Lord Edgware Dies人性记录05

Chapter 5, Murder,The following day was the 30th June.,It was just half-past nine when we were told that Inspector Japp was below and anxious to see us.,It was some years since we had seen anything of the Scotland Yard inspector.,‘Ah! ce bon Japp,’ said Poirot. ‘What does he want, I wonder?’,I had not the indulgence for Japp that Poirot had. It was not so much that I minded his picking Poirot’s brains – after all, Poirot enjoyed the process, it was a delicate flattery. What did annoy me was Japp’s hypocritical pretence that he was doing nothing of the kind. I liked people to be straightforward. I said so, and Poirot laughed.,‘You are the dog of the bulldog breed, eh, Hastings? But you must remember that the poor Japp he has to save his face. So he makes his little pretence. It is very natural.’,I thought it merely foolish and said so. Poirot did not agree.,‘The outward form – it is a bagatelle – but it matters to people. It enables them to keep the amour propre.’,Personally I thought a dash of inferiority complex would do Japp no harm, but there was no point in arguing the matter. Besides, I was anxious to learn what Japp had come about.,