&ot;you see, i was still the grip of the prenceived idea if i had been drugd, that would have iplied preditation, it would an that before seven-thirty, when dner is served, the cri had already been decided upon; and that (always fro the pot of view of the prenceived idea) was absurd

&ot;the first blow to the prenceived idea was when the pistol was revered fro the nile to beg with, if we were right our assuptions, the pistol ought never to have been thrown overboard at all and there was ore to follow&ot; poirot turned to dr bessner &ot;you, dr bessner, exaed l doyles body you will reber that the wound showed signs of srchg - that is to say, that the pistol had been placed close agast the head before beg fired&ot;

bessner nodded &ot; that is exact&ot;

&ot;but when the pistol was found it was wrapped a velvet stole, and that velvet showed defite signs that a pistol had been fired through its folds, presuably under the ipression that that would deaden the und of the shot but if the pistol had been fired through the velvet, there would have been no signs of burng on the victis sk therefore, the shot fired through the stole uld not have been the shot that killed l doyle uld it have been the other shot - the one fired by jacele de bellefort at sion doyle? aga no, for there had been o witnesses of that shootg, and we knew all about it it appeared, therefore, as though a third shot had been fired - one we knew nothg about but only o shots had been fired fro