"C'est possible. But it would be a very narrow
fit--arid there were people passing up and down
the deck all the time, remember."
"Then through the door," said Miss Henderson
impatiently.
"But you forget, Mademoiselle. Mrs. Clapper-ton
had locked the door on the inside. She had
done so before Colonel Clapperton left the boat
this raorning. He actually tried it--so we know
that is so."
PROBLEM AT SEA
209
"Nonsense. It probably stuck--or he didn't
turn the handle properly."
"But it does not rest on his word. We actually
heard Mrs. Clapperton herself say so."
"We?"
"Miss Mooney, Miss Cregan, Colonel Clapper-.
ton and myself."
Ellie Henderson tapped a neatly shod foot. She
did not speak for a moment or two. Then she said
in a slightly irritable tone:
"Well--what exactly do you deduce from that?
If Mrs. Clappcrton could lock the door she could
unlock it too, I suppose."
"Precisely, precisely." Poirot turned a beaming
face upon her. "And you see where that leads us. Mrs. Clapperton unlocked the door and let the
murderer in. Now would she be likely to do that for a bead seller?"
Ellic objected: "She might not have known who
it was. He may have knocked--she got up and