Hoggin with great deference and was

clearly frightened to death of her.

Poirot said:

"Now tell me. Lady Hoggin, the full

circumstances of this abominable crime."

Lady Hoggin flushed.

"I'm very glad to hear you say that, Mr.

Poirot. For it was a crime. Pekinese are

terribly sensitive --just as sensitive as

children. Poor Shan Tung might have died

of fright if of nothing else.33

Miss Carnaby chimed in breathlessly:

"Yes, it was wicked --wicked!"

"Please tell me the facts."

"Well, it was like this. Shan Tung was

out for his walk in the Park with Miss

Camaby --"

"Oh dear me, yes, it was all my fault," chimed in the companion. "How could I have been so stupid --so careless --"

Lady Hoggin said acidly:

LOH3 23

"I don't want to reproach you. Miss

Carnaby, but I do think you might have

been more alert."

Poirot transferred his gaze to the companion.

"What happened P"

Miss Carnaby burst into voluble and

slightly flustered speech.

"Well, it was the most extraordinary

thing! We had just been along the flower

walk --Shan Tung was on the lead, of

course --he'd had his little run on the

grass --and I was just about to turn and

go home when my attention was caught by

a baby in a pram --such a lovely baby - it smiled at me --lovely rosy cheeks and such curls. I couldn't just resist speaking to

the nurse in charge and asking how old it

was --seventeen months, she said --and

I'm sure I was only speaking to her for

about a minute or two, and then suddenly

I looked down and Shan wasn't there any

more. The lead had been cut right

through --"

Lady Hoggin said:

"If you'd been paying proper attention

to your duties, nobody could have sneaked

up and cut that lead.35

24

Miss Carnaby seemed inclined to burst

into tears. Poirot said hastily:

"And what happened nexty9

"Well, of course I looked everywhere.

And called I And I asked the Park attendant

if he'd seen a man carrying a Pekinese dog

but he hadn't noticed anything of the kind

— and I didn't know what to do — and I

went on searching, but at last, of course, I

had to come home — "

Miss Carnaby stopped dead. Poirot

could imagine the scene that followed well

enough. He asked:

"And then you received a letter ?5'

Lady Hoggin took up the tale.

"By the first post the following morning.

It said that if I wanted to see Shan Tung

alive I was to send ^200 in one-pound

notes in an unregistered packet to Captain

Curtis, 38 Bloomsbury Road Square. It

said that if the money were marked or the

police informed then — then — Shan

Tung^s ears and tail would be — cut off7"

Miss Carnaby began to sniff.

"So awful," she murmured. "How people

can be such fiends I"

Lady Hoggin went on:

"It said that if I sent the money at once,