“The one which begins, ‘Baa, baa, black sheep’.”

“Granted, Giles Moseby fits the description of the black sheep of the family,” Japp agreed. “But I can’t see where that gets us.”

“ ‘Have you any wool?’ Now we don’t need to take the idea of wool literally, we could broaden it to jewellery, valuable objets d’art, and so on.”

“Yes, yes, the items which were stolen in the burglary.”

“But was it a burglary?”

Japp nodded. “It was made to look like a burglary, but in my opinion it was an inside job. And we still haven’t found any sign of the majority of the items; the ones which have turned up were mere trinkets.”

“And yet our theoretical sheep replies with, ‘Yes sir, yes sir, three bags full.’ Consider this, my dear Japp. Moseby, the acknowledged black sheep, has been returning to the family home every month and sometimes twice in the month. Would it not be possible for him to remove one or two items each time, without their absence being noticed? And then, at the point at which he knows he cannot continue, he stages a burglary.”

“It sounds plausible. But why three bags?”

“ ‘One for the master, and one for the dame, and one for the little boy who lives down the lane.’ Let us begin with the estate manager, what is his name, Forbes.”

“You think Forbes is getting a cut? He’s certainly driving a more expensive car than I would expect he could afford on his salary. But I couldn’t imagine Mrs Forbes being involved.”

“I doubt she is. The ‘dame’ will be his lady friend. Don’t look so surprised, Japp. I rather imagine Moseby indulged in a little blackmail to ensure Forbes’ co-operation, along with the financial incentive.”

Hastings nodded. “You do seem to have worked it all out, Poirot. So who is ‘the little boy who lives down the lane’?”

“My guess is that this is Moseby himself and the lane reaches rather further than simply to the next village. Where else has he been going this year?”

“He’s been travelling abroad,” Japp replied.

“And that is why you have been unable to trace the stolen items. He has been taking them with him on his journeys.”

“But how do I prove all this?”

“He has a property in the south of France. I would have enquiries made in a few of the major towns near his property. I somehow doubt he would bother to cover his tracks, because he would never believe that Hercule Poirot would be involved in the case and therefore able to catch him out.”