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Contents ( 57)
  1. THE BIG FOUR 3
  2. THE BIG FOUR 5
  3. THE BIG FOUR 7
  4. THE BIG FOUR 9
  5. THE BIG FOUR 11
  6. THE BIG FOUR 15
  7. THE BIG FOUR 17
  8. THE BIG FOUR 23
  9. THE BIG FOUR 27
  10. THE BIG FOUR 29
  11. THE BIG POUR 33
  12. THE BIG FOUR 35
  13. THE BIG FOUR 37
  14. THE BIG FOUR 39
  15. THE BIO FOUR 47
  16. THE BIG FOUR 51
  17. THE BIG FOUR 53
  18. THE BIG FOUR 55
  19. THE BIG FOUR 57
  20. THE BIG FOUR 61
  21. THE BIG FOUR 63
  22. THE BIG FOUR 65
  23. THE BIO FOUR 67
  24. THE BIG FOUR 69
  25. THE BIG FOUR 71
  26. THE BIG FOUR 75
  27. THE BIG FOUR 77
  28. THE BIG FOUR 79
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  30. THE BIG FOUR 85
  31. THE BIG FOUR 89
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  33. THE BIG FOUR 95
  34. THE BIG FOUR 101
  35. THE BIG FOUR 103
  36. THE BIG FOUR 163
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  46. THE BIG FOUR 189
  47. THE BIG FOUR 191
  48. THE BIG FOUR 195
  49. THE BIG FOUR 197
  50. THE BIG FOUR
  51. THE BIG FOUR 201
  52. THE BIG FOUR 203
  53. THE BIG POUR 207
  54. THE BIG FOUR 209
  55. THE BIG POUR 211
  56. THE BIG FOUR
  57. THE BIG FOUR 215

follow her wherever she went.

Poirot hung up the receiver and came back to me.

"Do you really think that necessary, Poirot?" I asked.

"It may be. There is no doubt that we are watched,

you and I, and since that is so, they will soon know with whom we were lunching to-day. And it is possible that

Number Four will scent danger."

About twenty minutes later the telephone bell rang. I

answered it. A curt voice spoke into the phone.

"Is that Mr. Poirot? St. James Hospital speaking. A young woman was brought in ten minutes ago. Street

accident. Miss Flossie Monro. She is asking very urgently for Mr. Poirot. But he must come at once. She

can't possibly last long."

I repeated the words to Poirot. His face went white.

"Quick, Hastings. We must go like the wind."

A taxi took us to the hospital in less than ten minutes. We asked for Miss Monro, and were taken immediately

to the accident ward. But a white-capped sister met us in the doorway.

Poirot read the news in her face.

"It is over, eh?"

"She died six minutes ago."

Poirot stood as though stunned.

The nurse, mistaking his emotion, began speaking

gently.

"She did not suffer, and she was unconscious towards the last. She was run over by a motor, you know

FR1;THE BIG FOUR 159

--and the driver of the car did not even stop. Wicked,

isn't it? I hope some one took the number."

"The stars fight against us," said Poirot, in a low voice.

"You would like to see her?"

The nurse led the way, and we followed.

Poor Flossie Monro, with her rouge and her dyed

hair. She lay there very peacefully, with a little smile on her lips.

"Yes," murmured Poirot. "The stars fight against us--but is it the stars?" He lifted his head as though struck by a sudden idea. "Is it the stars, Hastings? If it is not--if it is not. . . . Oh, I swear to you, my friend, standing here by this poor woman's body, that I will

have no mercy when the time comes!"

"What do you mean?" I asked.

But Poirot had turned to the nurse and was eagerly

demanding information. A list of the articles found in

her hand-bag was finally obtained. Poirot gave a suppressed cry as he read it over.

"You see, Hastings, you see?"

"See what?"

"There is no mention of a latch-key. But she must

have had a latch-key with her. No, she was run down in

cold blood, and the first person who bent over her took

the key from her bag. But we may yet be in time. He

may not have been able to find at once what he sought." Another taxi took us to the address Flossie Monro

had given us, a squalid block of Mansions in an unsavoury neighbourhood. It was some time before we

could gain admission to Miss Monro's flat, but we had

at least the satisfaction of knowing that no one could