He came slowly across to me, an open letter in his hand. He read it through himself, then passed it to me.
“Tell me, mon ami,” he said. “What do you make of this?”
I took it from him with some interest.
It was written on thickish white notepaper in printed characters:
Mr. Hercule Poirot,—You fancy yourself, don’t you, at solving mysteries that are too difficult for our poor thick-headed British police? Let us see, Mr. Clever Poirot, just how clever you can be. Perhaps you’ll find this nut too hard to crack. Look out for Andover, on the 21st of the month.
Yours, etc.,
A B C.
I glanced at the envelope. That also was printed.
“Postmarked WC1,” said Poirot as I turned my attention to the postmark. “Well, what is your opinion?”
I shrugged my shoulders as I handed it back to him.
“Some madman or other, I suppose.”
“That is all you have to say?”
“Well—doesn’t it sound like a madman to you?”
“Yes, my friend, it does.”
His tone was grave. I looked at him curiously.
“You take this very seriously, Poirot.”
“A madman, mon ami, is to be taken seriously. A madman is a very dangerous thing.”
“Yes, of course, that is true…I hadn’t considered that point…But what I meant was, it sounds more like a rather idiotic kind of hoax. Perhaps some convivial idiot who had had one over the eight.”
“Comment? Nine? Nine what?”
“Nothing—just an expression. I meant a fellow who was tight. No, damn it, a fellow who had had a spot too much to drink.”
“Merci, Hastings—the expression ‘tight’ I am acquainted with it. As you say, there may be nothing more to it than that….”
“But you think there is?” I asked, struck by the dissatisfaction of his tone.
Poirot shook his head doubtfully, but he did not speak.
“What have you done about it?” I inquired.
“What can one do? I showed it to Japp. He was of the same opinion as you—a stupid hoax—that was the expression he used. They get these things every day at Scotland Yard. I, too, have had my share….”
“But you take this one seriously?”
Poirot replied slowly.
“There is something about that letter, Hastings, that I do not like….”
In spite of myself, his tone impressed me.
“You think—what?”