Roger Mystery

Chapter 14 The Neighbor's Occupation (2)
Melrose and I were old acquaintances, so I introduced Poirot to him and explained the cause and effect by the way.The chief of the police station was obviously a little embarrassed, and Inspector Raglan's face was even more livid.Davis, on the other hand, gloated a little at the troubled look of his boss.

"The case will be cleared up soon," said Raglan. "There is no need for amateur detectives to get involved. The stupidest man should have seen through the case last night. We didn't have to waste twelve hours."

He gave poor Davis a vengeful look, but Davis looked dull.

"Mr. Aykroyd's family has the right to decide, that is natural," said Colonel Melrose, "but in no case should they interfere with the official investigation process. Of course, Mr. Poirot's name is also well-known." He added politely. last sentence.

"Police are far more unlucky to advertise themselves," Raglan said.

It was Poirot who saved the embarrassing situation.

"I'm really retired," he said, "and never intend to take on any more cases. Above all, I'm terrified of publicity. I have an obligatory offer—if I can do anything to unravel the mystery." Li, please don’t expose my name.”

Inspector Raglan's face suddenly turned cloudy.

"I have also heard a little about your past brilliant achievements." The colonel's compliment made the atmosphere immediately harmonious.

"I have a great deal of experience," said Poirot quietly, "but the vast majority of successes have been due to the support of the police. I have the utmost admiration for the police in your country. If Inspector Raglan will allow me to serve as his It's an honor to be your assistant."

The inspector's expression became a little more relaxed.

Colonel Melrose pulled me aside.

"As far as I know, the little fellow has had some pretty big cases," he whispered. "We certainly don't want to alarm Scotland Yard; Raglan is pretty confident, but I'm not sure I quite agree with him. You see, I... uh, compared to him, I have more friendship with the relevant people after all. Poirot doesn't seem to want to take credit, does he? He should cooperate with us in a proper manner, eh?"

"All the credit goes to Inspector Raglan," I said with mock dignity.

"Well, well," said Colonel Melrose in a loud voice, "Mr. Poirot, please be sure to give me your opinion on the latest development of the case."

"Thank you," said Poirot. "According to my friend Dr. Sheppard, the suspect is the butler?"

"It's all nonsense," Raglan replied immediately. "These high-ranking servants shrink back and act suspiciously when things happen, and they have nothing to do with them."

"What about fingerprints?" I reminded.

"It doesn't match Parker at all," he smiled, "and your fingerprints don't match Mr. Raymond's, doctor."

"And what about the fingerprints of Captain Ralph Paton?" asked Poirot quietly.

I couldn't help secretly admiring his sharpness, and the inspector's eyes also added a layer of respect.

"It seems that you don't want to waste time, M. Poirot. It must be a pleasure to work with you. We are going to compare the fingerprints of the young man as soon as we find him."

"With all due respect, you are mistaken, Inspector," said Colonel Melrose mildly. "I saw Ralph Paton grow up with my own eyes. He could never be a murderer."

"The world is unpredictable." The inspector dismissed it.

"Do you have any evidence against him?" I asked.

"He left the hotel at nine o'clock last night and was seen around 09:30 around Finley Manor and he is nowhere to be seen. He is understood to be in dire financial straits. I have also managed to secure a pair of his shoes. - There are rubber spikes on the soles. He has two pairs of these shoes, which are exactly the same style. I am going to compare the shoe prints. I have arranged for the police to protect the scene in advance to prevent the shoe prints from being damaged."

"We're going at once," said Colonel Melrose. "Will you and M. Poirot come with you?"

Of course we agreed, and got into the colonel's car together.The Inspector was anxious to be on the scene at once to examine the shoe prints, and told us to drop him off at the porter.Halfway through the estate the driveway diverged off to the right, leading to the terrace and the window of Aykroyd's study.

"Would you like to go with the Inspector, M. Poirot?" asked the Chief Constable, "or look into the study first?"

Poirot chose the latter.Parker opened the door for us, and seemed to have recovered from the horror of the night before.

Colonel Melrose took a key from his pocket, opened the door to the portico, and led us into the study.

"Monsieur Poirot, the room remains in the same condition as it was last night, except that the body has been removed."

"Where was the body?"

I described where Aykroyd was located as precisely as I could.The armchair still stood in front of the fireplace.

Poirot went over and sat down in the armchair.

"Where did you put that blue envelope when you left?"

"Mr Ackroyd put it on this little table on the right."

Poirot nodded.

"Other than that, is everything else in place?"

"I think so."

"Colonel Melrose, may I trouble you to sit in this chair for a moment? Thank you very much. Then, Mr. Doctor, please show me the exact position of the dagger."

I did so, and all the while the little man stood by the door and watched.

"That is, the hilt is clearly visible from the doorway. Did you and Parker notice the short sword immediately?"

"Yes."

Poirot came to the window.

"The lights must have been on when the body was found?"

I affirmed, and went to him, and saw that he was carefully studying the traces on the windowsill.

"Rubber studs are the same style as Captain Peyton's shoes," he said quietly.

Then he returned to the center of the room and looked around, examining everything in the room with his sharp, trained eyes.

"Are you an observant man, Dr. Shepard?" he asked at last.

"It should be." I was a little surprised.

"There was a fire in the fire, I know. And what was the state of the fire when you broke in and found Mr Ackroyd dead? Was it dying?"

I smiled embarrassedly.

"I—I can't really tell. I didn't notice. Maybe Mr. Raymond or Major Brant—"

The little man smiled and shook his head.

"As expected, you have to be methodical. Asking you this question is a mistake in my judgment. Everyone has a different profession, and your ability to describe to me the details of a patient's appearance-nothing escapes your attention; and if I want to know As for the papers on the table, I'll have to go to Mr. Raymond, he knows it all. As for the fire, I'll have to go to the man who keeps these households by trade. I'm sorry—"

He went quickly to the fireplace and rang the bell.

After a minute or two, Parker appeared.

"I heard the bell, sir?" he said hesitantly.

"Come in, Parker," said Colonel Melrose, "this gentleman wants to ask you something."

Parker turned to Poirot respectfully.

"Parker," said the little man, "you and Dr. Sheppard broke in last night and found the master dead. What was the state of the fire then?"

Parker answered without hesitation, "It's a small fire, sir, and it's almost dead."

"Ah!" Poirot exclaimed with a sense of accomplishment.He asked again: "Look carefully, Parker, does this room look exactly the same now as it did then?"

The butler glanced around and finally settled on the window.

"The curtains were drawn, sir, and the lights were on."

Poirot nodded approvingly.

"Anything else?"

"Yes, sir, the chair is pulled out a little."

He pointed to an old-fashioned chair to the left of the door, between the door and the window.I drew a sketch of the room (see picture [-]) and marked the chair I mentioned with an X.

"Look at it in its original position," said Poirot.

The butler dragged the chair a good two feet out from the wall and turned it so that it faced the door.

"That's strange," murmured Poirot. "No one would sit in this position, at this angle. I wonder, then, who pushed it back? Is it you, my friend?"

"No, sir," Parker denied, "I found out that the master was dead at that time, and I was in a hurry, so I couldn't care less about it."

Poirot looked at me again.

"What about you, doctor?"

I shook my head.

"When I returned with the police, the chair had been pushed back," Parker interjected, "I'm pretty sure of that."

"How strange," said Poirot again.

"It must have been pushed back by Raymond or Brant," I reminded him. "It must be all right?"

"Totally irrelevant," said Poirot, "that's why it's very interesting," he added softly.

"I'm sorry for a moment." Colonel Melrose said and left the room with Parker.

"In your opinion, is Parker telling the truth?" I asked.

"As far as the chair is concerned, he's not lying. I don't know the rest. Doctor, if you go through these cases a few times, you'll find that they all have one thing in common."

"What's in common?" I asked curiously.

"Everyone involved in the case had something to hide."

"What about me?" I asked with a smile.

Poirot stared at me intently.

"I think you have reservations too," he said quietly.

"But--"

"About the young man Peyton, have you told me everything you know?" Seeing me blushing, he smiled, "Oh, don't be nervous, I'm not forcing you. I'll figure it out when the time comes."

"I wish you could tell me your method of investigation," I said boldly, to hide my embarrassment. "For example, the fire problem."

"Well, that's easy. You left Mr Ackroyd at—eight-fifty, didn't you?"

"Yes, it should be right."

"The window was closed and bolted and the door was unlocked. When the body was found at [-]:[-] the door was locked but the window was open. Who opened it? It could only have been Ackroyd Mr. himself. As for the reasons, there are only two: either the heat is unbearable in the house - but in view of the fact that the fire is dying out and the temperature has dropped sharply last night, this possibility can be ruled out; the second possibility is that he will Someone let in the room through the window. If he would allow someone to come in through the window in this way, the other party must be quite familiar with him, because he has been paying attention to whether the same window is closed tightly before."

"Sounds easy," I said.

"If you put the facts together in an orderly way, it's all pretty obvious. Now our concern is who was with him at 09:30 last night. All indications are that this person came in through the window. and, though he was alive when Miss Flora later came to see Mr Ackroyd, we still had to lift the veil from the visitor to find out. It is probable that he left the window open and gave the murderer An opportunity to take advantage of; or the same man returns again. Ah, the Colonel is back."

Colonel Melrose came in briskly.

"Finally tracked down the call," he said, "not from here, but from a public phone box at Kings Albert Station to Dr Shepherd's house at 23 last night. At ten twenty-three there is a night post for Liverpool."

(End of this chapter)