Part 15

"My great opponent," said Poirot gravely. "It was fated that he and I should never meet in the flesh. When he received the news of the disaster here, he took the simplest way out. A great brain, my friend, a great brain. But I wish I had seen the face of the man who was Number Four.... Supposing that, after all--but I romance. He is dead. Yes, _mon ami_, together we have faced and routed the Big Four; and now you will return to your charming wife, and I--I shall retire. The great case of my life is over. Anything else will seem tame after this. No, I shall retire. Possibly I shall grow vegetable marrows! I might even marry and range myself!"

He laughed heartily at the idea, but with a touch of embarrassment. I hope ... small men always admire big, flamboyant women--

"Marry and range myself," he said again. "Who knows?"