"Permit me to say that you have been badly educated. It is the name of one of the great ones of this world."
He sighed and folded his hands across his chest.
Hippolyte and Marie were staring at him uneasily. They were at a loss what to make of this unexpected and extremely strange visitor.
"Monsieur desires—" murmured Hippolyte mechanically.
"I desire to know why you have lied to the police."
"Monsieur!" cried Hippolyte; "I—lied to the police? Never have I done such a thing."
M. Poirot shook his head.
"You are wrong," he said; "you have done it on several occasions. Let me see." He took a small notebook from his pocket and consulted it. "Ah, yes; on seven occasions at least. I will recite them to you."
In a gentle unemotional voice he proceeded to outline the seven occasions.
Hippolyte was taken aback.