“All right, if you want something equally likely to be correct, how about this theory: Richard Negus refused to go to church or have a Bible in his room because whatever misfortune had afflicted him in Great Holling had dented his faith a little? Doesn’t that sound as if it could also be a perfect fit? And it might have nothing to do with the deaths of the vicar and his wife. Richard Negus wouldn’t be the first to find himself in sore straits and wonder if God loved him quite as much as he seems to love everyone else!” That came out more vehemently than I had intended.

“Have you wondered this yourself, Catchpool?” Poirot laid his hand on my sleeve to stop me marching along. I sometimes forget that my legs are much longer than his.

“As a matter of fact, I have. It didn’t stop me going to church, but I can see how it would with some people.” For instance, those who would object rather than silently concur if told their brains were pincushions, I thought. To Poirot I said, “I suppose it all depends whether you hold yourself or God responsible for your problems.”

“Did your predicament involve a woman?”

“Several fine specimens, all of whom my parents fervently hoped I would marry. I stood firm and inflicted myself upon none of them.” I started to walk again, briskly.

Poirot hurried to catch me up. “So according to your wisdom, we must forget about the tragically deceased vicar and his wife? We must pretend we do not know about this event in case we are led by it to a mistaken conclusion? And we must forget about Jennie for the same reason?”

“Well, no, I wouldn’t say that’s the right course of action. I’m not suggesting we forget anything, only that—”

“I will tell you the right action! You must go to Great Holling. Harriet Sippel, Ida Gransbury and Richard Negus, they are not simply three pieces of a puzzle. They are not merely objects we move around in an attempt to fit them into a pattern. Before their deaths, they were people with lives and emotions: the foolish predispositions, perhaps the moments of great wisdom and insight. You must go to the village where they all lived and find out who they are, Catchpool.”

“Me? You mean us?”