I“I ’m sorry, Miss Fortescue, to bother you again, but I want to be quite, quite clear about this. As far as we know youwere the last person—or rather the last person but one—to see Mrs. Fortescue alive. It was about twenty past fivewhen you left the drawing room?”
“About then,” said Elaine, “I can’t say exactly.” She added defensively: “One doesn’t look at clocks the wholetime.”
“No, of course not. During the time that you were alone with Mrs. Fortescue after the others had left, what did youtalk about?”
“Does it matter what we talked about?”
“Probably not,” said Inspector1 Neele, “but it might give me some clue as to what was in Mrs. Fortescue’s mind.”
“You mean—you think she might have done it herself?”
Inspector Neele noticed the brightening on her face. It would certainly be a very convenient solution as far as thefamily was concerned. Inspector Neele did not think it was true for a moment. Adele Fortescue was not to his mind asuicidal type. Even if she had poisoned her husband and was convinced the crime was about to be brought home toher, she would not, he thought, have ever thought of killing2 herself. She would have been sure optimistically that evenif she were tried for murder she would be sure to be acquitted3. He was not, however, averse4 to Elaine Fortescue’sentertaining the hypothesis. He said, therefore, quite truthfully:
“There’s a possibility of it at least, Miss Fortescue. Now perhaps you’ll tell me just what your conversation wasabout?”
“Well, it was really about my affairs.” Elaine hesitated.
“Your affairs being . . . ? ” he paused questioningly with a genial5 expression.
“I—a friend of mine had just arrived in the neighbourhood, and I was asking Adele if she would have any objectionto—to my asking him to stay here at the house.”
“Ah. And who is this friend?”
“It’s a Mr. Gerald Wright. He’s a schoolmaster. He—he’s staying at the Golf Hotel.”
“A very close friend, perhaps?”
Inspector Neele gave an avuncular6 beam which added at least fifteen years to his age.
“We may expect an interesting announcement shortly, perhaps?”
He felt almost compunction as he saw the awkward gesture of the girl’s hand and the flush on her face. She was inlove with the fellow all right.
“We—we’re not actually engaged and of course we couldn’t have it announced just now, but—well, yes I think wedo—I mean we are going to get married.”
“Congratulations,” said Inspector Neele pleasantly. “Mr. Wright is staying at the Golf Hotel, you say? How longhas he been there?”
“I wired him when Father died.”
“And he came at once. I see,” said Inspector Neele.
He used this favourite phrase of his in a friendly and reassuring7 way.
“What did Mrs. Fortescue say when you asked her about his coming here?”
“Oh, she said, all right, I could have anybody I pleased.”
“She was nice about it then?”
“Not exactly nice. I mean, she said—”
“Yes, what else did she say?”
Again Elaine flushed.
“Oh, something stupid about my being able to do a lot better for myself now. It was the sort of thing Adele wouldsay.”
“Ah, well,” said Inspector Neele soothingly8, “relations say these sort of things.”
“Yes, yes, they do. But people often find it difficult to—to appreciate Gerald properly. He’s an intellectual, you see,and he’s got a lot of unconventional and progressive ideas that people don’t like.”
“That’s why he didn’t get on with your father?”
Elaine flushed hotly.
“Father was very prejudiced and unjust. He hurt Gerald’s feelings. In fact, Gerald was so upset by my father’sattitude that he went off and I didn’t hear from him for weeks.”
And probably wouldn’t have heard from him now if your father hadn’t died and left you a packet of money,Inspector Neele thought. Aloud he said:
“Was there any more conversation between you and Mrs. Fortescue?”
“No. No, I don’t think so.”
“And that was about twenty-five past five and Mrs. Fortescue was found dead at five minutes to six. You didn’treturn to the room during that half hour?”
“No.”
“What were you doing?”
“I—I went out for a short walk.”
“To the Golf Hotel?”
“I—well, yes, but Gerald wasn’t in.”
Inspector Neele said “I see” again, but this time with a rather dismissive effect. Elaine Fortescue got up and said:
“Is that all?”
“That’s all, thank you, Miss Fortescue.”
As she got up to go, Neele said casually9:
“You can’t tell me anything about blackbirds, can you?”
She stared at him.
“Blackbirds? You mean the ones in the pie?”
They would be in the pie, the inspector thought to himself. He merely said, “When was this?”
“Oh! Three or four months ago—and there were some on Father’s desk, too. He was furious—”
“Furious, was he? Did he ask a lot of questions?”
“Yes—of course—but we couldn’t find out who put them there.”
“Have you any idea why he was so angry?”
“Well—it was rather a horrid10 thing to do, wasn’t it?”
Neele looked thoughtfully at her—but he did not see any signs of evasion11 in her face. He said:
“Oh, just one more thing, Miss Fortescue. Do you know if your stepmother made a will at any time?”
“I’ve no idea—I—suppose so. People usually do, don’t they?”
“They should do—but it doesn’t always follow. Have you made a will yourself, Miss Fortescue?”
“No—no—I haven’t—up to now I haven’t had anything to leave—now, of course—”
He saw the realization12 of the changed position come into her eyes.
“Yes,” he said. “Fifty thousand pounds is quite a responsibility—it changes a lot of things, Miss Fortescue.”
II
For some minutes after Elaine Fortescue left the room, Inspector Neele sat staring in front of him thoughtfully. Hehad, indeed, new food for thought. Mary Dove’s statement that she had seen a man in the garden at approximately4:35 opened up certain new possibilities. That is, of course, if Mary Dove was speaking the truth. It was neverInspector Neele’s habit to assume that anyone was speaking the truth. But, examine her statement as he might, hecould see no real reason why she should have lied. He was inclined to think that Mary Dove was speaking the truthwhen she spoke13 of having seen a man in the garden. It was quite clear that that man could not have been LancelotFortescue, although her reason for assuming that it was he was quite natural under the circumstances. It had not beenLancelot Fortescue, but it had been a man about the height and build of Lancelot Fortescue, and if there had been aman in the garden at that particular time, moreover a man moving furtively14, as it seemed, to judge from the way hehad crept behind the yew15 hedges, then that certainly opened up a line of thought.
Added to this statement of hers, there had been the further statement that she had heard someone moving aboutupstairs. That, in its turn, tied up with something else. The small piece of mud he had found on the floor of AdeleFortescue’s boudoir. Inspector Neele’s mind dwelt on the small dainty desk in that room. Pretty little sham16 antiquewith a rather obvious secret drawer in it. There had been three letters in that drawer, letters written by Vivian Duboisto Adele Fortescue. A great many love letters of one kind or another had passed through Inspector Neele’s hands inthe course of his career. He was acquainted with passionate17 letters, foolish letters, sentimental18 letters and naggingletters. There had also been cautious letters. Inspector Neele was inclined to classify these three as of the latter kind.
Even if read in the divorce court, they could pass as inspired by a merely platonic19 friendship. Though in this case:
“Platonic friendship my foot!” thought the inspector inelegantly. Neele, when he had found the letters, had sent themup at once to the Yard since at that time the main question was whether the Public Prosecutor’s office thought thatthere was sufficient evidence to proceed with the case against Adele Fortescue or Adele Fortescue and Vivian Duboistogether. Everything had pointed20 towards Rex Fortescue having been poisoned by his wife with or without her lover’sconnivance. These letters, though cautious, made it fairly clear that Vivian Dubois was her lover, but there had notbeen in the wording, so far as Inspector Neele could see, any signs of incitement21 to crime. There might have beenincitement of a spoken kind, but Vivian Dubois would be far too cautious to put anything of that kind down on paper.
Inspector Neele surmised22 accurately23 that Vivian Dubois had asked Adele Fortescue to destroy his letters and thatAdele Fortescue had told him she had done so.
Well, now they had two more deaths on their hands. And that meant, or should mean, that Adele Fortescue had notkilled her husband.
Unless, that is—Inspector Neele considered a new hypothesis—Adele Fortescue had wanted to marry VivianDubois and Vivian Dubois had wanted, not Adele Fortescue, but Adele Fortescue’s hundred thousand pounds whichwould come to her on the death of her husband. He had assumed, perhaps, that Rex Fortescue’s death would be putdown to natural causes. Some kind of seizure24 or stroke. After all, everybody seemed to be worried over RexFortescue’s health during the last year. (Parenthetically, Inspector Neele said to himself that he must look into thatquestion. He had a subconscious25 feeling that it might be important in someway.) To continue, Rex Fortescue’s deathhad not gone according to plan. It had been diagnosed without loss of time as poisoning, and the correct poisonnamed.
Supposing that Adele Fortescue and Vivian Dubois had been guilty, what state would they be in then? VivianDubois would have been scared and Adele Fortescue would have lost her head. She might have done or said foolishthings. She might have rung up Dubois on the telephone, talking indiscreetly in a way that he would have realizedmight have been overheard in Yewtree Lodge26. What would Vivian Dubois have done next?
It was early as yet to try and answer that question, but Inspector Neele proposed very shortly to make inquiries27 atthe Golf Hotel as to whether Dubois had been in or out of the hotel between the hours of 4:15 and 6 o’clock. VivianDubois was tall and dark like Lance Fortescue. He might have slipped through the garden to the side door, made hisway upstairs and then what? Looked for the letters and found them gone? Waited there, perhaps, till the coast wasclear, then come down into the library when tea was over and Adele Fortescue was alone?
But all this was going too fast—
Neele had questioned Mary Dove and Elaine Fortescue; he must see now what Percival Fortescue’s wife had tosay.
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inspector
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| n.检查员，监察员，视察员 | |
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killing
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| n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财 | |
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acquitted
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| 宣判…无罪( acquit的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（自己）作出某种表现 | |
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averse
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| adj.厌恶的；反对的，不乐意的 | |
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genial
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| adj.亲切的，和蔼的，愉快的，脾气好的 | |
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avuncular
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| adj.叔伯般的，慈祥的 | |
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reassuring
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| a.使人消除恐惧和疑虑的，使人放心的 | |
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soothingly
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| adv.抚慰地，安慰地；镇痛地 | |
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casually
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| adv.漠不关心地，无动于衷地，不负责任地 | |
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horrid
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| adj.可怕的；令人惊恐的；恐怖的；极讨厌的 | |
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evasion
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| n.逃避，偷漏(税) | |
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realization
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| n.实现；认识到，深刻了解 | |
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spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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furtively
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| adv. 偷偷地, 暗中地 | |
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yew
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| n.紫杉属树木 | |
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sham
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| n./adj.假冒(的)，虚伪(的) | |
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passionate
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| adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的 | |
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sentimental
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| adj.多愁善感的，感伤的 | |
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platonic
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| adj.精神的；柏拉图（哲学）的 | |
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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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incitement
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| 激励； 刺激； 煽动； 激励物 | |
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surmised
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| v.臆测，推断( surmise的过去式和过去分词 )；揣测；猜想 | |
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accurately
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| adv.准确地，精确地 | |
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seizure
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| n.没收；占有；抵押 | |
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subconscious
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| n./adj.潜意识(的)，下意识(的) | |
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lodge
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| v.临时住宿，寄宿，寄存，容纳；n.传达室，小旅馆 | |
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inquiries
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| n.调查( inquiry的名词复数 )；疑问；探究；打听 | |
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