put on one side; those of no importance, pouf!"--he screwed up
his cherub-like face, and puffed comically enough--"blow them
away!"

"That's all very well," I objected, "but how are you going to
decide what is important, and what isn't? That always seems the
difficulty to me."

Poirot shook his head energetically. He was now arranging his
moustache with exquisite care.

"Not so. Voyons! One fact leads to another--so we continue.
Does the next fit in with that? A merveille! Good! We can
proceed. This next little fact--no! Ah, that is curious! There
is something missing--a link in the chain that is not there. We
examine. We search. And that little curious fact, that possibly
paltry little detail that will not tally, we put it here!" He
made an extravagant gesture with his hand. "It is significant!
It is tremendous!"

"Y--es--"

"Ah!" Poirot shook his forefinger so fiercely at me that I
quailed before it. "Beware! Peril to the detective who says: 'It
is so small--it does not matter. It will not agree. I will
forget it.' That way lies confusion! Everything matters."

"I know. You always told me that. That's why I have gone into
all the details of this thing whether they seemed to me relevant
or not."