"I can't remember now why she wanted to."

"Oh, strictly on the highest moral grounds for the good of the community!" The light banter in his tones annoyed Judith. She flushed and went past him to sit by Franklin. She said:

"Mrs. Franklin is feeling much better. She wants us all to come up and have coffee with her this evening."

IV

Mrs. Franklin was certainly a creature of moods I thought as we trooped upstairs after dinner. Having made everyone's life unbearable all day, she was now sweetness itself to everybody.

She was dressed in a negligee of pale eau-de-Nil and was lying on her chaise longue. Beside her was a small revolving bookcase-table with the coffee apparatus set out. Her fingers, deft and white, dealt with the ritual of coffee making with some slight aid from Nurse Craven. We were all there with the exception of Poirot, who always retired before dinner; Allerton, who had not returned from Ipswich; and Mrs. and Colonel Luttrell, who had remained downstairs.

The aroma of coffee came to our noses - a delicious smell. The coffee at Styles was an uninteresting muddy fluid, so we all looked forward to Mrs. Franklin's brew with freshly ground berries.

Franklin sat on the other side of the table handing the cups as she filled them. Boyd Carrington stood by the foot of the sofa. Elizabeth Cole and Norton were by the window. Nurse Craven had retired to the background by the head of the bed. I was sitting in an armchair wrestling with the Times crossword and reading out the clues.

"Even love - or third party risk?" I read out. "Eight letters."

"Probably an anagram," said Franklin.

We thought for a minute. I went on:

"The chaps between the hills are unkind."

"Tormentor," said Boyd Carrington quickly.

"Quotation: 'And Echo whatever is asked her answers' - blank. Tennyson. Five letters."

"Where," suggested Mrs. Franklin. "Surely that's right. 'And Echo answers where'?"

I was doubtful.

"It would make a word end in 'w.' "

"Well, lots of words end in 'w.' How and now and snow." Elizabeth Cole said from the window:

"The Tennyson quotation is: 'And Echo whatever is asked her answers Death.'" I heard a quick sharp intake of breath behind me. I looked up. It was Judith. She went past us to the window and out upon the balcony.

I said, as I wrote the last clue in: "Even love can't be an anagram. The second letter now is 'A.'"

"What's the clue again?"

"Even love or third party risk. Blank A and six blanks."

"Paramour," said Boyd Carrington.

I heard the teaspoon rattle on Barbara Franklin's saucer. I went on to the next clue.

"'Jealousy is a green-eyed monster,' this person said."

"Shakespeare," said Boyd Carrington.

"Was it Othello or Emilia?" said Mrs. Franklin.

"All too long. The clue is only five letters."

"Iago."

"I'm sure it was Othello."

"It wasn't in Othello at all. Romeo said it to Juliet." We all voiced our opinions. Suddenly from the balcony Judith cried out: