"That's why I suspected it might have been a plant on the part of the Big Four."
"Your reasoning is at fault, Hastings.
Employ the little gray cells.
If your enemies wished to deceive you they would assuredly have seen to it that the Chinaman spoke in intelligible pigeon English.
No, the message was genuine.
Tell me again all that you heard?"
"First of all he made a reference to Handel's Largo, and then he said something that sounded like 'carrozza' - that's a carriage, isn't it?"
"Nothing else?"
"Well, just at the end he murmured something like 'Cara' somebody or other - some woman's name.
Zia, I think.
But I don't suppose that that had any bearing on the rest of it."
"You would not suppose so, Hastings.
Cara Zia is very important, very important indeed."
"I don't see -"
"My dear friend, you never see - and anyway the English know no geography."
"Geography?" I cried. "What has geography got to do with it?"
"I dare say M. Thomas Cook would be more to the point."
As usual, Poirot refused to say anything more - a most irritating trick of his.
But I noticed that his manner became extremely cheerful, as though he had scored some point or other.
The days went on, pleasant if a trifle monotonous.
There was a large quantity of books, and, in the surroundings, wonderful places for outings. But sometimes I was restless about our forced inactivity, and I wondered about Poirot's placid contentment.
Nothing happened to disturb our quiet existence, and it wasn't until the end of June that we heard from the Big Four.
One morning, very early, a car arrived. It was such an uncommon occurence that I went out running to satisfy my curiosity.
I found Poirot talking to a young man of pleasant features, about my age.
We were introduced.
"This is Captain Harvey, Hastings, one of the most famous members of the Secret Service."
"I fear I am not in the least famous," said the young captain, pleasantly smiling.
"I should have said famous only for those in the know. Most of Captain Harvey's friends and acquaintances consider him a nice but idle youth, devoted only to fox-trot, or whatever this dance is called."
We all laughed.
"Well, now for the business," said Poirot. "You think the time has come, don't you?"
"We are convinced of it, sir.
Yesterday China was politically isolated from the rest of the world.
Nobody knows what is going on there.
No kind of news has been released - a complete break, total silence!"
"Li Chang Yen has shown us his power.
And the others?"
"Abe Ryland arrived in England a week ago and departed yesterday for the continent."
"And Madame Olivier?"
"Madame Olivier left Paris last night."
"For Italy?"
"For Italy, sir.
As far as we can judge, they are both making for the resort you indicated - though how you knew that -"
"Ah, that is not the cap with the feather for me!
That was the work of Hastings here.
He conceals his intelligence, you comprehend, but it is profound for all that."
Harvey looked at me with due appreciation, and I felt rather uncomfortable.
"All is in train, then," said Poirot.
He was pale now, and completely serious. "The time has come.
The arrangements are all made?"
"Everything you ordered has been carried out.