He has given me, however, such a detailed account of what passed between them that I set it down with as much confidence on paper as though I had actually been present.
Mr. Cust seemed to have shrunk. His stoop was more apparent. His fingers plucked vaguely at his coat.
For some time, I gather, Poirot did not speak.
He sat and looked at the man opposite him.
The atmosphere became restful—soothing—full of infinite leisure….
It must have been a dramatic moment—this meeting of the two adversaries in the long drama. In Poirot’s place I should have felt the dramatic thrill.
Poirot, however, is nothing if not matter-of-fact. He was absorbed in producing a certain effect upon the man opposite him.
At last he said gently:
“Do you know who I am?”
The other shook his head.
“No—no—I can’t say I do. Unless you are Mr. Lucas’s—what do they call it?—junior. Or perhaps you come from Mr. Maynard?”
(Maynard & Cole were the defending solicitors.)
His tone was polite but not very interested. He seemed absorbed in some inner abstraction.
“I am Hercule Poirot….”
Poirot said the words very gently…and watched for the effect.
Mr. Cust raised his head a little.
“Oh, yes?”
He said it as naturally as Inspector Crome might have said it—but without the superciliousness.
Then, a minute later, he repeated his remark.
“Oh, yes?” he said, and this time his tone was different—it held an awakened interest. He raised his head and looked at Poirot.
Hercule Poirot met his gaze and nodded his own head gently once or twice.
“Yes,” he said. “I am the man to whom you wrote the letters.”
At once the contact was broken. Mr. Cust dropped his eyes and spoke irritably and fretfully.
“I never wrote to you. Those letters weren’t written by me. I’ve said so again and again.”
“I know,” said Poirot. “But if you did not write them, who did?”
“An enemy. I must have an enemy. They are all against me. The police—everyone—all against me. It’s a gigantic conspiracy.”
Poirot did not reply.
Mr. Cust said:
“Everyone’s hand has been against me—always.”
“Even when you were a child?”