from his chair, his face purple with emotion.

"Madame Olivier! Impossible! Absurd! It is an insult what you say there!"

Poirot shook his head gently, but made no answer.

Desjardeaux looked at him in stupefaction for some

moments. Then his face cleared, and he glanced at the

Home Secretary and tapped his forehead significantly.

THE BIG FOUR 165

"M. Poirot is a great man," he observed. "But even the great man--sometimes he has his little mania, does

he not? And seeks in high places for fancied conspiracies. It is well known. You agree with me, do you not,

Mr. Crowther?"

The Home Secretary did not answer for some minutes.

Then he spoke slowly and heavily.

"Upon my soul, I don't know," he said at last. "I have always had and still have the utmost belief in M.

Poirot, but--well, this takes a bit of believing."

"This Li Chang Yen, too," continued M. Desjardeaux.

"Who has ever heard of him?"

"I have," said the unexpected voice of Mr. Ingles. The Frenchman stared at him, and he stared placidly

back again, looking more like a Chinese idol than ever.

"Mr. Ingles," explained the Home Secretary, "is the greatest authority we have on the interior of China."

"And you have heard of this Li Chang Yen?"

"Until M. Poirot here came to me, I imagined that I was the only man in England who had. Make no mistake,

M. Desjardeaux, there is only one man in China

who counts to-day--Li Chang Yen. He has, perhaps, I

only say perhaps, the finest brain in the world at the

present time."

M. Desjardeaux sat as though stunned. Presently,

however, he rallied.

"There may be something in what you say, M. Poirot," he said coldly. "But as regards Madame Olivier,

you are most certainly mistaken. She is a true daughter

of France, and devoted solely to the cause of science." Poirot shrugged his shoulders and did not answer.

There was a minute or two's pause, and then my little

friend rose to his feet, with an air of dignity that sat rather oddly upon his quaint personality.

"That is all I have to say, messieurs--to warn you. I

^^aHWii--pwpww.w

166 Agatha Christie

thought it likely that I should not be believed. But at

least you will be on your guard. My words will sink in,

and each fresh event that comes along will confirm your

wavering faith. It was necessary for me to speak now

--later I might not have been able to do so."

"You mean--?" asked Crowther, impressed in spite of himself by the gravity of Poirot's tone.

"I mean, monsieur, that since I have penetrated the identity of Number Four, my life is not worth an hour's

purchase. He will seek to destroy me at all costs--and

not for nothing is he named 'The Destroyer.' Messieurs,

I salute you. To you, M. Crowther, I deliver this key,

and this sealed envelope. I have got together all my

notes on the case, and my ideas as to how best to meet .the menace that any day may break upon the world, and