opened the door--and he forced his way in and
killed her."
POirot shook his head. "Au contraire. She was
lying peacefully in bed when she was stabbed."
Miss Henderson stared at him. "What's your
idea?" she asked abruptly.
Poirot smiled. "Well, it looks, does it not, as
though she knew the person she admitted .... "
"You mean," said Miss Henderson and her
voice sounded a little harsh, "that the murderer is
a passenger on the ship?"
Poirot nodded. "It seems indicated."
"And the string of beads left on the floor was a
blind?"
"Precisely."
210
Agatha Christie
"The theft of the money also?"
"Exactly."
There was a pause, then Miss Henderson said
slowly: "I thought Mrs. Clapperton a very unpleasant
woman and I don't think anyone on
board really liked her--but there wasn't anyone
who had any reason to kill her."
"Except her husband, perhaps," said Poirot.
"You don't really think--" She stopped.
"It is the opinion of every person on this ship
that Colonel Clapperton would have been quite
justified in 'taking a hatchet to her.' That was, I
think, the expression used."