&ot;ihaveheardagreatdealaboutyou，onsieurpoirot，andiknowthatyouareaverycleveranithappensthatiaurntlyneedofonetohelp-andithkverypossiblythatyouaretheanwhoulddoit&ot;

poirotcledhishead

&ot;youareveryaiable，ada，butyousee，iaonholiday，andwheniaonholidayidonottakecases&ot;

&ot;thatuldbearrand&ot;

itwasnotoffensivelysaid-onlywiththeietnfidenceofayoungwoanwhohadalwaysbeenabletoarranatterstohersatisfaction

ldoylewenton:&ot;iathesubject，onsieurpoirot，ofantolerablepersecutionthatpersecutionhasgottos!yownideawastogotothepoliceaboutit，buty-yhbandseestothkthatthepolicewouldbepowerlesstodoanythg&ot;

&ot;perhaps-ifyouwouldexpnalittlefurther?&ot;ururedpoirotpolitely

&ot;oh，yes，iwilldotheatterisperfectlysiple&ot;

therewasstillnohesitation-nofaltergldoylehadaclear-cutbessliked射onlypaedauteastopresentthefactsasnciselyaspossible

&ot;beforeityhband，hewasengadtoaissdebellefort射wasalafriendofeyhbandbrokeoffhisenganttoher-theywerenotsuitedanyway射，iarrytosay，tookitratherhardi-averyrryaboutthat-butthesethgscannotbehelped射adecerta-well，threats-towhichipaidverylittleattention，andwhich，iaysay，射hasnotatteptedtocarryoutbutstead射hasadoptedtheextraordaryurseof-offollogaboutwhereverwego&ot;poirotraisedhiseyebrows

&ot;ah-ratheranunual-er-reven&ot;

&ot;veryunual-andveryridiculo!butal-annoyg&ot;

射bitherlip

poirotnodded

&ot;yes，icaniagethatyouare，iunderstand，onyourhoney-oon?&ot;

&ot;yesithappened-thefirstti-atvenice射wasthere-atdanielliithoughtitjtanebarrasgcidence-thatwasallthenwefoundheronboardtheboatatbrdisiwe&39;veunderstoodthat射wasgogontopalestewelefther，aswethought，ontheboatbut-butwhenwegottonahoe射wasthere-waitgfor&ot;

poirotnodded

&ot;andnow?&ot;

&ot;wecaupthenilebyboati-iwashalfexpectgtofdheronboardwhen射wasn&39;tthereithought射hadspedbeg-childishbutwhenwegothere-射-射washere-waitg&ot;

poiroteyedherkeenlyforaont射wasstillperfectlyposed，buttheknucklesofthehandthatwasgrippgthetablewerewhitewiththeforceofhergrip

hesaid，&ot;andyouareafraidthisstateofthgsayntue?&ot;

&ot;yes&ot;射paed&ot;ofursethewholethgisidiotic!jaceleisakgherselfutterlyridiculoiasurprised射hasn&39;tgotorepride-oredignity&ot;

poirotadeaslightsture

&ot;therearetis，ada，whenprideanddignity-theygobytheboard!thereareother-stronreotions&ot;

&ot;yes，possibly&ot;lspokeipatiently&ot;butwhatonearthcan射hopetogabyallthis?&ot;