MRS. ACKROYD
I stared at her. I see now that I was unbelievably stupid about these boots. I failed altogether to grasp the point.
"They were brown shoes," I said. "I saw them."
"Not shoes, James, boots. M. Poirot wants to know whether a pair of boots Ralph had with him at the hotel were brown or black. A lot hangs on it."
Call me dense if you like. I didn't see.
"And how are you going to find out?" I asked.
Caroline said there would be no difficulty about that. Our Annie's dearest friend was Miss Ganett's maid, Clara. And Clara was walking out with the Boots at the Three Boars. The whole thing was simplicity itself, and by the aid of Miss Ganett, who cooperated loyally, at once giving Clara leave of absence, the matter was rushed through at express speed.
It was when we were sitting down to lunch that Caroline remarked, with would-be unconcern:—
"About those boots of Ralph Paton's."
"Well," I said, "what about them?"
"M. Poirot thought they were probably brown. He was wrong. They're black."
And Caroline nodded her head several times. She evidently felt that she had scored a point over Poirot.
I did not answer. I was puzzling over what the color of a pair of Ralph Paton's boots had to do with the case.
[177]
