Chapter 21
Hercule Poirot on the CaseIn a measured voice Poirot began his exposition.
‘It seems strange to you, mon ami, that a man should plan his own death? So strange, that you prefer to reject the truth as fantastic, and to revert to a story that is in reality ten times more impossible. Yes, Monsieur Renauld planned his own death, but there is one detail that perhaps escapes you—he did not intend to die.’
I shook my head, bewildered.
‘But no, it is all most simple really,’ said Poirot kindly. ‘For the crime that Monsieur Renauld proposed a murderer was not necessary, as I told you, but a body was. Let us reconstruct, seeing events this time from a different angle.
‘Georges Conneau flies from justice—to Canada. There, under an assumed name, he marries, and finally acquires a vast f
