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the hour, and all three deliveries were
    exceptionally prompt. That is the way of the Bloxham
    Hotel.”
    Poirot turned to me. “This is another coincidence
    énorme, ” he said. “Harriet Sippel, Ida Gransbury and
    Richard Negus all arrive at the hotel on the same day,
    the day before they are murdered. Then on the day of
    the murders they all order dinner to be brought to
    their rooms at a quarter past seven exactly ? It does
    not seem very likely.”
    “Poirot, there’s no point debating the likelihood of
    something we know happened.”
    “ Non. But there is a point in making sure that it
    happened in the way that we have heard. Monsieur
    Lazzari, I have no doubt that your hotel contains at
    least one very large room. Please assemble in that
    room everybody who works here, and I will speak to
    them all at their—and your—earliest convenience.
    While you do this, Mr. Catchpool and I will begin the
    inspection of the three victims” rooms.”
    “Yes, and we’d better be quick about it, before
    they come for the bodies,” I said. “In normal
    circumstances, they would have been removed by
    now.” I did not mention that the delay in this instance
    had been caused by my own dereliction of duty. In my
    hurry to put distance between myself and the Bloxham
    Hotel last night, and to think about something—
    anything—more pleasant than these three murders, I
    had neglected to make the necessary arrangements.
    I HOPED POIROT MIGHT warm up a few degrees once
    Lazzari had left us alone, but there was no change to
    his stern demeanor, and I realized that he was
    probably always like this “at work,” as it were—
    which seemed a bit rich since it was my work and not
    his, and he was doing nothing to lift my spirits.
    I had a master key, and we visited the three rooms
    one by one. As we waited for the lift’s elaborate gold
    doors to open, Poirot said, “We can agree on one
    thing, I hope: Monsieur Lazzari’s word cannot be
    relied upon with regard to those working in the hotel.
    He speaks of them as if they are above suspicion,
    which they cannot be if they were here yesterday
    when the murders were committed. The loyalty of
    Monsieur Lazzari is commendable, but he is a fool if
    he believes that all the staff of the Bloxham Hotel are
    des anges. ”
    Something had been bothering me, so I made a
    clean breast of it: “I hope you don’t also think I’m a
    fool. What I said before about plenty of other guests
    also arriving on Wednesday . . . That was a
    harebrained thing to say. Any guests that arrived on
    Wednesday and didn’t get murdered on Thursday are
    irrelevant, aren’t they? I mean, it’s only a noteworthy
    coincidence that three or any number of apparently
    unconnected guests arrive on the same day if they also
    get murdered on the same evening.”
    “ Oui. ” Poirot smiled at me with genuine warmth as
    we stepped into the lift. “You have restored my faith
    in your mental acuity, my friend. And you hit the head
    of the nail when you say ‘apparently unconnected.’
    The three murder victims will turn out to be
    connected. I will swear to it now. They were not
    selected at random from among the hotel’s guests. The
    three were killed for one reason—a reason connected
    with the initials PIJ. It is for the same reason that they
    all came to the hotel on the same day.”
    “It’s almost as if they received an invitation to
    present themselves for slaughter,” I said in a cavalier
    fashion. “Invitation reads: ‘Please arrive the day
    before, so that Thursday can be devoted entirely to
    your getting murdered.’ ”
    It was perhaps undignified to joke about it, but
    joking is what I do when I feel despondent, I’m
    afraid. Sometimes I succeed in tricking myself into
    imagining that I feel all right about things. It didn’t
    work on this occasion.
    “Devoted entirely . . .” Poirot muttered. “Yes, that
    is an idea, mon ami. You were not being serious, I
    understand. Nevertheless, you make