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- Агата Кристи
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- Убийство в Восточном экспрессе
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- Стр. 322/327
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"
Now
we
come
to
the
evidence
of
Mr.
Hardman
.
I
believed
all
that
he
told
me
about
his
own
identity
,
but
when
it
came
to
the
actual
methods
he
had
employed
to
guard
Mr.
Ratchett
,
his
story
was
neither
more
nor
less
than
absurd
.
The
only
way
effectively
to
have
protected
Ratchett
was
to
have
passed
the
night
actually
in
his
compartment
or
in
some
spot
where
he
could
watch
the
door
.
The
only
thing
that
his
evidence
did
show
plainly
was
that
no
one
in
any
other
part
of
the
train
could
possibly
have
murdered
Ratchett
.
It
drew
a
clear
circle
round
the
Stamboul-Calais
carriage
.
That
seemed
to
me
a
rather
curious
and
inexplicable
fact
,
and
I
put
it
aside
to
think
over
.
"
You
probably
have
all
heard
by
now
of
the
few
words
I
overheard
between
Miss
Debenham
and
Colonel
Arbuthnot
.
The
interesting
thing
to
my
mind
was
the
fact
that
Colonel
Arbuthnot
called
her
Mary
and
was
clearly
on
terms
of
intimacy
with
her
.
But
the
Colonel
was
only
supposed
to
have
met
her
a
few
days
previously
--
and
I
know
Englishmen
of
the
Colonel
's
type
.
Even
if
he
had
fallen
in
love
with
the
young
lady
at
first
sight
,
he
would
have
advanced
slowly
and
with
decorum
--
not
rushing
things
.
Therefore
I
concluded
that
Colonel
Arbuthnot
and
Miss
Debenham
were
in
reality
well
acquainted
,
and
were
for
some
reason
pretending
to
be
strangers
.
Another
small
point
was
Miss
Debenham
's
easy
familiarity
with
the
term
'
long
distance
'
for
a
telephone
call
.
Yet
Miss
Debenham
had
told
me
that
she
had
never
been
in
the
States
.
"
To
pass
to
another
witness
.
Mrs.
Hubbard
had
told
us
that
lying
in
bed
she
was
unable
to
see
whether
the
communicating
door
was
bolted
or
not
,
and
so
asked
Miss
Ohlsson
to
see
for
her
.
Now
,
though
her
statement
would
have
been
perfectly
true
if
she
had
been
occupying
compartments
Nos.
2
,
4
,
12
,
or
any
even
number
--
where
the
bolt
is
directly
under
the
handle
of
the
door
--
in
the
uneven
numbers
,
such
as
compartment
No.
3
,
the
bolt
is
well
above
the
handle
and
could
not
therefore
be
masked
by
the
sponge
bag
in
the
least
.
I
was
forced
to
the
conclusion
that
Mrs.
Hubbard
was
inventing
an
incident
that
had
never
occurred
.
"
And
here
let
me
say
just
a
word
or
two
about
times
.
To
my
mind
,
the
really
interesting
point
about
the
dented
watch
was
the
place
where
it
was
found
--
in
Ratchett
's
pyjama
pocket
,
a
singularly
uncomfortable
and
unlikely
place
to
keep
one
's
watch
,
especially
as
there
is
a
watch
'
hook
'
provided
just
by
the
head
of
the
bed
.
I
felt
sure
,
therefore
,
that
the
watch
had
been
deliberately
placed
in
the
pocket
and
faked
.
The
crime
,
then
,
was
not
committed
at
a
quarter
past
one
.
"
Was
it
,
then
,
committed
earlier
?
To
be
exact
,
at
twenty-three
minutes
to
one
?
My
friend
M.
Bouc
advanced
as
an
argument
in
favour
of
it
the
loud
cry
which
awoke
me
from
sleep
.
But
if
Ratchett
were
heavily
drugged
he
could
not
have
cried
out
.
If
he
had
been
capable
of
crying
out
he
would
have
been
capable
of
making
some
kind
of
a
struggle
to
defend
himself
,
and
there
were
no
signs
of
any
such
struggle
.
"
I
remembered
that
MacQueen
had
called
attention
,
not
once
but
twice
(
and
the
second
time
in
a
very
blatant
manner
)
,
to
the
fact
that
Ratchett
could
speak
no
French
.
I
came
to
the
conclusion
that
the
whole
business
at
twenty-three
minutes
to
one
was
a
comedy
played
for
my
benefit
!
Anyone
might
see
through
the
watch
business
--
it
is
a
common
enough
device
in
detective
stories
.
They
assumed
that
I
should
see
through
it
and
that
,
pluming
myself
on
my
own
cleverness
,
I
would
go
on
to
assume
that
since
Ratchett
spoke
no
French
the
voice
I
heard
at
twenty-three
minutes
to
one
could
not
be
his
,
and
that
Ratchett
must
be
already
dead
.
But
I
am
convinced
that
at
twenty-three
minutes
to
one
Ratchett
was
still
lying
in
his
drugged
sleep
.
"
But
the
device
has
succeeded
!
I
have
opened
my
door
and
looked
out
.
I
have
actually
heard
the
French
phrase
used
.
If
I
am
so
unbelievably
dense
as
not
to
realize
the
significance
of
that
phrase
,
it
must
be
brought
to
my
attention
.
If
necessary
MacQueen
can
come
right
out
in
the
open
.
He
can
say
,
'
Excuse
me
,
M.
Poirot
,
that
ca
n't
have
been
Mr.
Ratchett
speaking
.
He
ca
n't
speak
French
.
'
