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Chapter Text

Poirot and Hastings were sitting in what the landlord’s wife referred to as ‘the snug’ in an inn which was situated at one end of a small fishing village on the south coast.  The snug was generally reserved for residents, the public bar being larger and therefore more suitable for the fishermen who were the main patrons of the inn.  Poirot and Hastings were currently the only residents and therefore had the snug to themselves.

“There he goes again,” Poirot said.  “Can you not hear him?”

“What, peg leg?” Hastings asked.

“Yes, the gentleman with the artificial leg.  He has a most distinctive tread, n’est-ce pas?  But I am most curious.  Why does he walk up and down the path in front of the inn, and yet never call in?  What is there which attracts his attention?”

“Perhaps he’s a fisherman and getting ready for going to sea tomorrow, so he walks from his boat down to the village for supplies and then returns to the boat.”

“But he has made more than one journey.”

“Maybe he has a lot of supplies.  And no doubt he wants to get away early tomorrow.”

“But the other fishermen are in the bar here.  And I am sure one of them said it was a particularly low tide tomorrow morning, so they would be leaving later than usual.  No, I believe ‘peg leg’ as you chose to call him, has work which needs to be done under cover of darkness.  But we shall know more tomorrow.”

“Whatever you say, Poirot.”  Hastings yawned.

“Ah, mon pauvre Hastings.  Your lack of sleep is catching up with you.  You do not keep the sensible hours.”

“When I allowed myself an evening with friends which extended into the night I didn’t expect to discover on returning to the flat that we were leaving early in the morning.  But you’re right.  If you’re planning a busy day tomorrow I shall head for my bed.”

“And I, too, shall retire for the night.  It is important for the little grey cells that I have sufficient sleep.”

Chapter Text

The following morning Hastings and Poirot found a suitable point above the village from which they could watch all that was happening in the small bay without being observed themselves.  They saw the main fishing fleet depart on the morning tide, but one boat remained at anchor.

“Do you think that one’s Peg Leg’s?” Hastings asked, pointing it out.

“It would not surprise me,” Poirot replied, “but without seeing the man, we cannot be sure.  I see you have brought the binoculars with you.  Perhaps you could take a look at the seabirds with them, and then look downwards until you see the boat.”

Hastings chuckled.  “By all means.  Unless you wish to take a look yourself.”

“But no, not at the moment.  I am sure you can tell me all that I need to know for now.”

Hastings did as Poirot asked.  “It doesn’t look like a fishing boat to me, not what you’d call a working one.  You might find one like it in the south of France, the sort which take visitors out to go fishing.  We could take a walk down there, for a closer look.”

“I do not think that would be advisable.  No, we shall wait until it is time for the lunch.  After which, perhaps a little promenade past it would be appropriate.”

They sat quietly, Poirot apparently deep in thought, while Hastings used his binoculars to look along the coast to see if there was anywhere suitable for sea bathing.

After a while Hastings said, “There’s a group of three men heading in the direction of that boat. I think one of them may be Peg Leg.”

“May I see?” Poirot asked.  Hastings passed over the binoculars.  “Yes, he is certainly walking as though he had an artificial leg.”  Poirot returned the binoculars to Hastings and added, “Watch carefully what they do.”

Hastings did so.  “The youngest one has just gone down the hatch,” he reported.  “Various packets are being handed down, but I can’t make out what they are.  And now they are closing the hatch.”

“Has the young man come back up?” 

“No, he seems to be still down there.  The other two are returning towards the village though.”

“Then they must be planning to leave shortly.  I suspect they will wait until after high tide to depart, when it will be easier to negotiate the entrance to the harbour.  This leaves me time to get a message to friend Japp to join us.”

Chapter Text

Japp arrived shortly after lunch.  Poirot had gone down to the car park to meet him, leaving Hastings, equipped with a sketchpad and pencil, to keep a discrete eye on the boat.  As they walked, Poirot quickly gave Japp details on what they had seen, and what he had also surmised.

As they approached the seat where Hastings was waiting, they saw him stand.

“I’m glad you’re here,” Hastings said.  “Peg Leg and his companion went past a few minutes ago.  The companion was pushing a trolley with what looked like a trunk tied to it.  Peg Leg seemed quite animated, and I think they will be leaving very soon.”

“Then I think a stroll towards the mooring point is advisable,” Poirot replied.  “We shall show our friend here,” he indicated Japp, “what a delightful spot this is.”

They arrived just as the young man emerged from the hatch.  He and the second man attached a rope to the trunk and proceeded to haul it on board, while Peg Leg did his best to guide it.  The trunk was clearly heavy, the man singing out, ‘Heave ho’, as the two of them pulled together on the ‘ho’.

“Now that is interesting,” Poirot said.  “What have they got in there that is so heavy?”

“As far as we are aware they are only smuggling jewels out,” Japp replied.  “Perhaps it’s full of jewellery.”

“But why pack them all together?  Surely it would be easier to make several packages, simpler both to transport and to store.  They cannot be planning to take the trunk down the hatch, it is far too big.”

“They’ll have to leave it on deck,” Hastings said.

As soon as they had secured the trunk on the deck, Peg Leg went on board, and it wasn’t long before they were on their way.

Hastings picked up his binoculars to watch the boat leave the harbour and remarked, “That trunk doesn’t look very safe where it is.  If they don’t watch out they’ll lose it overboard.”

“But is it possible?” Poirot muttered.  Then he said, “Japp, where did you say your men will intercept them?”

“Once they’re clear of the harbour.  They’re ready even if they try to make a run for it.”

“But no, that will be too late.  They intend for that trunk to vanish overboard.  We may not be able to stop them, but we must mark the place where it goes down.  Quick, you and Hastings must follow them.”

Chapter Text

Japp and Hastings ran down to the harbour, where they found an old man tinkering with the engine of a small motor boat.  Japp showed his warrant card, and explained what they wanted.  The man looked surprised, but just nodded, and fired up the engine.  They were soon heading towards the larger vessel which was already leaving the harbour entrance.

“Can you go any faster?” Japp sounded, above the noise of the engine.

“Not at the moment,” the man shouted back.  “If I push her too hard, she’ll get water in the engine.  Once we’re clear of the entrance it’ll be easier.”

Hastings, who was hanging onto the side of the boat, and being buffeted by salt water which was whipped up by the wind and the waves, nodded in understanding.

As they cleared the harbour entrance, Japp shouted, “Watch out!”

The man had seen what was happening and hurriedly turned his wheel to avoid the trunk, which had slid off the side of the boat.  “That was dangerous,” he yelled.  “They can’t have tied it down properly.  Do you want me to speed up now?”

“No,” Japp shouted back.  “We need to mark this place.  Someone will have to retrieve that trunk and we need to know where it’s gone.”

The man opened a locker under one of the seats and pulled out a small marker buoy.  “This should do it,” he said, and threw the buoy overboard.  “That’ll be close enough for a diver to find it.  Mind you, probably better to wait for low tide.  Where now?”

“Back to shore, please.”

They were soon standing on the harbourside.  Japp and Hastings were soaking wet, and so, having thanked the man and assuring him he would be paid for his trouble, they headed for the inn to change into dry clothes, after which Japp departed to meet with his colleagues.

Later, Japp joined Poirot and Hastings for dinner at the inn. 

When he arrived, Hastings said, “It looks like they’re searching for that trunk.”  He pointed out to sea, where they could see a number of powerful lights.

“Yes,” Japp replied.  “They’ve sent divers down.  And it’s a good job you told us to mark the place, Poirot.  If we’d not done so, it would have taken much longer to find it, if, indeed, we had known about it in the first place.  But what do you think is in the trunk?”

Poirot was not able to answer, as the landlady came in at that moment to tell Japp he was wanted on the telephone.

He went with her and returned shortly afterwards.  He nodded at Poirot and said, “As you no doubt expected, there was a body in the trunk.  And I suspect you are about to tell me, whose it is.”

“Mais oui, mon ami.  It is the body of the missing gang member, Anthony Bridger.  We knew there were three men involved, Bridger, his confederate, and their French contact, who we can assume is the gentleman Hastings referred to as Peg Leg.  The lad we saw this morning was clearly nothing but a hired hand.”

“But why jettison the body just as they were leaving the harbour?”

“They counted on it not being found for a few days; that was all they needed.  Once they were in France they could easily disappear.  They tied the trunk loosely, and then, as soon as they had left the harbour, the rope was released and, pfft, the trunk disappeared.”

“Well, thanks to all your help in this matter, Poirot, we have the men, the jewels, and the body.  And now to dinner.”

Japp smiled as the landlady brought in two plates of steak and kidney pie and vegetables, together with one plate of ham and  boiled new potatoes.

“Poirot, you don’t know what you’re missing,” he said.

“I do, my friend, I do.”