Walter Protheroe, in his bedroom, nor could Giles. Constable Pollard arrived at that moment and he and the doctor broke down the oak door. Inside they found Protheroe, shot through the head and his pistol clasped in his right hand. The problem was that the bullet entered behind the left ear and such a shot was impossible. As they examine the room Hastings puzzled as to why Poirot sniffed the air so keenly and also why he examined so carefully a handkerchief lodged up Protheroe's right sleeve. Hastings could smell nothing in the air, nor could he see anything on the handkerchief. The key is missing from the lock of the door and Japp supposes that this was the murderer's error in trying to make the murder look like suicide. A couple named Parker were staying in the house. Miss Clegg says their unexpected first visit did not seem to please Protheroe. He kept a pistol, although she has not seen it for some time. She cannot say why the windows of the room were locked and bolted contrary to custom. Mr Parker lies about owning a cufflink found at the crime scene. At the inquest a tramp comes forward to say that he heard Protheroe and Parker argue about money at midnight on the night of the death. Protheroe's true surname was Wendover; he had been involved with the treacherous sinking of a naval vessel some years earlier and Parker was blackmailing him over this. On the suspicion of killing Wendover and making it look like suicide, Parker is arrested. Poirot summons Miss Clegg to the inn. He surmises that Wendover did in fact kill himself, with his left hand holding the gun. Clegg admits that when she found him in the morning, she judged Parker to be the cause, so she changed the pistol to his right hand to throw suspicion on the blackmailer to bring him to justice; however, she neglected to change the handkerchief up the right sleeve over to the left sleeve as well. She locked and bolted the windows to prevent it looking like a potential murderer escaped by that method, therefore indicating that the murderer was someone in the house. The fireplace grate was full of smoked cigarettes, yet the air was fresh. Poirot deduced that the windows of the room must have been open that night, otherwise the air would have smelled