CHAPTER 11  Megan Barnard

As I said, Megan Barnard' s words, and still more the crisp businessliketone in which they were uttered, made me j ump.
Poirot, however, merely bowed his head gravely.
"A la bonne heure, ' he said. "You are intelligent, mademoiselle. "Megan Barnard said, still in the same detached tone:
"I was extremely fond of Betty. But my fondness didn' t blind mefrom seeing exactly the kind of silly little fool she was--and eventellingher so upon occasion! Sisters are like that. ""And did she pay any attention to your advice?" "Probably not, " saidMegan cynically¹.
"Will you, mademoiselle, be precise. "
The girl hesitated for a minute or two.
Poirot said with a slight smile:
"I will help you. I heard what you said to Hastings. That your sisterwas a bright, happy girl with no men friends. It was--un peu--theoppositethat was true, was it notT'
Megan said slowly:
"There wasn' t any harm in Betty. I want you to understand that.
She' d always go straight. She' s not the week-ending kind. Nothing ofthat sort. But she liked being taken out and dancing and--oh, cheapflattery and compliments and all that sort of thing. ""And she was pretty--yes?"This uesfion, the third time I had heard it, met this time with apracticalresonse'
, Mega slipped off the table, went to her suitcase, snapped it openaha extracted something which she handed to Poirot.
. In a leather frame was a head and shoulders of a fair-haired, smilinggirl. H. er hair had evidently recently been permed; it stood out fromherhead in mass of rather frizzy curls. The smile was arch and artificial.
It was certainly not a face that you could call beautiful, but it hadanobvious and cheap prettiness.
Poirt handed it back, saying:
"You and she do not resemble each other, mademoiselle. ""Oh, I' m the plain one of the family. I' ve always known that. " Sheseemed to brush aside the fact as unimportant.
foo", I. n, hat way exactly do you consider your sister was behavingllsni3' a Do you mean nerhans, in relation to Mr. Donald Fraser?"' That s it, exactly. Don' s a very quiet sort of person--but he--well,naturally he' d resent certain things--and then--""And then what, mademoiselle?"His eyes were on her very steadily².
It may have been my fancy but it seemed to me that she hesitated asecond before answering.
"I afraid that he might---chuck her altogether. And that wouldhave n a pity. He' s a very steady and hard-working man and wouldhave mqle her a good husband. "Poiro continued to gaze at her. She did not flush under his glancebut retu%ed it with one of her own equally steady and with somethingelse in i{something that reminded me of her first

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