“Then I went down to breakfast.”
“And after breakfast?”
“I went upstairs, collected my sketching box and sketching book and we started out.”
“You and Miss Linda Marshall?”
“Yes.”
“What time was that?”
“I think it was just on half past ten.”
“And what did you do?”
“We went to Gull Cove. You know, the cove on the east side of the island. We settled ourselves there. I did a sketch and Linda sunbathed.”
“What time did you leave the cove?”
“At a quarter to twelve. I was playing tennis at twelve and had to change.”
“You had your watch with you?”
“No, as a matter of fact I hadn’t. I asked Linda the time.”
“I see. And then?”
“I packed up my sketching things and went back to the hotel.”
Poirot said:
“And Mademoiselle Linda?”
“Linda?” Oh, Linda went into the sea.”
Poirot said:
“Were you far from the sea where you were sitting?”
“Well, we were well above high-water mark. Just under the cliff—so that I could be a little in the shade and Linda in the sun.”
Poirot said:
“Did Linda Marshall actually enter the sea before you left the beach?”
Christine frowned a little in the effort to remember. She said:
“Let me see. She ran down the beach—I fastened my box—Yes, I heard her splashing in the waves as I was on the path up the cliff.”
“You are sure of that, Madame? That she really entered the sea?”
“Oh yes.”
She stared at him in surprise.
Colonel Weston also stared at him.
Then he said: