I“J ust wait a minute,” said Miss Ramsbottom. “This patience is going to come out.”
She transferred a king and his various impedimenta into an empty space, put a red seven on a black eight, built upthe four, five and six of spades on her foundation heap, made a few more rapid transfers of cards and then leaned backwith a sign of satisfaction.
“That’s the Double Jester,” she said. “It doesn’t often come out.”
She leaned back in a satisfied fashion, then raised her eyes at the girl standing1 by the fireplace.
“So you’re Lance’s wife,” she said.
Pat, who had been summoned upstairs to Miss Ramsbottom’s presence, nodded her head.
“Yes,” she said.
“You’re a tall girl,” said Miss Ramsbottom, “and you look healthy.”
“I’m very healthy.”
Miss Ramsbottom nodded in a satisfied manner.
“Percival’s wife is pasty,” she said. “Eats too many sweets and doesn’t take enough exercise. Well, sit down, child,sit down. Where did you meet my nephew?”
“I met him out in Kenya when I was staying there with some friends.”
“You’ve been married before, I understand.”
“Yes. Twice.”
Miss Ramsbottom gave a profound sniff2.
“Divorce, I suppose.”
“No,” said Pat. Her voice trembled a little. “They both—died. My first husband was a fighter pilot. He was killed inthe war.”
“And your second husband? Let me see—somebody told me. Shot himself, didn’t he?”
Pat nodded.
“Your fault?”
“No,” said Pat. “It wasn’t my fault.”
“Racing man, wasn’t he?”
“Yes.”
“I’ve never been on a race course in my life,” said Miss Ramsbottom. “Betting and card playing—all devices of thedevil!”
Pat did not reply.
“I wouldn’t go inside a theatre or a cinema,” said Miss Ramsbottom. “Ah, well, it’s a wicked world nowadays. Alot of wickedness was going on in this house, but the Lord struck them down.”
Pat still found it difficult to say anything. She wondered if Lance’s Aunt Effie was really quite all there. She was,however, a trifle disconcerted by the old lady’s shrewd glance at her.
“How much,” demanded Aunt Effie, “do you know about the family you’ve married into?”
“I suppose,” said Pat, “as much as one ever knows of the family one marries into.”
“H’m, something in that, something in that. Well, I’ll tell you this. My sister was a fool, my brother-in-law was arogue, Percival is a sneak3, and your Lance was always the bad boy of the family.”
“I think that’s all nonsense,” said Pat robustly4.
“Maybe you’re right,” said Miss Ramsbottom, unexpectedly. “You can’t just stick labels on people. But don’tunderestimate Percival. There’s a tendency to believe that those who are labelled good are also stupid. Percival isn’tthe least bit stupid. He’s quite clever in a sanctimonious5 kind of way. I’ve never cared for him. Mind you, I don’t trustLance and I don’t approve of him, but I can’t help being fond of him . . . He’s a reckless sort of fellow—always hasbeen. You’ve got to look after him and see he doesn’t go too far. Tell him not to underestimate Percival, my dear. Tellhim not to believe everything that Percival says. They’re all liars6 in this house.” The old lady added with satisfaction:
“Fire and brimstone shall be their portion.”
II
Inspector7 Neele was finishing a telephone conversation with Scotland Yard.
The assistant commissioner8 at the other end said:
“We ought to be able to get that information for you—by circularizing the various private sanatoriums. Of courseshe may be dead.”
“Probably is. It’s a long time ago.”
Old sins cast long shadows. Miss Ramsbottom had said that—said it with a significance, too—as though she wasgiving him a hint.
“It’s a fantastic theory,” said the AC.
“Don’t I know it, sir. But I don’t feel we can ignore it altogether. Too much fits in—”
“Yes—yes—rye—blackbirds—the man’s Christian9 name—”
Neele said:
“I’m concentrating on the other lines too—Dubois is a possibility—so is Wright—the girl Gladys could havecaught sight of either of them outside the side door—she could have left the tea tray in the hall and gone out to seewho it was and what they were doing—whoever it was could have strangled her then and there and then carried herbody round to the clothesline and put the peg10 on her nose—”
“A crazy thing to do in all conscience! A nasty one too.”
“Yes, sir. That’s what upset the old lady—Miss Marple, I mean. Nice old lady—and very shrewd. She’s movedinto the house—to be near old Miss Ramsbottom—and I’ve no doubt she’ll get to hear anything that’s going.”
“What’s your next move, Neele?”
“I’ve an appointment with the London solicitors11. I want to find out a little more about Rex Fortescue’s affairs. Andthough it’s old history, I want to hear a little more about the Blackbird Mine.”
III
Mr. Billingsley, of Billingsley, Horsethorpe & Walters, was an urbane12 man whose discretion13 was concealed14 habituallyby a misleadingly forthcoming manner. It was the second interview that Inspector Neele had had with him, and on thisoccasion Mr. Billingsley’s discretion was less noticeable than it had been on the former one. The triple tragedy atYewtree Lodge15 had shaken Mr. Billingsley out of his professional reserve. He was now only too anxious to put all thefacts he could before the police.
“Most extraordinary business, this whole thing,” he said. “A most extraordinary business. I don’t rememberanything like it in all my professional career.”
“Frankly, Mr. Billingsley,” said Inspector Neele, “we need all the help we can get.”
“You can count on me, my dear sir. I shall be only too happy to assist you in every way I can.”
“First let me ask you how well you knew the late Mr. Fortescue, and how well do you know the affairs of hisfirm?”
“I knew Rex Fortescue fairly well. That is to say I’ve known him for a period of, well, sixteen years I should say.
Mind you, we are not the only firm of solicitors he employed, not by a long way.”
Inspector Neele nodded. He knew that. Billingsley, Horsethorpe & Walters were what one might describe as RexFortescue’s reputable solicitors. For his less reputable dealings he had employed several different and slightly lessscrupulous firms.
“Now what do you want to know?” continued Mr. Billingsley. “I’ve told you about his will. Percival Fortescue isthe residuary legatee.”
“I’m interested now,” said Inspector Neele, “in the will of his widow. On Mr. Fortescue’s death she came into thesum of one hundred thousand pounds, I understand?”
Billingsley nodded his head.
“A considerable sum of money,” he said, “and I may tell you in confidence, Inspector, that it is one the firm couldill have afforded to pay out.”
“The firm, then, is not prosperous?”
“Frankly,” said Mr. Billingsley, “and strictly16 between ourselves, it’s drifting onto the rocks and has been for thelast year and a half.”
“For any particular reason?”
“Why yes. I should say the reason was Rex Fortescue himself. For the last year Rex Fortescue’s been acting17 like amadman. Selling good stock here, buying speculative18 stuff there, talking big about it all the time in the mostextraordinary way. Wouldn’t listen to advice. Percival—the son, you know—he came here urging me to use myinfluence with his father. He’d tried, apparently19 and been swept aside. Well, I did what I could, but Fortescue wouldn’tlisten to reason. Really, he seems to have been a changed man.”
“But not, I gather, a depressed20 man,” said Inspector Neele.
“No, no. Quite the contrary. Flamboyant21, bombastic22.”
Inspector Neele nodded. An idea which had already taken form in his mind was strengthened. He thought he wasbeginning to understand some of the causes of friction23 between Percival and his father. Mr. Billingsley wascontinuing:
“But it’s no good asking me about the wife’s will. I didn’t make any will for her.”
“No. I know that,” said Neele. “I’m merely verifying that she had something to leave. In short, a hundred thousandpounds.”
Mr. Billingsley was shaking his head violently.
“No, no, my dear sir. You’re wrong there.”
“Do you mean the hundred thousand pounds was only left to her for her lifetime?”
“No—no—it was left to her outright24. But there was a clause in the will governing that bequest25. That is to say,Fortescue’s wife did not inherit the sum unless she survived him for one month. That, I may say, is a clause fairlycommon nowadays. It has come into operation owing to the uncertainties26 of air travel. If two people are killed in an airaccident, it becomes exceedingly difficult to say who was the survivor27 and a lot of very curious problems arise.”
Inspector Neele was staring at him.
“Then Adele Fortescue had not got a hundred thousand pounds to leave. What happens to that money?”
“It goes back into the firm. Or rather, I should say, it goes to the residuary legatee.”
“And the residuary legatee is Mr. Percival Fortescue.”
“That’s right,” said Billingsley, “it goes to Percival Fortescue. And with the state the firm’s affairs are in,” he addedunguardedly, “I should say that he’ll need it!”
IV
“The things you policemen want to know,” said Inspector Neele’s doctor friend.
“Come on, Bob, spill it.”
“Well, as we’re alone together you can’t quote me, fortunately! But I should say, you know, that your idea’s deadright. GPI by the sound of it all. The family suspected it and wanted to get him to see a doctor. He wouldn’t. It actsjust in the way you describe. Loss of judgment28, megalomania, violent fits of irritation29 and anger—boastfulness—delusions of grandeur—of being a great financial genius. Anyone suffering from that would soon put a solvent30 firm onthe rocks—unless he could be restrained—and that’s not so easy to do—especially if the man himself has an idea ofwhat you’re after. Yes—I should say it was a bit of luck for your friends that he died.”
“They’re no friends of mine,” said Neele. He repeated what he had once said before:
“They’re all very unpleasant people. . . .”
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1
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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sniff
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| vi.嗅…味道；抽鼻涕；对嗤之以鼻，蔑视 | |
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3
sneak
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| vt.潜行(隐藏,填石缝)；偷偷摸摸做；n.潜行；adj.暗中进行 | |
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4
robustly
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| adv.要用体力地，粗鲁地 | |
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5
sanctimonious
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| adj.假装神圣的，假装虔诚的，假装诚实的 | |
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6
liars
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| 说谎者( liar的名词复数 ) | |
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7
inspector
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| n.检查员，监察员，视察员 | |
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8
commissioner
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| n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员 | |
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9
Christian
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| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
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10
peg
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| n.木栓，木钉；vt.用木钉钉，用短桩固定 | |
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11
solicitors
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| 初级律师( solicitor的名词复数 ) | |
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12
urbane
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| adj.温文尔雅的，懂礼的 | |
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13
discretion
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| n.谨慎；随意处理 | |
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14
concealed
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| a.隐藏的，隐蔽的 | |
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15
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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16
strictly
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| adv.严厉地，严格地；严密地 | |
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17
acting
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| n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的 | |
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18
speculative
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| adj.思索性的，暝想性的，推理的 | |
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19
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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depressed
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| adj.沮丧的，抑郁的，不景气的，萧条的 | |
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21
flamboyant
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| adj.火焰般的，华丽的，炫耀的 | |
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22
bombastic
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| adj.夸夸其谈的，言过其实的 | |
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23
friction
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| n.摩擦，摩擦力 | |
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outright
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| adv.坦率地；彻底地；立即；adj.无疑的；彻底的 | |
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25
bequest
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| n.遗赠；遗产，遗物 | |
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26
uncertainties
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| 无把握( uncertainty的名词复数 )； 不确定； 变化不定； 无把握、不确定的事物 | |
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27
survivor
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| n.生存者，残存者，幸存者 | |
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28
judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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29
irritation
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| n.激怒，恼怒，生气 | |
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30
solvent
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| n.溶剂；adj.有偿付能力的 | |
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