trick, but he pays me at once half the

money. So then, I give in my notice where

I work.33

The tale went on. She had been taken

to Paris, supplied with smart clothes, and

had been provided with an "escort". "A

very nice Argentinian gentleman — very

respectful, very polite."

It was clear that the woman had

thoroughly enjoyed herself. She had flown

over to London and been taken there to

certain "Night Clubs" by her olive-skinned

cavalier. She had been photographed in

Paris with him. Some of the places to

which she had gone were not, she admitted,

quite nice. . . . Indeed, they were not

200

respectable! And some of the photographs

taken, they too, had not been very nice.

But these things, they had told her, were

necessary for "advertisement" --and

Senor Ramon himself had always been

most respectful.

In answer to questioning she declared

that the name of Mrs. Ferrier had never

been mentioned and that she had had no

idea that it was that lady she was supposed

to be understudying. She had meant no

harm. She identified certain photographs

which were shown to her as having been

taken of her in Paris and on the Riviera.

There was the hall mark of absolute

honesty about Thelma Andersen. She was

quite clearly a pleasant, but slightly stupid

woman. Her distress at the whole thmg, now that she understood it, was patent to everyone.

The defence was unconvincing. A frenzied

denial of having any dealings with the

woman Andersen. The photos in question

had been brought to the London office and

had been believed to be genuine. Sir

Mortimer's closing speech roused enthusiasm.

He described the whole thing as a

dastardly political plot, formed to discredit

201

the Prime Minister and his wife. All

sympathy would be extended to the unfortunate

Mrs. Ferrier.

The verdict, a foregone conclusion, was

given amidst unparallelled scenes. Damages

were assessed at an enormous figure. As

Mrs. Ferrier and her husband and father

left the court they were greeted by the

appreciative roars of a vast crowd.

XI

Edward Ferrier grasped Poirot warmly by

the hand.

He said:

"I thank you, M. Poirot, a thousand

times. Well, that finishes the X-ray News. Dirty little rag. They're wiped out completely. Serves them right for cooking up

such a scurrilous plot. Against Dagmar, too, the kindliest creature in the world. Thank goodness you managed to expose

the whole thing for the wicked ramp it

was. . . . What put you on to the idea that

they might be using a double ?33

"It is not a new idea,33 Poirot reminded

him. "It was employed successfully in the

case of Jeanne de la Motte when she impersonated

Marie Antoinette.33

202

"I know. I must re-read The Queen's Necklace. But how did you actually find the woman they were employing ?"

"I looked for her in Denmark, and I

found her there."

"But why Denmark ?"

"Because Mrs. Ferrier's grandmother

was a Dane, and she herself is a markedly