in the crime, or was the mysterious lady who called upon Mr. Renauld that night, you are wrong. I traveled home from

France with her that day, and parted from her at Victoria that evening so that it is clearly impossible for her to have been in Merlinville.”

“Ah!” Poirot looked at me thoughtfully. “And you would swear to that in a court of law?”

“Most certainly I would.”

Poirot rose and bowed.

“Mon ami! Vive l'amour! It can perform miracles. It is decidedly ingenious what you have thought of there. It defeats even Hercule Poirot!”