Chapter 4
The Letter Signed ‘Bella’Françoise had left the room. The magistrate was drumming thoughtfully on the table.
‘Monsieur Bex,’ he said at length, ‘here we have directly conflicting testimony. Which are we to believe, Françoise or Denise?’
‘Denise,’ said the commissary decidedly. ‘It was she who let the visitor in. Françoise is old and obstinate, and has evidently taken a dislike to Madame Daubreuil. Besides, our own knowledge tends to show that Renauld was entangled with another woman.’
‘Tiens!’ cried M. Hautet. ‘We have forgotten to inform Monsieur Poirot of that.’ He searched among the papers on the table, and finally handed the one he was in search of to my friend. ‘This letter, Monsieur Poirot, we found in the pocket of the dead man’s overcoat.’
Poirot took it and unfolded
