“Pardon me, mon ami , but you did not understand it in the least. I was trying to decide whether or not I would clear John Cavendish at once. I could have cleared him⁠—though it might have meant a failure to convict the real criminals. They were entirely in the dark as to my real attitude up to the very last moment⁠—which partly accounts for my success.”

“Do you mean that you could have saved John Cavendish from being brought to trial?”

“Yes, my friend. But I eventually decided in favour of ‘a woman’s happiness.’ Nothing but the great danger through which they have passed could have brought these two proud souls together again.”

I looked at Poirot in silent amazement. The colossal cheek of the little man! Who on earth but Poirot would have thought of a trial for murder as a restorer of conjugal happiness!