Page 48 - Demo

Agatha Christie MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS
“I couldn’t say. I didn’t really notice. You see I was arguing a point with Arbuthnot. I just seem to remember a glimpse of some scarlet silk affair passing the door. I didn’t look, and anyway I wouldn’t have seen the person’s face. As you know, my carriage faces the dining-car end of the train, so a woman going along the corridor in that direction would have her back to me as soon as she’d passed.”
Poirot nodded. “She was going to the toilet, I presume?”
“I suppose so.”
“And you saw her return?”
“Well, no, now that you mention it, I didn’t notice her returning but I suppose she must have
done so.”
“One more question. Do you smoke a pipe, Mr. MacQueen?”
“No, sir, I do not.”
Poirot paused a moment. “I think that is all at present. I should now like to see the valet of Mr.
Ratchett. By the way, did both you and he always travel second-class?”
“He did. But I usually went first—if possible in the compartment adjoining Mr. Ratchett’s.
Then he had most of his baggage put in my compartment and yet could get at both it and me easily whenever he chose. But on this occasion all the first-class berths were booked except the one that he took.”
“I comprehend. Thank you, Mr. MacQueen.”
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