Смерть на Ниле / Death on the Nile

‘What does J stand for?’

Poirot replied promptly:

‘J stands for Jacqueline de Bellefort, a young lady who declared to me less than a week ago that she would like nothing better than to-’ he paused and then deliberately quoted, ‘ “to put my dear little pistol close against her head and then just press with my finger…” ’

‘Gott im Himmel! exclaimed Dr Bessner.

There was a momentary silence. Then Race drew a deep breath and said:

‘Which is just what was done here?’

Bessner nodded.

‘That is so, yes. It was a pistol of very small calibre – as I say, probably a.22. The bullet has got to be extracted, of course, before we can say definitely.’

Race nodded in swift comprehension. Then he said:

‘What about time of death?’

Bessner stroked his jaw again. His finger made a rasping sound.

‘I would not care to be too precise. It is now eight o’clock. I will say, with due regard to the temperature last night, that she has been dead certainly six hours and probably not longer than eight.

‘That puts it between midnight and two a. m.’

‘That is so.’

There was a pause. Race looked around.

‘What about her husband? I suppose he sleeps in the cabin next door.’

‘At the moment,’ said Dr Bessner, ‘he is asleep in my cabin.’

Both men looked very surprised.

Bessner nodded his head several times.

‘Ach, so. I see you have not been told about that. Mr Doyle was shot last night in the saloon.’

‘Shot? By whom?’

‘By the young lady, Jacqueline de Bellefort.

Race asked sharply: ‘Is he badly hurt?’

‘Yes, the bone was splintered. I have done all that is possible at the moment, but it is necessary, you understand, that the fracture should be X-rayed as soon as possible and proper treatment given, such as is impossible on this boat.’

Poirot murmured:

‘Jacqueline de Bellefort.’

His eyes went again to the J on the wall.

Race said abruptly: ‘If there is nothing more we can do here for the moment, let’s go below.

They left the cabin. Race locked the door and took the key with him.

‘We can come back later,’ he said. ‘The first thing to do is to get all the facts clear.’

They went down to the deck below, where they found the manager of the Karnak waiting uneasily in the doorway of the smoking room.