pinch --not permanent --too noticeable, if you know what I mean. And think what he'd cost me in shin of beef or 'orseflesh!

Eats as much as a young lion, I expect."

"From the Nemean Lion to the Capture

of Cerberus," murmured Poirot. "It is

complete."

A week later Miss Lemon brought a bill to

her employer.

"Excuse me, M. Poirot. Is it in order for

me to pay this ? Leonora, Florist. Red Roses. Eleven pounds, eight shillings and sixpence. Sent to Countess Vera Rossakoff, Hell, 13 End St., W.C.I." As the hue of red roses, so were the

466

cheeks of Hercule Poirot. He blushed,

blushed to the eyeballs.

"Perfectly in order. Miss Lemon. A

little — er, tribute — to — to an occasion.

The Countesses son has just become

engaged in America — to the daughter of

his employer, a steel magnate. Red roses

are — I seem to remember, her favourite

flower.39

"Quite," said Miss Lemon. "They're

very expensive this time of year."

Hercule Poirot drew himself up.

"There are moments," he said, "when

one does not economise."

Humming a little tune, he went out of

the door. His step was light, almost

sprightly. Miss Lemon stared after him.

Her filing system was forgotten. All her

feminine instincts were aroused.

"Good gracious," she murmured. "I

wonder. . . . Really—at his age! . . .

Surely not...."

AGATHA CHRISTIE

YtGATHA CHRISTIE is known /-^ throughout the world as the -1 iL Queen of Crime. Her seventysix detective novels and books of

stories have been translated into every

major language, and her sales are

calculated in tens of millions.

She began writing at the end of the

First World War, when she created

Hercule Poirot, the little Belgian detective

with the egg-shaped head and the

passion for order --the most popular

sleuth in fiction since Sherlock Holmes.

Poirot, fluffy Miss Marple and her

other detectives have appeared in the

films, radio programmes and stage plays based on her books. Agatha Christie also wrote six romantic

novels under the pseudonym

Mary Westmacott, several plays and a

book of poems; as well, she assisted her archaeologist husband Sir Max Mallowan on many expeditions to the

Near East.

Books by Agatha Christie in the

Ulverscroft Large Print Series:

LORD EDGWARE DIES

THE HOUND OF DEATH

MURDER IN MESOPOTAMIA

CARDS ON THE TABLE

THE THIRTEEN PROBLEMS

THE MOVING FINGER

A CARIBBEAN MYSTERY

A MURDER IS ANNOUNCED

POCKET FULL OF RYE

AT BERTRAM'S HOTEL

THE BODY IN THE LIBRARY

CAT AMONG THE PIGEONS

THE CLOCKS • CROOKED HOUSE

DEAD MAN'S FOLLY

DEATH COMES AS THE END

ENDLESS NIGHT • EVIL UNDER THE SUN

MURDER IS EASY • THE PALE HORSE

THE MIRROR CRACK'D FROM SIDE TO SIDE

MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS

THEY DO IT WITH MIRRORS

DESTINATION UNKNOWN

THIRD GIRL • TOWARDS ZERO

4.50 FROM PADDINGTON

DEATH IN THE CLOUDS

TAKEN AT THE FLOOD

ORDEAL BY INNOCENCE

THEY CAME TO BAGHDAD

SAD CYPRESS • AFTER THE FUNERAL