“Yes,” said Lenox, “I know⁠—but I am not going to tell you all the same.”

She paused for a minute or two, her dark brows drawn together in a frown.

“You believe he did it?” she said abruptly.

Poirot shrugged his shoulders.

“The police say so.”

“Ah,” said Lenox, “hedging, are you? So there is something to hedge about.”

Again she was silent, frowning. Poirot said gently:

“You have known Derek Kettering a long time, have you not?”

“Off and on ever since I was a kid,” said Lenox gruffly. Poirot nodded his head several times without speaking.

460