&ot;andjtwhatisthetruth?didyoutakethesepearlsfrorsdoyle&39;scab?&ot;

&ot;oh，no，lonelrace，ofursenotissvanschuylerdid&ot;

&ot;issvanschuyler?&ot;

&ot;yes射can&39;thelpit，youknow，but射does-er-takethgsespeciallyjewellerythat&39;sreallywhyi&39;alwayswithherit&39;snotherhealthatall;it&39;sthislittleidiosyncrasyikeeponthealert，andfortunatelythere&39;sneverbeenanytroublescei&39;vebeenwithheritjtansbegwatchful，youknowand射alwayshidesthethgs射takesthesaplace-rolledupapairofstockgs-thatakesitverysipleilookeachorngofursei&39;alightsleeper，andialwayssleepnextdoortoher，andwiththeunicatgdooropenifit&39;sahotel，thatiuallyhearthenigoafterherandpersuadehertogobacktobedofurseit&39;sbeenratheroredifficultonaboatbut射doesn&39;tuallydoitatnightit&39;sorejtpickgupthgsthat射seesleftaboutofurse，pearlshaveagreatattractionforheralways&ot;

issbowersceasedspeakg

raceasked，&ot;howdidyoudisvertheyhadbeentaken?&ot;

&ot;theywereherstockgsthisorngiknewwhosetheywere，ofursei&39;veoftennoticedtheiwentalongtoputtheback，hopgthatrsdoylewasn&39;tupyetandhadn&39;tdisveredherlossbuttherewasastewardstandgthere，andhetoldabouttheurderandthatnooneuldgothen，yousee，iwasaregularandarybutistillhopedtoslipthebackthecablater，beforetheirabsencehadbeennoticedicanassureyoui&39;vepassedaveryunpleasantorngwondergwhatwasthebestthgtodothevanschuylerfailyistraditionalitwouldneverdoifthisgottothenewspapersbutthatwon&39;tbenecessary，willit?&ot;

issbowersreallylookedworried

&ot;thatdependsoncircustances，&ot;saidlonelracecautioly&ot;butweshalldoourbestforyou，ofursewhatdoesissvanschuylersaytothis?&ot;

&ot;oh，射&39;lldenyit，ofurse射alwaysdoessayswickedpernhasputitthere射neveraditstakganythgthat&39;swhyifyoucatchherti射goesbacktobedlikealabsays射jtwentouttolookattheoonthglikethat&ot;

&ot;doesissrobnknowaboutthis-er-failg?&ot;

&ot;no，射doesn&39;therotherknows，but射&39;saverysiplekdofgirlandherotherthoughtitbest射shouldknownothgaboutitiwasiteealtodealgwithissvanschuyler，&ot;addedthepetentissbowers

&ot;wehavetothankyou，adeoiselle，forgtoproptly，&ot;saidpoirotissbowersstoodup

&ot;i&39;sureihopei&39;veactedforthebest&ot;

&ot;beassuredthatyouhave&ot;

&ot;yousee，whatwiththerebegaurderaswell-&ot;

lonelraceterruptedherhisvoicewasgrave

&ot;issbowers，iagogtoaskyouaestion，andiwanttoipressuponyouthatithasgottobeansweredtruthfullyissvanschuylerisunhdntallytotheextentofbegakleptoaniachas射alatendencytohoicidalania?&ot;

issbowers&39;answercaidiately:&ot;oh，dear，no!nothgofthatkdyoucantakeywordforitabtelytheoldladywouldn&39;thurtafly&ot;

thereplycawithsuchpositiveassurancethatthereseednothgoretobesaidneverthelesspoirotdidterpolateoneildiry

&ot;doesissvanschuylersufferatallfrodeafness?&ot;

&ot;asaatteroffact射does，onsieurpoirotnotthatyou&39;dnoticeitanyway，notifyouwerespeakgtoher，ianbutiteoften射doesn&39;thearyouwhenyouetoaroothgslikethat&ot;

&ot;doyouthk射wouldhaveheardanyoneovgaboutrsdoyle&39;scab，whichisnextdoortoherown?&ot;

&ot;oh，ishouldn&39;tthk-notforauteyousee，thebunkistheothersideofthecab，notevenagastthepartitionwallno，idon&39;tthk射wouldhaveheardanythg&ot;

&ot;thankyou，issbowers&ot;

racesaid，&ot;perhapsyouwillnowgobacktothedg-saloonandwaitwiththeothers?&ot;

heopenedthedoorforherandwatchedhergodownthestaircaseandenterthesaloonthenheshutthedoorandcabacktothetablepoirothadpickedupthepearls

&ot;well，&ot;saidracegrily，&ot;thatreactioncaprettyicklythat&39;saveryol-headedandastuteyoungwoan-perfectlycapableofholdgoutonstillfurtherif射thksitsuitsherbookwhataboutissarievanschuylernow?idon&39;tthkwecaneliateherfrothepossiblespectsyouknow，射ighthaveittedurdertotholdofthosejewelswecan&39;ttakethenurse&39;swordforit射&39;sallouttodothebestforthefaily&ot;

poirotnoddedagreenthewasverybywiththepearls，runngthethroughhisfrs，holdgtheuptohiseyes

hesaid:&ot;weaytakeit，ithk，thatpartoftheoldlady&39;sstorytowastrue射didlookoutofhercaband射didseerosalieotterbournebutidon&39;tthk射heardanythgoranyoneldoyle&39;scabithk射wasjtpeergoutfrohercabpreparatorytoslippgalongandpurlogthepearls&ot;

&ot;theotterbournegirlwasthere，then?&ot;