minute."
"Well, you admit it's quite calm now."
M. Poirot admitted this grudgingly. ",'i ce
moment, yes. That is why I revive. I once more interest
myself in what passea around mewyour very
adept handling Of the General Forbes, for instance."
"You meanw" Miss Hetdei-son paused.
Hercule Poirot bowed. "Your methods of extracting
the scandalous matter. Admirable!"
Miss Henderson laughed in an unashamed manner.
"That touch about the Guards.'? I knew that
would bring the old boy up spluttering and gasping.''
She leaned forward Confidentially. "I admit I like scandal--the more ill-natured, the better!"
Poirot looked thoughtfully at her--her slim
196
Agatha Christie
well-preserved figure, her keen dark eyes, her gray
hair; a woman of forty-five who was content to
look her age.
Ellie said abruptly: "I have it! Aren't you the
great detective?"
Poirot bowed. "You are too amiable, Ma-demoiselle."
But he made no disclaimer.
"How thrilling," said Miss Henderson. "Are
you 'hot on the trail' as they say in books? Have
we a criminal secretly in our midst? Or am I being
indiscreet?"
"Not at all. Not at all. It pains me to disappoint
your expectations, but I am simply here, like
everyone else, to amuse myself."