‘Ah, pardon. Who would have been the person to tear it off?’
‘Mr Lee does, sir, every morning. Mr Alfred, he’s a very methodical gentleman.’
‘I see. Thank you.’
Tressilian went out. Sugden said, puzzled:
‘Is there anything fishy about that calendar, Mr Poirot? Have I missed something there?’
With a shrug of his shoulders Poirot said:
‘The calendar is of no importance. It was just a little experiment I was making.’
Colonel Johnson said:
‘Inquest tomorrow. There’ll be an adjournment, of course.’
Sugden said:
‘Yes, sir, I’ve seen the Coroner and it’s all arranged for.’
II
George Lee came into the room, accompanied by his wife.
Colonel Johnson said:
‘Good morning. Sit down, will you? There are a few questions I want to ask both of you. Something I’m not quite clear about.’
‘I shall be glad to give you any assistance I can,’ said George, somewhat pompously.
Magdalene said faintly:
‘Of course!’
The chief constable gave a slight nod to Sugden. The latter said:
‘About those telephone calls on the night of the crime. You put through a call to Westeringham, I think you said, Mr Lee?’
George said coldly:
‘Yes, I did. To my agent in the constituency. I can refer you to him and—’
Superintendent Sugden held up his hand to stem the flow.
‘Quite so—quite so, Mr Lee. We’re not disputing that point. Your call went through at 8.59 exactly.’
‘Well—I—er—couldn’t say as to the exact time.’
‘Ah,’ said Sugden. ‘But we can! We always check up on these things very carefully. Very carefully indeed. The call was put through at 8.59 and it was terminated at 9.4. Your father, Mr Lee, was killed about 9.15. I must ask you once more for an account of your movements.’
‘I’ve told you—I was telephoning!’
‘No, Mr Lee, you weren’t.’
‘Nonsense—you must have made a mistake! Well, I may, perhaps, have just finished telephoning—I think I debated making another call—was just considering whether it was—er—worth—the expense—when I heard the noise upstairs.’
‘You would hardly debate whether or not to make a telephone call for ten minutes.’