fear it is impossible for me to accede to your request. Does nothing strike you as odd about that?”

“I don’t think so,” said Raymond. “He has frequently dictated letters to me, using almost exactly those same words.”