The funerals of Mrs Ferrars and Roger Ackroyd took place at eleven o'clock in the morning. Afterwards, Poirot invited me to go back to The Larches with him.

'With your help I will question Parker!' he said. 'We will scare him so much that the truth is certain to come out. I asked him to be at my house at twelve o'clock. He will be there now.'

On arrival at The Larches, Poirot's housekeeper told us that Parker was already there. As we entered the drawing room, the butler stood up respectfully.

'Good afternoon, Parker,' said Poirot pleasantly. 'Please sit down. What I have to say may take some time.'

Parker sat in the chair Poirot had pointed to.

'Now,' said Poirot, smiling. 'Have you often blackmailed people?'

The butler jumped to his feet. 'Sir, I - I've never - never been-'

'Insulted,' suggested Poirot, 'in such a way before. Then why, my excellent Parker, were you so anxious to overhear the conversation between Mr Ackroyd and Dr Sheppard the other evening, after you had heard the word blackmail?'

'I wasn't - I-'

'Who did you work for before Mr Ackroyd?' Poirot demanded suddenly.

'A Major Ellerby, Sir...'

'Just so. Major Ellerby was addicted to drugs, was he not? A man was killed and Major Ellerby was partly responsible. It was kept quiet. But you knew about it. How much did Major Ellerby pay you to keep quiet? You see, I have made inquiries,' said Poirot pleasantly. 'You got a large sum of money then as blackmail, and now I want to hear about your latest efforts.'

Parker's face was completely white. 'But I never hurt Mr Ackroyd! Honestly Sir, I didn't. It's true that I tried to listen that night. I heard the word blackmail, Sir, and well, I thought that if Mr Ackroyd was being blackmailed, why shouldn't I have a share?'

A strange expression passed over Poirot's face. He leaned forward. 'Had you any reason to think before that night that Mr Ackroyd was being blackmailed?'

'No Sir. It was a great surprise to me. He was such a gentleman in all his behaviour. I hope you believe me, Sir. I've been afraid all the time the police would discover that business with Major Ellerby and suspect me because of it.'

'I believe that you have told me the truth,' said Poirot. 'If you have not - it will be very bad for you, my friend.'

As soon as he had gone, I asked, 'Do you believe Parker's story?'

'It seems clear that he believes it was Ackroyd who was the victim of blackmail. If so, he knows nothing about Mrs Ferrars being blackmailed because she had poisoned her husband.'