THE BIG FOUR AGATHA CHRISTIE A DELL BOOK Published by DELL PUBLISHING CO., INC. 750 Third Avenue New York, New York 10017 Copyright 1927 by Dodd, Mead & Company, Inc. Copyright renewed 1955 by Agatha Christie Mallowan All rights reserved. For information contact Dodd, Mead & Company. Dell ® TM 681510, Dell Publishing Co., Inc. Reprinted by arrangement with Dodd, Mead & Company New York, New York 10016 Printed in the United States of America Previous Dell Edition #0562 New Dell Edition First printing--June 1972 CONTENTS 1. THE UNEXPECTED GUEST 2. THE MAN FROM THE ASYLUM 3. WE HEAR MORE ABOUT LI CHANG YEN 4. THE IMPORTANCE OF A LEG OF MUTTON 5. DISAPPEARANCE OF A SCIENTIST 6. THE WOMAN ON THE STAIRS 7. THE RADIUM THIEVES 8. IN THE HOUSE OF THE ENEMY 9. THE YELLOW JASMINE MYSTERY 10. WE INVESTIGATE AT CROFTLANDS 11. A CHESS PROBLEM 12. THE BAITED TRAP 13. THE MOUSE WALKS IN 14. THE PEROXIDE BLONDE 15. THE TERRIBLE CATASTROPHE 16. THE DYING CHINAMAN 17. NUMBER FOUR WINS A TRICK 18. IN THE FELSENLABYRYNTH THE BIG FOUR 1. THE UNEXPECTED GUEST I have met people who enjoy a channel crossing; men who can sit calmly in their deck-chairs and, on arrival, wait until the boat is moored, then gather their belongings together without fuss and disembark. Personally, I can never manage this. From the moment I get on board I feel that the time is too short to settle down to anything. I move my suit-cases from one spot to another, and if I go down to the saloon for a meal, I bolt my food with an uneasy feeling that the boat may arrive unexpectedly whilst I am below. Perhaps all this is merely a legacy from one's short leaves in the war, when it seemed a matter of such importance to secure a place near the gangway, and to be amongst the first to disembark lest one should waste precious minutes of one's three or five days' leave.