Читать книгу The Murder of Roger Ackroyd / Убийство Роджера Экройда онлайн

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‘You mean-?’

‘The dead, M. l’Inspecteur.’

The inspector still took a minute or two to understand.

‘I am suggesting,’ said Poirot placidly, ‘that the fingerprints on the dagger handle are those of Mr Ackroyd himself. It is an easy matter to verify. his body is still available.’

‘But why? What would be the point of it? you’re surely not suggesting suicide, Mr Poirot?’

‘Ah! no. My theory is that the murderer wore gloves or wrapped something round his hand. After the blow was struck, he picked up the victim’s hand and closed it round the dagger handle.’

‘But why?’

Poirot shrugged his shoulders again.

‘To make a confusing case even more confusing.’

‘Well,’ said the inspector. ‘I’ll look into it. What gave you the idea in the first place?’

‘When you were so kind as to show me the dagger and draw attention to the fingerprints. I know very little of loops and whorls – see, I confess my ignorance frankly. But it did occur to me that the position of the prints was somewhat awkward. Not so would I have held a dagger in order to strike. Naturally, with the right hand brought up over the shoulder backwards, it would have been difficult to put it in exactly the right position.’