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Poirot elaborates on his theory: Paul Renauld was really Georges Conneau, who returned to France after fleeing years ago. Poirot reveals neither did, as the real killer was Marthe Daubreuil. Both had come across the body on the night of the murder, and each assumed the other had killed Renauld. Jack is released from prison after Bella Duveen, an English stage performer he loves, confesses to the murder. Poirot reveals Renauld changed his will two weeks before his murder, disinheriting Jack.

Giraud arrests Jack on the basis that he wanted his father’s money. An examination shows that he died before Renauld’s murder from an epileptic seizure and was stabbed later. On returning, Poirot learns that the body of a tramp has been found, stabbed through the heart with the murder weapon. Poirot travels to Paris to discover more about the Conneau murder. Poirot discovers that the case is nearly identical to one from 22 years ago, in which a man called Georges Conneau and his lover, Madame Beroldy, conspired to kill Madame Beroldy’s husband. Meanwhile, Hastings unexpectedly encounters a young woman he had met on the train, known only as “Cinderella.” She asks to see the crime scene and then disappears with the murder weapon.

When Renauld’s secretary, Gabriel Stonor, returns from England, he suggests blackmail, as his employer’s past is a complete mystery prior to his career in South America. Poirot notes four key facts about the case: a piece of lead piping is found near the body only three female servants were in the villa as both Renauld’s son Jack and his chauffeur had been sent away an unknown person visited the day before Renauld’s immediate neighbour, Madame Daubreuil, had placed 200,000 francs into her bank account over recent weeks. Monsieur Giraud of the Sûreté leads the police investigation, and resents Poirot’s involvement. Upon inspecting his body, Eloise collapses with grief at seeing her dead husband. His wife, Eloise Renauld, claims masked men broke into the villa at 2 am, tied her up, and took her husband away with them. When they arrive, local police greet them with the news that Renauld was found dead that morning, stabbed in the back with a knife and left in a newly dug grave adjacent to a local golf course. Hercule Poirot and Captain Hastings travel to Merlinville-sur-Mer, France, to meet Paul Renauld, who has requested their help.