Work Text:
“What I don’t understand, Poirot, is why you suspected the assistant in the first place,” Inspector Japp said. “He didn’t leave the reception until the maid screamed.”
“But no, inspector, you are incorrect. No-one saw him leave, which is not the same thing at all. And just because a man says he hasn’t done something, it does not mean we must believe him. After all, what would happen if all the miscreants you have arrested claimed they hadn’t committed the crime? Would you let them all go?”
“Of course not. But you have to admit, not only did no-one see him leave, but no-one noticed him return.”
“And therefore, because a man manages to both leave and return unobserved, he must have been there all the time. No, inspector, that will not do.”
“Come on, Poirot, explain how he managed to kill the deputy chairman,” Hastings said. “Even you must admit he didn’t have much time, or his absence would have been noticed.”
“It was obvious from the start that whoever committed the murder had planned it carefully. Why else would the deputy chairman have gone into that particular room?”
“The murderer took advantage of its convenient location, I suppose,” Japp said.
“Or he asked the deputy chairman to meet him there as being somewhere discreet, where there was no chance of an interruption.”
“Why would the deputy chairman do that?” Hastings asked.
“Because he knew the other man and was happy to meet him in private. I am sure if you make enquiries, you will soon discover that there was some form of connection between the two. But you asked me why I suspected the assistant. Once I was convinced the room had been chosen deliberately, I knew it had to be someone who was aware of the arrangements of all the rooms. That room, as you are aware, was unlikely to be used either by one of the guests, or by the staff, while the reception was happening.”
Japp nodded. “Yes, it was a room where they kept all the linen and the silver.”
“Précisément. Before the reception, the staff would be in and out, laying up all the tables, but during the reception, they would be serving food and drinks, and would have no need to go in there.”
“Hang on a minute, Poirot,” Hastings said. “The maid did go in there. That was why she found the body.”
“Yes, indeed. She needed to find a replacement tablecloth when a jug of water had accidentally been spilt over one of the tables. And if you will recall, she said it was the assistant who asked her to fetch it.”
“But why would he do that if he knew that there was a dead body in the room?” Japp said. “Surely if he had murdered the man, that would have been the last thing he would have wanted.”
“Ah no, inspector. He needed the body to be found, so no-one could question his alibi. If it hadn’t been found for several hours, then he couldn’t believably say he had never left the room.”
“Surely, they could have established the approximate time of death,” Hastings said.
“Agreed. But wouldn’t it look suspicious if the assistant claimed that he was definitely in the room between eight and half past eight? Why should he have noted this if he wasn’t seeking to establish an alibi? And also, he wanted to avoid the possibility of being sent to look for the deputy chairman when it was noticed he was missing. I think we can safely assume he had deliberately knocked over the water jug so the tablecloth would need replacing.”
“All of which is all very well and makes sense once you know to suspect the assistant,” Japp said. “But what did lead you to him in the first place?”
“As I said. It had to be someone who knew the layout of the rooms, and who better than the man who had been responsible for arranging all the practical details of the reception, the assistant?”