VIII
Sir Joseph received Hercule Poirot in his study. He said:
“Well, Mr.?Poirot? Made your boast good?”
“Let me first ask you a question,” said Poirot as he seated himself. “I know who the criminalis and I think it possible that I can produce sufficient evidence to convict this person. But in thatcase I doubt if you will ever recover your money.”
“Not get back my money?”
Sir Joseph turned purple.
Hercule Poirot went on:
“But I am not a policeman. I am acting¹ in this case solely² in your interests. I could, I think,recover your money intact, if no proceedings³ were taken.”
“Eh?” said Sir Joseph. “That needs a bit of thinking about.”
“It is entirely⁴ for you to decide. Strictly⁵ speaking, I suppose you ought to prosecute⁶ in thepublic interest. Most people would say so.”
“I dare say they would,” said Sir Joseph sharply. “It wouldn’t be their money that had gonewest. If there’s one thing I hate it’s to be swindled. Nobody’s ever swindled me and got awaywith it.”
“Well then, what do you decide?”
Sir Joseph hit the table with his fist.
“I’ll have the brass⁷! Nobody’s going to say they got away with two hundred pounds of mymoney.”
Hercule Poirot rose, crossed to the writing table, wrote out a cheque for two hundred poundsand handed it to the other man.
Sir Joseph said in a weak voice:
“Well, I’m damned! Who the devil is this fellow?”
Poirot shook his head.
“If you accept the money, there must be no questions asked.”
Sir Joseph folded up the cheque and put it in his pocket.
“That’s a pity. But the money’s the thing. And what do I owe you, Mr.?Poirot?”
“My fees will not be high. This was, as I said, a very unimportant matter.” He paused—andadded, “Nowadays nearly all my cases are murder cases. .?.?.”

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