Eileen Brandon had been fairly accurately1 described by Poppy—allow-ing, that is to say, for Poppy’s own particular point of view. Her hair wasneither like a chrysanthemum2, nor an unruly birds’ nest. It was wavedback close to her head, she wore the minimum of makeup3 and her feetwere encased in what is called, I believe, sensible shoes. Her husband hadbeen killed in a motor accident, she told us, and left her with two smallchildren. Before her present employment, she had been employed by afirm called Customers’ Reactions Classified for over a year. She had left ofher own accord as she had not cared for the type of work.
“Why didn’t you care for it, Mrs. Brandon?”
Lejeune asked the question. She looked at him.
“You’re a detective-inspector4 of police? Is that right?”
“Quite right, Mrs. Brandon.”
“You think there’s something wrong about that firm?”
“It’s a matter I’m inquiring into. Did you suspect something of that kind?
Is that why you left?”
“I’ve nothing definite to go upon. Nothing definite that I could tell you.”
“Naturally. We understand that. This is a confidential5 inquiry6.”
“I see. But there is really very little I could say.”
“You can say why you wanted to leave.”
“I had a feeling that there were things going on that I didn’t knowabout.”
“You mean you didn’t think it was a genuine concern?”
“Something of the kind. It didn’t seem to me to be run in a businesslikeway. I suspected that there must be some ulterior object behind it. Butwhat that object was I still don’t know.”
Lejeune asked more questions as to exactly what work she had beenasked to do. Lists of names in a certain neighbourhood had been handedout. Her job was to visit those people, ask certain questions, and notedown the answers.
“And what struck you as wrong about that?”
“The questions did not seem to me to follow up any particular line of re-search. They seemed desultory8, almost haphazard9. As though—how can Iput it?—they were a cloak for something else.”
“Have you any idea what the something else might have been?”
“No. That’s what puzzled me.”
She paused a moment and then said doubtfully:
“I did wonder, at one time, whether the whole thing could have been or-ganised with a view perhaps to burglaries, a spying out of the land, so tospeak. But that couldn’t be it, because I was never asked for any descrip-tion of the rooms, fastenings, etc, or when the occupants of the flat orhouse were likely to be out or away.”
“What articles did you deal with in the questions?”
“It varied10. Sometimes it was foodstuffs11. Cereals, cake mixes, or it mightbe soap flakes12 and detergents13. Sometimes cosmetics14, face powders, lip-sticks, creams, etc. Sometimes patent medicines or remedies, brands of as-pirin, cough pastilles, sleeping pills, pep pills, gargles, mouthwashes, indi-gestion remedies and so on.”
“You were not asked,” Lejeune spoke15 casually16, “to supply samples of anyparticular goods?”
“No. Nothing of that kind.”
“You merely asked questions and noted7 down the answers?”
“Yes.”
“What was supposed to be the object of these inquiries17?”
“That was what seemed so odd. We were never told exactly. It was sup-posed to be done in order to supply information to certain manufacturingfirms—but it was an extraordinarily18 amateurish19 way of going about it. Notsystematic at all.”
“Would it be possible, do you think, that amongst the questions youwere told to ask, there was just one question or one group of questions,that was the object of the enterprise, and that the others might have beencamouflage?”
She considered the point, frowning a little, then she nodded.
“Yes,” she said. “That would account for the haphazard choice—but Ihaven’t the least idea what question or questions were the importantones.”
Lejeune looked at her keenly.
“There must be more to it than what you’ve told us,” he said gently.
“That’s the point, there isn’t really. I just felt there was something wrongabout the whole setup. And then I talked to another woman, a Mrs. Davis—”
“You talked to a Mrs. Davis—yes?”
Lejeune’s voice remained quite unchanged.
“She wasn’t happy about things, either.”
“And why wasn’t she happy?”
“She’d overheard something.”
“What had she overheard?”
“I told you I couldn’t be definite. She didn’t tell me in so many words.
Only that from what she had overheard, the whole setup was a racket ofsome kind. ‘It’s not what it seems to be.’ That is what she said. Then shesaid: ‘Oh well, it doesn’t affect us. The money’s very good and we’re notasked to do anything that’s against the law—so I don’t see that we needbother our heads about it.’”
“That was all?”
“There was one other thing she said. I don’t know what she meant by it.
She said: ‘Sometimes I feel like Typhoid Mary.’ At the time I didn’t knowwhat she meant.”
Lejeune took a paper from his pocket and handed it to her.
“Do any of the names on that list mean anything to you? Did you callupon any of them that you can remember?”
“I wouldn’t remember.” She took the paper. “I saw so many…” Shepaused as her eye went down the list. She said:
“Ormerod.”
“You remember an Ormerod?”
“No. But Mrs. Davis mentioned him once. He died very suddenly, didn’the? Cerebral20 haemorrhage. It upset her. She said, ‘He was on my list a fort-night ago. Looked like a man in the pink of condition.’ It was after thatthat she made the remark about Typhoid Mary. She said, ‘Some of thepeople I call on seem to curl up their toes and pass out just from havingone look at me.’ She laughed about it and said it was a coincidence. But Idon’t think she liked it much. However, she said she wasn’t going toworry.”
“And that was all?”
“Well—”
“Tell me.”
“It was some time later. I hadn’t seen her for a while. But we met oneday in a restaurant in Soho. I told her that I’d left the C.R.C. and got an-other job. She asked me why, and I told her I’d felt uneasy, not knowingwhat was going on. She said: ‘Perhaps you’ve been wise. But it’s goodmoney and short hours. And after all, we’ve all got to take our chance inthis life! I’ve not had much luck in my life and why should I care what hap-pens to other people?’ I said: ‘I don’t understand what you’re talkingabout. What exactly is wrong with that show?’ She said: ‘I can’t be sure,but I’ll tell you I recognised someone the other day. Coming out of a housewhere he’d no business to be and carrying a bag of tools. What was he do-ing with those I’d like to know?’ She asked me, too, if I’d ever come acrossa woman who ran a pub called the Pale Horse somewhere. I asked herwhat the Pale Horse had to do with it.”
“And what did she say?”
“She laughed and said ‘Read your Bible.’”
Mrs. Brandon added: “I don’t know what she meant. That was the lasttime I saw her. I don’t know where she is now, whether she’s still withC.R.C. or whether she’s left.”
“Mrs. Davis is dead,” said Lejeune.
Eileen Brandon looked startled.
“Dead! But—how?”
“Pneumonia, two months ago.”
“Oh, I see. I’m sorry.”
“Is there anything else you can tell us, Mrs. Brandon?”
“I’m afraid not. I have heard other people mention that phrase—thePale Horse, but if you ask them about it, they shut up at once. They lookafraid, too.”
She looked uneasy.
“I—I don’t want to be mixed up in anything dangerous, Inspector Le-jeune. I’ve got two small children. Honestly, I don’t know anything morethan I’ve told you.”
He looked at her keenly—then he nodded his head and let her go.
“That takes us a little further,” said Lejeune when Eileen Brandon hadgone. “Mrs. Davis got to know too much. She tried to shut her eyes to themeaning of what was going on, but she must have had a very shrewd sus-picion of what it was. Then she was suddenly taken ill, and when she wasdying, she sent for a priest and told him what she knew and suspected.
The question is, how much did she know? That list of people, I should say,is a list of people she had called on in the course of her job, and who hadsubsequently died. Hence the remark about Typhoid Mary. The real ques-tion is, who was it she ‘recognised’ coming out of a house where he had nobusiness to be, and pretending to be a workman of some kind? That musthave been the knowledge that made her dangerous. If she recognised him,he may have recognised her—and he may have realised that she had re-cognised him. If she’d passed on that particular item to Father Gorman,then it was vital that Father Gorman should be silenced at once before hecould pass it on.”
He looked at me.
“You agree, don’t you? That must have been the way of it.”
“Oh yes,” I said. “I agree.”
“And you’ve an idea, perhaps, who the man is?”
“I’ve an idea, but—”
“I know. We haven’t a particle of evidence.”
He was silent a moment. Then he got up.
“But we’ll get him,” he said. “Make no mistake. Once we know definitelywho it is, there are always ways. We’ll try every damned one of them!”
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1
accurately
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| adv.准确地，精确地 | |
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chrysanthemum
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| n.菊，菊花 | |
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makeup
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| n.组织；性格；化装品 | |
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inspector
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| n.检查员，监察员，视察员 | |
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confidential
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| adj.秘（机）密的，表示信任的，担任机密工作的 | |
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6
inquiry
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| n.打听，询问，调查，查问 | |
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noted
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| adj.著名的，知名的 | |
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desultory
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| adj.散漫的，无方法的 | |
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haphazard
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| adj.无计划的，随意的，杂乱无章的 | |
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varied
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| adj.多样的，多变化的 | |
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foodstuffs
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| 食物，食品( foodstuff的名词复数 ) | |
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12
flakes
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| 小薄片( flake的名词复数 )； （尤指）碎片； 雪花； 古怪的人 | |
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13
detergents
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| n.洗涤剂( detergent的名词复数 ) | |
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cosmetics
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| n.化妆品 | |
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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
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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inquiries
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| n.调查( inquiry的名词复数 )；疑问；探究；打听 | |
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extraordinarily
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| adv.格外地；极端地 | |
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amateurish
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| n.业余爱好的，不熟练的 | |
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cerebral
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| adj.脑的，大脑的；有智力的，理智型的 | |
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