Chapter 12 4 Testimony of Mrs. America

Mrs. Hubbard entered the dining-car in such an angry state that she could hardly speak. Tell me, who is in charge here?I have something very important to say, really very important.I just want to pass this on to the person in charge of the case as soon as possible, if you gentlemen Her eyes flicked back and forth at the three of them.Poirot leaned forward. Tell me, ma'am, he said, but sit down first. Mrs. Hubbard sank into the chair opposite him. What I want to tell you is this: There was a murder on this train last night, and the murderer was in my room.She paused deliberately. Are you sure you're not mistaken, ma'am?

Of course not!How could it be wrong?I am by no means just talking about it.Let me tell you exactly.I have gone to bed and slept.Suddenly I woke up, the room was dark, but I knew there was a man in the room.I was literally too scared to speak.you know what i mean?I lay in bed and thought: My God, this is the end of my life!I can't describe how I feel.These dreadful trains, I thought, with all the nonsense things they've said.And I thought: Anyway, he can't get my jewelry.You know, I keep them in a stocking under my pillow.It's not very comfortable to sleep like this, the bumps and bumps under the head, you know what I mean, where did I say it?

You notice a man in the room, ma'am. Ah, yes, I lay there with my eyes closed, wondering what to do, and I thought: It's a good thing my daughter doesn't know what happened to me.Later, for some reason, I suddenly had an idea, and I touched the service bell with my hand, and when I touched it, I pressed it hard, trying to summon the administrator.I pressed and pressed, but nothing happened.Heck, I can tell you that my heart stopped beating.God, I thought, maybe they killed everyone in the car.At that time, the train was stopped and the surrounding area was very quiet.I just keep ringing the bell.Then I was relieved to hear someone coming my way in the aisle, followed by a call to the door.I yelled in and turned on the light at the same time.At this time, it was really unbelievable that there was not even a ghost in the room.

Mrs. Hubbard sounded, far from being relieved, as if the drama had reached its climax. And then what, ma'am? Well, I told the administrator what happened, but he didn't seem to believe me, he seemed to think I was dreaming.I asked him to search under the seat, although he said there was no way a man could hide there, and the man had obviously escaped, but he had indeed been in my room.The way the administrator coaxes me really makes me angry!I'm not the kind of person who makes up nonsense, uh, I don't know your name yet! My name is Poirot, madam.This is Mr. Booker, Director of the Sleeping Car Company, and that is Dr. Constantine.

Mrs. Hubbard murmured: Nice to meet you guys, really.Then began her chattering monologue again.Now I don’t want to say that I was sane at the time.But at the moment I thought it was the man in the next room who was the poor guy who was murdered.I asked the concierge to look at the partition between the two boxes, and I was sure the bolt was not fastened.I soon saw that it was so, and told him to plug it in on the spot, and when he was gone, I got up again and put a suitcase against the door for safety. What time was it, Mrs. Hubbard? This, I really can't say, I didn't look at the watch, I was so annoyed.

So what is your opinion now? Alas, it could not be more obvious than that.The murderer was the man who came to my room, if not him, who else would it be? You think he went to the next room afterwards, don't you? How do I know where he is going?My eyes are closed tightly.Mrs. Hubbard heaved a long sigh.God, it scares the hell out of me!if my daughter knew Don't you think, madam, that the noise you heard in the room came from the next door, that is, from the victim's room? No, I don't think so, Mr. Poirot, Mr. Poirot.That man was in the same room as me.And, I have proof. As she spoke, she triumphantly pulled out a large handbag, and as soon as she opened it, she reached into it for something.She successively took out two clean large handkerchiefs, a pair of horn-rimmed glasses, a bottle of aspirin, a packet of Epsom salts, a tube of clear green mints, a bunch of keys, a pair of scissors, and a copy of American Express. A checkbook, a photograph of a very ordinary-looking child, some letters, five fake oriental rosary beads, and a small piece of metal with a button.

Did you see this button?It wasn't my button, it didn't fall off my dress.This is what I found when I woke up this morning. She put the button on the table, and Mr. Booker, looking closer, exclaimed: These are the buttons on the uniforms of our sleeping car attendants. I can explain that, said Poirot gently to Mrs. Hubbard: Madam, this button may have fallen off the uniform of the warden when he was searching your room or making your bed. I really don't understand what's going on with you gentlemen, it seems like you're doing nothing but objecting.Listen up: I was reading a magazine last night before I fell asleep.I put the magazine on top of the little box by the window when the lights go out.Understand?

The three men said they understood. very good.The caretaker crouched down near the door to look under the seats, and then he came and bolted the door to the adjacent room, but he never went near the window.And this morning, the button was sitting on top of the magazine.How to explain this, tell me? That, I might call it a piece of evidence, madam.said Poirot. Mrs. Hubbard seemed a little less angry.She explained: I hate it when people don't believe what I say. You have provided us with extremely valuable and interesting evidence.Poirot comforted her, now, may I ask you a few questions?

Ah, yes, yes. Since you are worried about Recht, why didn't you think of locking the partition door? I locked it.Mrs. Hubbard answered at once. Oh, is it? This, actually, I asked the Swedish woman a nice person if that door was bolted, and she said it was. How can you not see it yourself? Because I'm in bed and my handbag is hanging on the doorknob. What time was it? let me see.It should be around ten-thirty or ten-forty-five.The Swedish lady came to my room and asked if I had any aspirin.I told her I put it in my handbag and she took it out herself. Were you in bed at the time?

Yes.She suddenly laughed.Poor thing, she was in a bad mood.She went to the wrong room before coming in and opened the door of the next room. Mr. Ratchett's room? yes!You can imagine how difficult it is to find someone when all the doors are closed.She went to the wrong room and was very annoyed.Ratchett seemed to laugh out loud at her.I guess he may have said some nonsense, she was trembling with anger, poor thing.She told me: Ah I was wrong, shame on me.He is not a good man, he said: You are too old. Constantine couldn't help snickering, Mrs. Hubbard gave him a look, and he quickly stopped smiling.

He was so unprincipled, she said, to say such things to a lady.Others should not laugh when they hear such things. Dr. Constantine apologized immediately. Poirot asked again: After that, did you hear any movement in Mr. Ratchett's room? You can say yes, or you can say no. How do you say, ma'am? She paused for this, and he snored. I see!He was snoring? It's great!The beating last night kept me up all night. You were shocked to find a man in the room and never heard him snore again? Then Mr. Poirot, how can you still hear me?He was dead by then. Oh yeah, that's right.said Poirot, but with a slightly perplexed look.Mrs. Hubbard, do you remember the Armstrong kidnapping?he asks. I remember, of course I remember.But let the villain get away with it!Hey!I really want to kill him with my own hands. He's not getting away with it, he's dead, last night. Don't you mean Mrs. Hubbard was so excited she was about to get up. That's right, it's Rickett. Why!Hey, it turned out to be like this.I can't think of it!I must write and tell my daughter.Didn't I say last night that that person doesn't seem to be a kind person at all?Am I right?My daughter always says: as long as mom has a premonition, you can bet all your money that it will be right. Mrs. Hubbard, do you know any of the Armstrongs? I don't know them, their life circle is very small.But I hear Mrs. Armstrong is very pleasant, and her husband loves her very much. Well, Mrs. Hubbard, you've been a great help to us, really.Perhaps you would like to tell me your full name? sure.My full name is Caroline.Martha.Hubbard. Would you please write down your address here? Mrs. Hubbard did as she wrote and spoke: I can't believe that Cassetti had a presentiment on this train, didn't I, Monsieur Poirot? yes ma'am.By the way, do you have a crimson silk dressing gown? Ouch, what a weird question!But I don't.I had brought two dressing gowns, one of pink flannel, to be worn on the boat, and one of purple silk, a local product, given to me by my daughter.What do you ask this for? Well, ma'am, a man in a crimson dressing gown either came into your room or into Mr. Ratchett's room last night.As you just said, it can be difficult to discern a room when all the doors are closed. No one in a crimson dressing-gown has ever entered my room! Then she must have gone into Mr. Ratchett's room. Mrs. Hubbard pursed her lips and said grimly: I'm not surprised then. Poirot moved closer: So, did you hear a woman's voice next door? I don't know why you guess so, M. Poirot.I really do not know.But, uh, actually, I heard it. But just now I asked you if you heard the movement in the next room, and you only said that you heard Mr. Ratchett snoring. But that was also true, and at one time he was snoring, and at other times Mrs. Hubbard's cheeks were flushed, and that was not a very pleasant word to say. What time was it when you heard the woman's voice? I am not sure.I just woke up for a while and heard the voice of a woman talking.It was clearly coming from next door, so I thought: Hey, that's the kind of guy he is, no wonder.Then I fell asleep again.If you hadn't forced me to ask me such things, I wouldn't have told you three strange men. Did this happen before or after you found out about the man? Oh, isn't this nonsense again?If he was dead, would the woman still be able to talk to him? sorry.You must think me stupid, madam. I think even you get confused now and then, I just can't believe he's that villain Cassetti.what will my daughter say Bai Luo neatly helped the kind lady put the things back into the handbag one by one, and then led her to the door. As Mrs. Hubbard was leaving, he said: You have lost your handkerchief, ma'am. Mrs. Hubbard looked at the little handkerchief he offered. It is not mine, Monsieur Poirot, here is my handkerchief. Feel sorry.Since it has the letter H embroidered on it, I thought Well, this is very strange, but the handkerchief is definitely not mine.Embroidered on my handkerchief is C. M． H three letters.And my handkerchiefs are practical things, not fancy Parisian ones.What good is a handkerchief like that for a nose? None of the three gentlemen seemed able to answer, and then Mrs. Hubbard swaggered out of the dining car.