Agatha Christie - Hercule Poirot 05 - The Big Four (1927) by Agatha Christie

Author:Agatha Christie [Christie, Agatha]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Mystery, Thriller, Suspense, Classics
ISBN: 9780062073877
Amazon: 0062073877
Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks
Published: 2011-08-30T05:00:00+00:00

Twelve

THE BAITED TRAP

It was mid-January—a typical English winter day in London, damp and dirty. Poirot and I were sitting in two chairs well drawn up to the fire. I was aware of my friend looking at me with a quizzical smile, the meaning of which I could not fathom.

“A penny for your thoughts,” I said lightly.

“I was thinking, my friend, that at midsummer, when you first arrived, you told me that you proposed to be in this country for a couple of months only.”

“Did I say that?” I asked, rather awkwardly. “I don’t remember.”

Poirot’s smile broadened.

“You did, mon ami. Since then, you have changed your plan, is it not so?”

“Er—yes, I have.”

“And why is that?”

“Dash it all, Poirot, you don’t think I’m going to leave you all alone when you’re up against a thing like the ‘Big Four,’ do you?”

Poirot nodded gently.

“Just as I thought. You are a staunch friend, Hastings. It is to serve me that you remain on here. And your wife—little Cinderella as you call her, what does she say?”

“I haven’t gone into details, of course, but she understands. She’d be the last one to wish me to turn my back on a pal.”

“Yes, yes, she, too, is a loyal friend. But it is going to be a long business, perhaps.”

I nodded, rather discouraged.

“Six months already,” I mused, “and where are we? You know, Poirot, I can’t help thinking that we ought to—well, to do something.”

“Always so energetic, Hastings! And what precisely would you have me do?”

This was somewhat of a poser, but I was not going to withdraw from my position.

“We ought to take the offensive,” I urged. “What have we done all this time?”

“More than you think, my friend. After all, we have established the identity of Number Two and Number Three, and we have learnt more than a little about the ways and methods of Number Four.”

I brightened up a little. As Poirot put it, things didn’t sound so bad.

“Oh! Yes, Hastings, we have done a great deal. It is true that I am not in a position to accuse either Ryland or Madame Olivier—who would believe me? You remember I thought once I had Ryland successfully cornered? Nevertheless I have made my suspicions known in certain quarters—the highest—Lord Aldington, who enlisted my help in the matter of the stolen submarine plans, is fully cognizant of all my information respecting the Big Four—and while others may doubt, he believes. Ryland and Madame Olivier, and Li Chang Yen himself may go their ways, but there is a searchlight turned on all their movements.”

“And Number Four?” I asked.

“As I said just now—I am beginning to know and understand his methods. You may smile, Hastings—but to penetrate a man’s personality, to know exactly what he will do under any given circumstances—that is the beginning of success. It is a duel between us, and whilst he is constantly giving away his mentality to me, I endeavour to let him know little or nothing of mine. He is in the light, I in the shade.

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