up into three parts ?"

"Possibly. On the other hand, the

articles that were recovered were those of

least value. It seems possible that the more

noteworthy and spectacular pieces had

393

been hastily smuggled out of the country."

"What about the third man, Casey?

Was he never brought to justice ?"

"Not in the sense you mean. He was not

a very young man. His muscles were

stiffer than formerly. Two weeks later he

fell from the fifth floor of a building and

was killed instantly."

"Where was this ?"

"In Paris. He was attempting to rob the

house of the millionaire banker, Duvauglier."

"And

the goblet has never been seen

since ?"

"Exactly."

"It has never been offered for sale ?"

"I am quite sure it has not. I may say

that not only the police, but also private

inquiry agents, have been on the look out for it."

"What about the money you had paid

over ?"

"The Marchese, a very punctilious person, offered to refund it to me as the cup had been stolen from his house."

"But you did not accept ?"

"No."

"Why was that ?"

394

"Shall we say because I preferred to

keep the matter in my own hands ?"

"You mean that if you had accepted the

Marchese's offer, the goblet, if recovered,

would be his property, whereas now it is

legally yours ?"

"Exactly."

Poirot asked:

"What was there behind that attitude

of yours ?"

Emery Power said with a smile:

"You appreciate that point, I see. Well,

M. Poirot, it is quite simple. / thought I

knew who was actually in possession of the

goblet n

"Very interesting. And who was it ?"

"Sir Reuben Rosenthal. He was not only

a fellow collector but he was at the time a

personal enemy. We had been rivals in

several business deals — and on the whole

I had come out the better. Our animosity

culminated in this rivalry over the Borgia

Goblet. Each of us was determined to

possess it. It was more or less a point of

honour. Our appointed representatives bid

against each other at the sale."

"And your representative's final bid

secured the treasure ?"

395

''Not precisely. I took the precaution of

having a second agent--ostensibly the

representative of a Paris dealer. Neither

of us, you understand, would have been

willing to yield to the other, but to allow

a third party to acquire the cup, with the

possibility of approaching that third party

quietly afterwards --that was a very different

matter."

"In fact, une petite deception."

"Exactly."

"Which was successful--and immediately

afterwards Sir Reuben discovered

how he had been tricked ?"

Power smiled.

It was a revealing smile.

Poirot said: "I see the position now.

You believed that Sir Reuben, determined

not to be beaten, deliberately commissioned

the theft ?"

Emery Power raised a hand.

"Oh no, no! It would not be so crude

as that. It amounted to this --shortly

afterwards Sir Reuben would have purchased