"Coffee?"
"Coffee's more like it, but the old lady never
took coffee."
"I see your point. Yes, it seems an insuperable
difficulty. What did she drink at the meal?"
"Water."
"Worse and worse."
'!Bit of a teaser, isn't it?"
"She had money, the old lady?"
"Very well to do, I imagine. Of course, we
haven't got exact details yet. The Delafontaines
are pretty badly off, from what I can make out.
The old lady helped with the upkeep of the
house."
Poirot smiled a little. He said, "So you suspect
the Delafontaines. Which of them?"
"I don't exactly say I suspect either of them in
particular. But there it is; they're her only near
relations, and her death brings them a tidy sum of
money, I've no doubt. We all know what human
nature is I"
"Sometimes inhuman--yes, that is very true.
And there was nothing else the old lady ate or
drank?"
"Well, as a matter of fact--"'
"Ah, voild! I felt that you had something, as
you say, up your sleeve--the soup, the fish pie, the
apple tart--a btise! Now we come to the hub of
the affair."
"I don't know about that. But as a matter of