悬崖山庄奇案2

Chapter 2 – End House,'Poirot,' I said. 'I have been thinking.','An admirable exercise, my friend. Continue it.',We were sitting facing each other at lunch at a small table in the window.,'This shot must have been fired quite close to us. And yet we did not hear it.','And you think that in the peaceful stillness, with the rippling waves the only sound, we should have done so?','No, it is not odd. Some sounds-you get used to them so soon that you hardly notice they are there. All this morning, my friend, speedboats have been making trips in the bay. You complained at first-soon, you did not even notice. But, ma foi, you could fire a machine gun almost and not notice it when one of those boats is on the sea.','Yes, that's true.','Ah! voila,' murmured Poirot. 'Mademoiselle and her friends. They are to lunch here, it seems. And therefore I must return the hat. But no matter. The affair is sufficiently serious to warrant a visit all on its own.',He leaped up nimbly from his seat, hurried across the room, and presented the hat with a bow just as Miss Buckley and her companions were seating themselves at table.,They were a party of four, Nick Buckley, Commander Challenger, another man and another girl. From where we sat we had a very imperfect view of them. From time to time the naval man's laugh boomed out. He seemed a simple, likeable soul, and I had already taken a fancy to him.,