Exhausted1 by all her adventures, Frankie slept late the next morning. Itwas half past ten when she came down to the small coffee room to findBobby waiting for her.
“Hullo, Frankie, here you are at last.”
“Don’t be so horribly vigorous, my dear,” Frankie subsided2 into a chair.
“What will you have? They’ve got haddock and eggs and bacon and coldham.”
“I shall have some toast and weak tea,” said Frankie, quelling3 him.
“What is the matter with you?”
“It must be the sandbagging,” said Bobby. “It’s probably broken up ad-hesions in the brain. I feel absolutely full of pep and vim4 and bright ideasand a longing5 to dash out and do things.”
“Well, why not dash?” said Frankie languidly.
“I have dashed, I’ve been with Inspector6 Hammond for the last halfhour. We’ll have to let it go as a practical joke, Frankie, for the moment.”
“Oh, but, Bobby—”
“I said for the moment. We’ve got to get to the bottom of this, Frankie.
We’re on the right spot and all we’ve got to do is to get down to it. Wedon’t want Roger Bassington- ffrench for abduction. We want him formurder.”
“And we’ll get him,” said Frankie, with a revival7 of spirit.
“That’s more like it,” said Bobby approvingly. “Drink some more tea.”
“How’s Moira?”
“Pretty bad. She came round in the most awful state of nerves. Scaredstiff apparently8. She’s gone up to London—to a nursing home place inQueen’s Gate. She says she’ll feel safe there. She was terrified here.”
“She never did have much nerve,” said Frankie.
“Well, anyone might be scared stiff with a queer, cold-blooded murdererlike Roger Bassington-ffrench loose in the neighbourhood.”
“He doesn’t want to murder her. We’re the ones he’s after.”
“He’s probably too busy taking care of himself to worry about us for themoment,” said Bobby. “Now, Frankie, we’ve got to get down to it. The startof the whole thing must be John Savage9’s death and will. There’s some-thing wrong about it. Either that will was forged or Savage was murderedor something.”
“It’s quite likely the will was forged if Bassington- ffrench was con-cerned,” said Frankie thoughtfully. “Forgery10 seems to be his speciality.”
“It may have been forgery and murder. We’ve got to find out.”
Frankie nodded.
“I’ve got the notes I made after looking at the will. The witnesses wereRose Chudleigh, cook, and Albert Mere11, gardener. They ought to be quiteeasy to find. Then there are the lawyers who drew it up—Elford and Leigh—a very respectable firm as Mr. Spragge said.”
“Right, we’ll start from there. I think you’d better take the lawyers.
You’ll get more out of them than I would. I’ll hunt up Rose Chudleigh andAlbert Mere.”
“What about Badger12?”
“Badger never gets up till lunch time—you needn’t worry about him.”
“We must get his affairs straightened out for him sometime,” saidFrankie. “After all, he did save my life.”
“They’ll soon get tangled13 again,” said Bobby. “Oh! by the way, what doyou think of this?”
He held out a dirty piece of cardboard for her inspection14. It was a photo-graph.
“Mr. Cayman,” said Frankie immediately. “Where did you get it?”
“Last night. It had slipped down behind the telephone.”
“Then it seems pretty clear who Mr. and Mrs. Templeton were. Wait aminute.”
A waitress had just approached, bearing toast. Frankie displayed thephotograph.
“Do you know who that is?” she asked.
The waitress regarded the photograph, her head a little on one side.
“Now, I’ve seen the gentleman—but I can’t quite call to mind. Oh! yes,it’s the gentleman who had Tudor Cottage—Mr. Templeton. They’ve goneaway now—somewhere abroad, I believe.”
“What sort of man was he?” asked Frankie.
“I really couldn’t say. They didn’t come down here very often — justweekends now and then. Nobody saw much of him. Mrs. Templeton was avery nice lady. But they hadn’t had Tudor Cottage very long—only aboutsix months—when a very rich gentleman died and left Mrs. Templeton allhis money and they went to live abroad. They never sold Tudor Cottage,though. I think they sometimes lend it to people for weekends. But I don’tsuppose with all that money they’ll ever come back here and live in itthemselves.”
“They had a cook called Rose Chudleigh, didn’t they?” asked Frankie.
But the girl seemed uninterested in cooks. Being left a fortune by a richgentleman was what really stirred her imagination. In answer to Frankie’squestion she replied that she couldn’t say, she was sure, and withdrewcarrying an empty toast rack.
“That’s all plain sailing,” said Frankie. “The Caymans have given upcoming here, but they keep the place on for the convenience of the gang.”
They agreed to divide the labour as Bobby had suggested. Frankie wentoff in the Bentley, having smartened herself up by a few local purchases,and Bobby went off in quest of Albert Mere, the gardener.
They met at lunch time.
“Well?” demanded Bobby.
Frankie shook her head.
“Forgery’s out of the question.” She spoke15 in a dispirited voice. “I spent along time with Mr. Elford—he’s rather an old dear. He’d got wind of ourdoings last night and was wild to hear a few details. I don’t suppose theyget much excitement down here. Anyway, I soon got him eating out of myhand. Then I discussed the Savage case—pretended I’d met some of theSavage relations and that they’d hinted at forgery. At that my old dearbristled up—absolutely out of the question! It wasn’t a question of lettersor anything like that. He saw Mr. Savage himself and Mr. Savage insistedon the will being drawn16 up then and there. Mr. Elford wanted to go awayand do it properly—you know how they do—sheets and sheets all aboutnothing—”
“I don’t know,” said Bobby. “I’ve never made any wills.”
“I have—two. The second was this morning. I had to have some excusefor seeing a lawyer.”
“Who did you leave your money to?”
“You.”
“That was a bit thoughtless, wasn’t it? If Roger Bassington-ffrench suc-ceeded in bumping you off I should probably be hanged for it!”
“I never thought of that,” said Frankie. “Well, as I was saying, Mr. Sav-age was so nervous and wrought17 up that Mr. Elford wrote out the willthen and there and the servant and the gardener came and witnessed it,and Mr. Elford took it away with him for safe keeping.”
“That does seem to knock out forgery,” agreed Bobby.
“I know. You can’t have forgery when you’ve actually seen the man signhis name. As to the other business—murder, it’s going to be hard to findout anything about that now. The doctor who was called in has died since.
The man we saw last night is a new man—he’s only been here about twomonths.”
“We seem to have rather an unfortunate number of deaths,” said Bobby.
“Why, who else is dead?”
“Albert Mere.”
“Do you think they’ve all been put out of the way?”
“That seems rather wholesale18. We might give Albert Mere the benefit ofthe doubt—he was seventy-two, poor old man.”
“All right,” said Frankie. “I’ll allow you Natural Causes in his case. Anyluck with Rose Chudleigh?”
“Yes. After she left the Templetons she went to the north of England to aplace, but she’s come back and married a man down here whom it seemsshe’s been walking out with for the last seventeen years. Unfortunatelyshe’s a bit of a nitwit. She doesn’t seem to remember anything about any-one. Perhaps you could do something with her.”
“I’ll have a go,” said Frankie. “I’m rather good with nitwits. Where’sBadger, by the way?”
“Good Lord! I’ve forgotten all about him,” said Bobby. He got up and leftthe room, returning a few minutes later.
“He was still asleep,” he explained. “He’s getting up now. A chamber-maid seems to have called him four times but it didn’t make any impres-sion.”
“Well, we’d better go and see the nitwit,” said Frankie, rising. “And thenI must buy a toothbrush and a nightgown and a sponge and a few othernecessities of civilized19 existence. I was so close to Nature last night that Ididn’t think about any of them. I just stripped off my outer covering andfell upon the bed.”
“I know,” said Bobby. “So did I.”
“Let’s go and talk to Rose Chudleigh,” said Frankie.
Rose Chudleigh, now Mrs. Pratt, lived in a small cottage that seemed tobe overflowing20 with china dogs and furniture. Mrs. Pratt herself was abovine-looking woman of ample proportions, with fishlike eyes and everyindication of adenoids.
“You see, I’ve come back,” said Bobby breezily.
Mrs. Pratt breathed hard and looked at them both incuriously.
“We were so interested to hear that you had lived with Mrs. Templeton,”
explained Frankie.
“Yes, ma’am,” said Mrs. Pratt.
“She’s living abroad now, I believe,” continued Frankie, trying to give animpression of being an intimate of the family.
“I’ve heard so,” agreed Mrs. Pratt.
“You were with her some time, weren’t you?” asked Frankie.
“Were I which, ma’am?”
“With Mrs. Templeton some time,” said Frankie, speaking slowly andclearly.
“I wouldn’t say that, ma’am. Only two months.”
“Oh! I thought you’d been with her longer than that.”
“That was Gladys, ma’am. The house parlourmaid. She was there sixmonths.”
“There were two of you?”
“That’s right. House parlourmaid she was and I was cook.”
“You were there when Mr. Savage died, weren’t you?”
“I beg your pardon, ma’am.”
“You were there when Mr. Savage died?”
“Mr. Templeton didn’t die—at least I haven’t heard so. He went abroad.”
“Not Mr. Templeton—Mr. Savage,” said Bobby.
Mrs. Pratt looked at him vacantly.
“The gentleman who left her all the money,” said Frankie.
A gleam of something like intelligence passed across Mrs. Pratt’s face.
“Oh! yes, ma’am, the gentleman there was the inquest on.”
“That’s right,” said Frankie, delighted with her success. “He used tocome and stay quite often, didn’t he?”
“I couldn’t say as to that, ma’am. I’d only just come, you see. Gladyswould know.”
“But you had to witness his will, didn’t you?”
Mrs. Pratt looked blank.
“You went and saw him sign a paper and you had to sign it, too.”
Again the gleam of intelligence.
“Yes, ma’am. Me and Albert. I’d never done such a thing before and Ididn’t like it. I said to Gladys I don’t like signing a paper and that’s a fact,and Gladys, she said it must be all right because Mr. Elford was there andhe was a very nice gentleman as well as being a lawyer.”
“What happened exactly?” asked Bobby.
“I beg your pardon, sir?”
“Who called you to sign your name?” asked Frankie.
“The mistress, sir. She came into the kitchen and said would I go outsideand call Albert and would we both come up to the best bedroom (whichshe’d moved out of for Mr.—the gentleman—the night before) and therewas the gentleman sitting up in bed—he’d come back from London andgone straight to bed—and a very ill-looking gentleman he was. I hadn’tseen him before. But he looked something ghastly, and Mr. Elford wasthere, too, and he spoke very nice and said there was nothing to be afraidof and I was to sign my name where the gentleman had signed his, and Idid and put ‘cook’ after it and the address and Albert did the same and Iwent down to Gladys all of a tremble and said I’d never seen a gentlemanlook so like death, and Gladys said he’d looked all right the night before,and that it must have been something in London that had upset him. He’dgone up to London very early before anyone was up. And then I saidabout not liking21 to write my name to anything, and Gladys said it was allright because Mr. Elford was there.”
“And Mr. Savage—the gentleman died—when?”
“Next morning as ever was, ma’am. He shut himself up in his room thatnight and wouldn’t let anyone go near him, and when Gladys called him inthe morning he was all stiff and dead and a letter propped22 up by his bed-side. ‘To the Coroner,’ it said. Oh! it gave Gladys a regular turn. And thenthere was an inquest and everything. About two months later Mrs. Tem-pleton told me she was going abroad to live. But she got me a very goodplace up north with big wages and she gave me a nice present andeverything. A very nice lady, Mrs. Templeton.”
Mrs. Pratt was by now thoroughly23 enjoying her own loquacity24.
Frankie rose.
“Well,” she said. “It’s been very nice to hear all this.” She slipped a noteout of her purse. “You must let me leave you a—er—little present. I’vetaken up so much of your time.”
“Well, thank you kindly25, I’m sure, ma’am. Good day to you and yourgood gentleman.”
Frankie blushed and retreated rather rapidly. Bobby followed her aftera few minutes. He looked preoccupied26.
“Well,” he said. “We seem to have got at all she knows.”
“Yes,” said Frankie. “And it hangs together. There seems no doubt thatSavage did make that will, and I suppose his fear of cancer was genuineenough. They couldn’t very well bribe27 a Harley Street doctor. I supposethey just took advantage of his having made that will to do away with himquickly before he changed his mind. But how we or anyone else can provethey did make away with him I can’t see.”
“I know. We may suspect that Mrs. T gave him ‘something to make himsleep,’ but we can’t prove it. Bassington-ffrench may have forged the letterto the coroner, but that again we can’t prove by now. I expect the letter isdestroyed long ago after being put in as evidence at the inquest.”
“So we come back to the old problem—what on earth are Bassington-ffrench and Co. so afraid of our discovering?”
“Nothing strikes you as odd particularly?”
“No, I don’t think so—at least only one thing. Why did Mrs. Templetonsend out for the gardener to come and witness the will when the houseparlourmaid was in the house. Why didn’t they ask the parlourmaid?”
“It’s odd your saying that, Frankie,” said Bobby.
His voice sounded so queer that Frankie looked at him in surprise.
“Why?”
“Because I stayed behind to ask Mrs. Pratt for Gladys’s name and ad-dress.”
“Well?”
“The parlourmaid’s name was Evans!”
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收听单词发音
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1
exhausted
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| adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的 | |
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2
subsided
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| v.（土地）下陷（因在地下采矿）( subside的过去式和过去分词 )；减弱；下降至较低或正常水平；一下子坐在椅子等上 | |
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quelling
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| v.（用武力）制止，结束，镇压( quell的现在分词 ) | |
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vim
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| n.精力，活力 | |
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longing
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| n.（for）渴望 | |
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6
inspector
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| n.检查员，监察员，视察员 | |
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7
revival
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| n.复兴，复苏，（精力、活力等的）重振 | |
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8
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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9
savage
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| adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人 | |
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10
forgery
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| n.伪造的文件等，赝品，伪造（行为） | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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badger
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| v.一再烦扰，一再要求，纠缠 | |
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tangled
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| adj. 纠缠的，紊乱的 动词tangle的过去式和过去分词 | |
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inspection
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| n.检查，审查，检阅 | |
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15
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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16
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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wrought
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| v.引起；以…原料制作；运转；adj.制造的 | |
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wholesale
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| n.批发；adv.以批发方式；vt.批发，成批出售 | |
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civilized
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| a.有教养的，文雅的 | |
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overflowing
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| n. 溢出物,溢流 adj. 充沛的，充满的 动词overflow的现在分词形式 | |
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liking
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| n.爱好；嗜好；喜欢 | |
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propped
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| 支撑，支持，维持( prop的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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loquacity
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| n.多话，饶舌 | |
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kindly
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| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
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preoccupied
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| adj.全神贯注的，入神的；被抢先占有的；心事重重的v.占据（某人）思想，使对…全神贯注，使专心于( preoccupy的过去式) | |
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bribe
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| n.贿赂；v.向…行贿，买通 | |
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