Third Girl

Published by HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd

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London SE1 9GF

www.harpercollins.co.uk

First published in Great Britain by

Collins 1966

Agatha Christie® Poirot® Third Girl™

Copyright © 1966 Agatha Christie Limited. All rights reserved.

www.agathachristie.com

Cover design © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2015

Title lettering by Ghost Design

Cover photograph © Morgan Norman/Gallery Stock

Agatha Christie asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

A catalogue copy of this book is available from the British Library.

This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.

Source ISBN: 9780008129606

Ebook Edition © September 2015 ISBN: 9780007422869

Version: 2017-04-13

To Nora Blackborow

Contents

Cover

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

CHAPTER 1

CHAPTER 2

CHAPTER 3

CHAPTER 4

CHAPTER 5

CHAPTER 6

CHAPTER 7

CHAPTER 8

CHAPTER 9

CHAPTER 10

CHAPTER 11

CHAPTER 12

CHAPTER 13

CHAPTER 14

CHAPTER 15

CHAPTER 16

CHAPTER 17

CHAPTER 18

CHAPTER 19

CHAPTER 20

CHAPTER 21

CHAPTER 22

CHAPTER 23

CHAPTER 24

CHAPTER 25

Also by Agatha Christie

About the Publisher

CHAPTER 1

Hercule Poirot was sitting at the breakfast table. At his right hand was a steaming cup of chocolate. He had always had a sweet tooth. To accompany the chocolate was a brioche. It went agreeably with chocolate. He nodded his approval. This was from the fourth shop he had tried. It was a Danish pâtisserie but infinitely superior to the so-called French one nearby. That had been nothing less than a fraud.

He was satisfied gastronomically. His stomach was at peace. His mind also was at peace, perhaps somewhat too much so. He had finished his Magnum Opus, an analysis of great writers of detective fiction. He had dared to speak scathingly of Edgar Allan Poe, he had complained of the lack of method or order in the romantic outpourings of Wilkie Collins, had lauded to the skies two American authors who were practically unknown, and had in various other ways given honour where honour was due and sternly withheld it where he considered it was not. He had seen the volume through the press, had looked upon the results and, apart from a really incredible number of printer’s errors, pronounced that it was good. He had enjoyed this literary achievement and enjoyed the vast amount of reading he had had to do, had enjoyed snorting with disgust as he flung a book across the floor (though always remembering to rise, pick it up and dispose of it tidily in the waste-paper basket) and had enjoyed appreciatively nodding his head on the rare occasions when such approval was justified.

And now? He had had a pleasant interlude of relaxation, very necessary after his intellectual labour. But one could not relax for ever, one had to go on to the next thing. Unfortunately he had no idea what the next thing might be. Some further literary accomplishment? He thought not. Do a thing well then leave it alone. That was his maxim. The truth of the matter was, he was bored. All this strenuous mental activity in which he had been indulging—there had been too much of it. It had got him into bad habits, it had made him restless…

Vexatious! He shook his head and took another sip of chocolate.

The door opened and his well-trained servant, George, entered. His manner was deferential and slightly apologetic. He coughed and murmured, ‘A—’ he paused, ‘—a—young lady has called.’

Poirot looked at him with surprise and mild distaste.

‘I do not see people at this hour,’ he said reprovingly.

‘No, sir,’ agreed George.

Master and servant looked at each other. Communication was sometimes fraught with difficulties for them. By inflexion or innuendo or a certain choice of words George would signify that there was something that might be elicited if the right question was asked. Poirot considered what the right question in this case might be.

‘She is good-looking, this young lady?’ he inquired carefully.

‘In my view—no, sir, but there is no accounting for tastes.’

Poirot considered his reply. He remembered the slight pause that George had made before the phrase—young lady. George was a delicate social recorder. He had been uncertain of the visitor’s status but had given her the benefit of the doubt.

‘You are of the opinion that she is a young lady rather than, let us say, a young person?’

‘I think so, sir, though it is not always easy to tell nowadays.’ George spoke with genuine regret.

‘Did she give a reason for wishing to see me?’

‘She said—’ George pronounced the words with some reluctance, apologising for them in advance as it were, ‘that she wanted to consult you about a murder she might have committed.’

Hercule Poirot stared. His eyebrows rose. ‘Might have committed? Does she not know?’

‘That is what she said, sir.’

‘Unsatisfactory, but possibly interesting,’ said Poirot.

‘It might—have been a joke, sir,’ said George, dubiously.

‘Anything is possible, I suppose,’ conceded Poirot, ‘but one would hardly think—’ He lifted his cup. ‘Show her in after five minutes.’

‘Yes, sir.’ George withdrew.

Poirot finished the last sip of chocolate. He pushed aside his cup and rose to his feet. He walked to the fireplace and adjusted his moustaches carefully in the mirror over the chimney piece. Satisfied, he returned to his chair and awaited the arrival of his visitor. He did not know exactly what to expect…

He had hoped perhaps for something nearer to his own estimate of female attraction. The outworn phrase ‘beauty in distress’ had occurred to him. He was disappointed when George returned ushering in the visitor; inwardly he shook his head and sighed. Here was no beauty—and no noticeable distress either. Mild perplexity would seem nearer the mark.

‘Pha!’ thought Poirot disgustedly. ‘These girls! Do they not even try to make something of themselves? Well made up, attractively dressed, hair that has been arranged by a good hairdresser, then perhaps she might pass. But now!’

His visitor was a girl of perhaps twenty-odd. Long straggly hair of indeterminate colour strayed over her shoulders. Her eyes, which were large, bore a vacant expression and were of a greenish blue. She wore what were presumably the chosen clothes of her generation. Black high leather boots, white open-work woollen stockings of doubtful cleanliness, a skimpy skirt, and a long and sloppy pullover of heavy wool. Anyone of Poirot’s age and generation would have had only one desire. To drop the girl into a bath as soon as possible. He had often felt this same reaction walking along the streets. There were hundreds of girls looking exactly the same. They all looked dirty. And yet—a contradiction in terms—this one had the look of having been recently drowned and pulled out of a river. Such girls, he reflected, were not perhaps really dirty. They merely took enormous care and pains to look so.

He rose with his usual politeness, shook hands, drew out a chair.

‘You demanded to see me, mademoiselle? Sit down, I pray of you.’

‘Oh,’ said the girl, in a slightly breathless voice. She stared at him.

‘Eh bien?’ said Poirot.

She hesitated. ‘I think I’d—rather stand.’ The large eyes continued to stare doubtfully.

‘As you please.’ Poirot resumed his seat and looked at her. He waited. The girl shuffled her feet. She looked down on them then up again at Poirot.

‘You—you are Hercule Poirot?’

‘Assuredly. In what way can I be of use to you?’

‘Oh, well, it’s rather difficult. I mean—’

Poirot felt that she might need perhaps a little assistance. He said helpfully, ‘My manservant told me that you wanted to consult me because you thought you “might have committed a murder”. Is that correct?’

The girl nodded. ‘That’s right.’

‘Surely that is not a matter that admits of any doubt. You must know yourself whether you have committed a murder or not.’

‘Well, I don’t know quite how to put it. I mean—’

‘Come now,’ said Poirot kindly. ‘Sit down. Relax the muscles. Tell me all about it.’

‘I don’t think—oh dear, I don’t know how to—You see, it’s all so difficult. I’ve—I’ve changed my mind. I don’t want to be rude but—well, I think I’d better go.’

‘Come now. Courage.’

‘No, I can’t. I thought I could come and—and ask you, ask you what I ought to do—but I can’t, you see. It’s all so different from—’

‘From what?’

‘I’m awfully sorry and I really don’t want to be rude, but—’

She breathed an enormous sigh, looked at Poirot, looked away, and suddenly blurted out, ‘You’re too old. Nobody told me you were so old. I really don’t want to be rude but—there it is. You’re too old. I’m really very sorry.’

She turned abruptly and blundered out of the room, rather like a desperate moth in lamplight.

Poirot, his mouth open, heard the bang of the front door.

He ejaculated: ‘Nom d’un nom d’un nom…’

CHAPTER 2

The telephone rang.

Hercule Poirot did not even seem aware of the fact.

It rang with shrill and insistent persistence.

George entered the room and stepped towards it, turning a questioning glance towards Poirot.

Poirot gestured with his hand.

‘Leave it,’ he said.

George obeyed, leaving the room again. The telephone continued to ring. The shrill irritating noise continued. Suddenly it stopped. After a minute or two, however, it commenced to ring again.

‘Ah Sapristi! That must be a woman—undoubtedly a woman.’

He sighed, rose to his feet and came to the instrument.

He picked up the receiver. ‘’Allo,’ he said.

‘Are you—is that M. Poirot?’

‘I, myself.’

‘It’s Mrs Oliver—your voice sounds different. I didn’t recognise it at first.’

‘Bonjour, Madame—you are well, I hope?’

‘Oh, I’m all right.’ Ariadne Oliver’s voice came through in its usual cheerful accents. The well-known detective story writer and Hercule Poirot were on friendly terms.

‘It’s rather early to ring you up, but I want to ask you a favour.’

‘Yes?’

‘It is the annual dinner of our Detective Authors’ Club; I wondered if you would come and be our Guest Speaker this year. It would be very very sweet of you if you would.’

‘When is this?’

‘Next month—the twenty-third.’

A deep sigh came over the telephone.

‘Alas! I am too old.’

‘Too old? What on earth do you mean? You’re not old at all.’

‘You think not?’

‘Of course not. You’ll be wonderful. You can tell us lots of lovely stories about real crimes.’

‘And who will want to listen?’

‘Everyone. They—M. Poirot, is there anything the matter? Has something happened? You sound upset.’

‘Yes, I am upset. My feelings—ah, well, no matter.’

‘But tell me about it.’

‘Why should I make a fuss?’

‘Why shouldn’t you? You’d better come and tell me all about it. When will you come? This afternoon. Come and have tea with me.’

‘Afternoon tea, I do not drink it.’

‘Then you can have coffee.’

‘It is not the time of day I usually drink coffee.’

‘Chocolate? With whipped cream on top? Or a tisane. You love sipping tisanes. Or lemonade. Or orangeade. Or would you like decaffeinated coffee if I can get it—’

‘Ah ça, non, par exemple! It is an abomination.’

‘One of those sirops you like so much. I know, I’ve got half a bottle of Ribena in the cupboard.’

‘What is Ribena?’

‘Blackcurrant flavour.’

‘Indeed, one has to hand it to you! You really do try, Madame. I am touched by your solicitude. I will accept with pleasure to drink a cup of chocolate this afternoon.’

‘Good. And then you’ll tell me all about what’s upset you.’

She rang off.

Poirot considered for a moment. Then he dialled a number. Presently he said: ‘Mr Goby? Hercule Poirot here. Are you very fully occupied at this moment?’

‘Middling,’ said the voice of Mr Goby. ‘Middling to fair. But to oblige you, Monsieur Poirot, if you’re in a hurry, as you usually are—well, I wouldn’t say that my young men couldn’t manage mostly what’s on hand at present. Of course good boys aren’t as easy to get as they used to be. Think too much of themselves nowadays. Think they know it all before they’ve started to learn. But there! Can’t expect old heads on young shoulders. I’ll be pleased to put myself at your disposal, M. Poirot. Maybe I can put one or two of the better lads on the job. I suppose it’s the usual—collecting information?’

He nodded his head and listened whilst Poirot went into details of exactly what he wanted done. When he had finished with Mr Goby, Poirot rang up Scotland Yard where in due course he got through to a friend of his. When he in turn had listened to Poirot’s requirements, he replied,

‘Don’t want much, do you? Any murder, anywhere. Time, place and victim unknown. Sounds a bit of a wild goose chase, if you ask me, old boy.’ He added disapprovingly, ‘You don’t seem really to know anything!’

At 4.15 that afternoon Poirot sat in Mrs Oliver’s drawing-room sipping appreciatively at a large cup of chocolate topped with foaming whipped cream which his hostess had just placed on a small table beside him. She added a small plate full of langue de chats biscuits.

‘Chère Madame, what kindness.’ He looked over his cup with faint surprise at Mrs Oliver’s coiffure and also at her new wallpaper. Both were new to him. The last time he had seen Mrs Oliver, her hair style had been plain and severe. It now displayed a richness of coils and twists arranged in intricate patterns all over her head. Its prolific luxury was, he suspected, largely artificial. He debated in his mind how many switches of hair might unexpectedly fall off if Mrs Oliver was to get suddenly excited, as was her wont. As for the wallpaper…

‘These cherries—they are new?’ he waved a teaspoon. It was, he felt, rather like being in a cherry orchard.

‘Are there too many of them, do you think?’ said Mrs Oliver. ‘So hard to tell beforehand with wallpaper. Do you think my old one was better?’

Poirot cast his mind back dimly to what he seemed to remember as large quantities of bright coloured tropical birds in a forest. He felt inclined to remark ‘Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose,’ but restrained himself.

‘And now,’ said Mrs Oliver, as her guest finally replaced his cup on its saucer and sat back with a sigh of satisfaction, wiping remnants of foaming cream from his moustache, ‘what is all this about?’

‘That I can tell you very simply. This morning a girl came to see me. I suggested she might make an appointment. One has one’s routine, you comprehend. She sent back word that she wanted to see me at once because she thought she might have committed a murder.’

‘What an odd thing to say. Didn’t she know?’

‘Precisely! C’est inouï! so I instructed George to show her in. She stood there! She refused to sit down. She just stood there staring at me. She seemed quite half-witted. I tried to encourage her. Then suddenly she said that she’d changed her mind. She said she didn’t want to be rude but that—(what do you think?)—but that I was too old…’

Mrs Oliver hastened to utter soothing words. ‘Oh well, girls are like that. Anyone over thirty-five they think is half dead. They’ve no sense, girls, you must realise that.’

‘It wounded me,’ said Hercule Poirot.

‘Well, I shouldn’t worry about it, if I were you. Of course it was a very rude thing to say.’

‘That does not matter. And it is not only my feelings. I am worried. Yes, I am worried.’

‘Well, I should forget all about it if I were you,’ advised Mrs Oliver comfortably.

‘You do not understand. I am worried about this girl. She came to me for help. Then she decided that I was too old. Too old to be of any use to her. She was wrong of course, that goes without saying, and then she just ran away. But I tell you that girl needs help.’

‘I don’t suppose she does really,’ said Mrs Oliver soothingly. ‘Girls make a fuss about things.’

‘No. You are wrong. She needs help.’

‘You don’t think she really has committed a murder?’

‘Why not? She said she had.’

‘Yes, but—’ Mrs Oliver stopped. ‘She said she might have,’ she said slowly. ‘But what can she possibly mean by that?’

‘Exactly. It does not make sense.’

‘Who did she murder or did she think she murdered?’

Poirot shrugged his shoulders.

‘And why did she murder someone?’

Again Poirot shrugged his shoulders.

‘Of course it could be all sorts of things.’ Mrs Oliver began to brighten as she set her ever prolific imagination to work. ‘She could have run over someone in her car and not stopped. She could have been assaulted by a man on a cliff and struggled with him and managed to push him over. She could have given someone the wrong medicine by mistake. She could have gone to one of those purple pill parties and had a fight with someone. She could have come to and found she had stabbed someone. She—’

‘Assez, madame, assez!’

But Mrs Oliver was well away.

‘She might have been a nurse in the operating theatre and administered the wrong anaesthetic or—’ she broke off, suddenly anxious for clearer details. ‘What did she look like?’

Poirot considered for a moment.

‘An Ophelia devoid of physical attraction.’

‘Oh dear,’ said Mrs Oliver. ‘I can almost see her when you say that. How queer.’

‘She is not competent,’ said Poirot. ‘That is how I see her. She is not one who can cope with difficulties. She is not one of those who can see beforehand the dangers that must come. She is one of whom others will look round and say “we want a victim. That one will do”.’

But Mrs Oliver was no longer listening. She was clutching her rich coils of hair with both hands in a gesture with which Poirot was familiar.

‘Wait,’ she cried in a kind of agony. ‘Wait!’

Poirot waited, his eyebrows raised.

‘You didn’t tell me her name,’ said Mrs Oliver.

‘She did not give it. Unfortunate, I agree with you.’

‘Wait!’ implored Mrs Oliver, again with the same agony. She relaxed her grip on her head and uttered a deep sigh. Hair detached itself from its bonds and tumbled over her shoulders, a super imperial coil of hair detached itself completely and fell on the floor. Poirot picked it up and put it discreetly on the table.

‘Now then,’ said Mrs Oliver, suddenly restored to calm. She pushed in a hairpin or two, and nodded her head while she thought. ‘Who told this girl about you, M. Poirot?’

‘No one, so far as I know. Naturally, she had heard about me, no doubt.’

Mrs Oliver thought that ‘naturally’ was not the word at all. What was natural was that Poirot himself was sure that everyone had always heard of him. Actually large numbers of people would only look at you blankly if the name of Hercule Poirot was mentioned, especially the younger generation. ‘But how am I going to put that to him,’ thought Mrs Oliver, ‘in such a way that it won’t hurt his feelings?’

‘I think you’re wrong,’ she said. ‘Girls—well, girls and young men—they don’t know very much about detectives and things like that. They don’t hear about them.’

‘Everyone must have heard about Hercule Poirot,’ said Poirot, superbly.

It was an article of belief for Hercule Poirot.

‘But they are all so badly educated nowadays,’ said Mrs Oliver. ‘Really, the only people whose names they know are pop singers, or groups, or disc jockeys—that sort of thing. If you need someone special, I mean a doctor or a detective or a dentist—well, then, I mean you would ask someone—ask who’s the right person to go to? And then the other person says—“My dear, you must go to that absolutely wonderful man in Queen Anne’s Street, twists your legs three times round your head and you’re cured,” or “All my diamonds were stolen, and Henry would have been furious, so I couldn’t go to the police, but there’s a simply uncanny detective, most discreet, and he got them back for me and Henry never knew a thing.”—That’s the way it happens all the time. Someone sent that girl to you.’

‘I doubt it very much.’

‘You wouldn’t know until you were told. And you’re going to be told now. It’s only just come to me. I sent that girl to you.’

Poirot stared. ‘You? But why did you not say so at once?’

‘Because it’s only just come to me—when you spoke about Ophelia—long wet-looking hair, and rather plain. It seemed a description of someone I’d actually seen. Quite lately. And then it came to me who it was.’

‘Who is she?’

‘I don’t actually know her name, but I can easily find out. We were talking—about private detectives and private eyes—and I spoke about you and some of the amazing things you had done.’

‘And you gave her my address?’

‘No, of course I didn’t. I’d no idea she wanted a detective or anything like that. I thought we were just talking. But I’d mentioned the name several times, and of course it would be easy to look you up in the telephone book and just come along.’

‘Were you talking about murder?’

‘Not that I can remember. I don’t even know how we came to be talking about detectives—unless, yes, perhaps it was she who started the subject…’

‘Tell me then, tell me all you can—even if you do not know her name, tell me all you know about her.’

‘Well, it was last weekend. I was staying with the Lorrimers. They don’t come into it except that they took me over to some friends of theirs for drinks. There were several people there—and I didn’t enjoy myself much because, as you know, I don’t really like drink, and so people have to find a soft drink for me which is rather a bore for them. And then people say things to me—you know—how much they like my books, and how they’ve been longing to meet me—and it all makes me feel hot and bothered and rather silly. But I manage to cope more or less. And they say how much they love my awful detective Sven Hjerson. If they knew how I hated him! But my publisher always says I’m not to say so. Anyway, I suppose the talk about detectives in real life grew out of all that, and I talked a bit about you, and this girl was standing around listening. When you said an unattractive Ophelia it clicked somehow. I thought: “Now who does that remind me of?” And then it came to me: “Of course. The girl at the party that day.” I rather think she belonged there unless I’m confusing her with some other girl.’

Poirot sighed. With Mrs Oliver one always needed a lot of patience.

‘Who were these people with whom you went to have drinks?’

‘Trefusis, I think, unless it was Treherne. That sort of name—he’s a tycoon. Rich. Something in the City, but he’s spent most of his life in South Africa—’

‘He has a wife?’

‘Yes. Very good-looking woman. Much younger than he is. Lots of golden hair. Second wife. The daughter was the first wife’s daughter. Then there was an uncle of incredible antiquity. Rather deaf. He’s frightfully distinguished—strings of letters after his name. An admiral or an air-marshal or something. He’s an astronomer too, I think. Anyway, he’s got a kind of big telescope sticking out of the roof. Though I suppose that might be just a hobby. There was a foreign girl there, too, who sort of trots about after the old boy. Goes up to London with him, I believe, and sees he doesn’t get run over. Rather pretty, she was.’

Poirot sorted out the information Mrs Oliver had supplied him with, feeling rather like a human computer.

‘There lives then in the house Mr and Mrs Trefusis—’

‘It’s not Trefusis—I remember now—It’s Restarick.’

‘That is not at all the same type of name.’

‘Yes it is. It’s a Cornish name, isn’t it?’

‘There lives there then, Mr and Mrs Restarick, the distinguished elderly uncle. Is his name Restarick too?’

‘It’s Sir Roderick something.’

‘And there is the au pair girl, or whatever she is, and a daughter—any more children?’

‘I don’t think so—but I don’t really know. The daughter doesn’t live at home, by the way. She was only down for the weekend. Doesn’t get on with the stepmother, I expect. She’s got a job in London, and she’s picked up with a boy friend they don’t much like, so I understand.’

‘You seem to know quite a lot about the family.’

‘Oh well, one picks things up. The Lorrimers are great talkers. Always chattering about someone or other. One hears a lot of gossip about the people all around. Sometimes, though, one gets them mixed up. I probably have. I wish I could remember that girl’s Christian name. Something connected with a song… Thora? Speak to me, Thora. Thora, Thora. Something like that, or Myra? Myra, oh Myra my love is all for thee. Something like that. I dreamt I dwelt in marble halls. Norma? Or do I mean Maritana? Norma—Norma Restarick. That’s right, I’m sure.’ She added inconsequently, ‘She’s a third girl.’

‘I thought you said you thought she was an only child.’

‘So she is—or I think so.’

‘Then what do you mean by saying she is the third girl?’

‘Good gracious, don’t you know what a third girl is? Don’t you read The Times?’

‘I read the births, deaths, and marriages. And such articles as I find of interest.’

‘No, I mean the front advertisement page. Only it isn’t in the front now. So I’m thinking of taking some other paper. But I’ll show you.’

She went to a side table and snatched up The Times, turned the pages over and brought it to him. ‘Here you are—look. “THIRD GIRL for comfortable second floor flat, own room, central heating, Earl’s Court.” “Third girl wanted to share flat. 5gns. week own room.” “4th girl wanted. Regent’s park. Own room.” It’s the way girls like living now. Better than PGs or a hostel. The main girl takes a furnished flat, and then shares out the rent. Second girl is usually a friend. Then they find a third girl by advertising if they don’t know one. And, as you see, very often they manage to squeeze in a fourth girl. First girl takes the best room, second girl pays rather less, third girl less still and is stuck in a cat-hole. They fix it among themselves which one has the flat to herself which night a week—or something like that. It works reasonably well.’

‘And where does this girl whose name might just possibly be Norma live in London?’

‘As I’ve told you I don’t really know anything about her.’

‘But you could find out?’

‘Oh yes, I expect that would be quite easy.’

‘You are sure there was no talk, no mention of an unexpected death?’

‘Do you mean a death in London—or at the Restaricks’ home?’

‘Either.’

‘I don’t think so. Shall I see what I can rake up?’

Mrs Oliver’s eyes sparkled with excitement. She was by now entering into the spirit of the thing.

‘That would be very kind.’

‘I’ll ring up the Lorrimers. Actually now would be quite a good time.’ She went towards the telephone. ‘I shall have to think of reasons and things—perhaps invent things?’

She looked towards Poirot rather doubtfully.

‘But naturally. That is understood. You are a woman of imagination—you will have no difficulty. But—not too fantastic, you understand. Moderation.’

Mrs Oliver flashed him an understanding glance.

She dialled and asked for the number she wanted. Turning her head, she hissed: ‘Have you got a pencil and paper—or a notebook—something to write down names or addresses or places?’

Poirot had already his notebook arranged by his elbow and nodded his head reassuringly.

Mrs Oliver turned back to the receiver she held and launched herself into speech. Poirot listened attentively to one side of a telephone conversation.

‘Hallo. Can I speak to—Oh, it’s you, Naomi. Ariadne Oliver here. Oh, yes—well, it was rather a crowd… Oh, you mean the old boy?… No, you know I don’t… Practically blind?… I thought he was going up to London with the little foreign girl… Yes, it must be rather worrying for them sometimes—but she seems to manage him quite well… One of the things I rang up for was to ask you what the girl’s address was—No, the Restarick girl, I mean—somewhere in South Ken, isn’t it? Or was it Knightsbridge? Well, I promised her a book and I wrote down the address, but of course I’ve lost it as usual. I can’t even remember her name. Is it Thora or Norma?… Yes, I thought it was Norma:… Wait a minute, I’ll get a pencil… Yes, I’m ready…67 Borodene Mansions… I know—that great block that looks rather like Wormwood Scrubs prison… Yes, I believe the flats are very comfortable with central heating and everything… Who are the other two girls she lives with?… Friends of hers?…or advertisements?… Claudia Reece-Holland…her father’s the MP, is he? Who’s the other one?… No, I suppose you wouldn’t know—she’s quite nice, too, I suppose… What do they all do? They always seem to be secretaries, don’t they?… Oh, the other girl’s an interior decorator—you think—or to do with an art gallery—No, Naomi, of course I don’t really want to know—one just wonders—what do all the girls do nowadays?—well, it’s useful for me to know because of my books—one wants to keep up to date… What was it you told me about some boy friend… Yes, but one’s so helpless, isn’t one? I mean girls do just exactly as they like…does he look very awful? Is he the unshaven dirty kind? Oh, that kind—Brocade waistcoats, and long curling chestnut hair—lying on his shoulders—yes, so hard to tell whether they’re girls or boys, isn’t it?—Yes, they do look like Vandykes sometimes if they’re good looking… What did you say? That Andrew Restarick simply hates him?… Yes, men usually do… Mary Restarick?… Well, I suppose you do usually have rows with a stepmother. I expect she was quite thankful when the girl got a job in London. What do you mean about people saying things… Why, couldn’t they find out what was the matter with her?… Who said?… Yes, but what did they hush up?… Oh—a nurse?—talked to the Jenners’ governess? Do you mean her husband? Oh, I see—The doctors couldn’t find out… No, but people are so ill-natured. I do agree with you. These things are usually quite untrue… Oh, gastric, was it?… But how ridiculous. Do you mean people said what’s his name—Andrew—You mean it would be easy with all those weed killers about—Yes, but why?… I mean, it’s not a case of some wife he’s hated for years—she’s the second wife—and much younger than he is and good looking… Yes, I suppose that could be—but why should the foreign girl want to either?… You mean she might have resented things that Mrs Restarick said to her… She’s quite an attractive little thing—I suppose Andrew might have taken a fancy to her—nothing serious of course—but it might have annoyed Mary, and then she might have pitched into the girl and—’

Out of the corner of her eye, Mrs Oliver perceived Poirot signalling wildly to her.

‘Just a moment, darling,’ said Mrs Oliver into the telephone. ‘It’s the baker.’ Poirot looked affronted. ‘Hang on.’

She laid down the receiver, hurried across the room, and backed Poirot into a breakfast nook.

‘Yes,’ she demanded breathlessly.

‘A baker,’ said Poirot with scorn. ‘Me!’

‘Well, I had to think of something quickly. What were you signalling about? Did you understand what she—’

Poirot cut her short.

‘You shall tell me presently. I know enough. What I want you to do is, with your rapid powers of improvisation, to arrange some plausible pretext for me to visit the Restaricks—an old friend of yours, shortly to be in the neighbourhood. Perhaps you could say—’

‘Leave it to me. I’ll think of something. Shall you give a false name?’

‘Certainly not. Let us at least try to keep it simple.’

Mrs Oliver nodded, and hurried back to the abandoned telephone.

‘Naomi? I can’t remember what we were saying. Why does something always come to interrupt just when one has settled down to a nice gossip? I can’t even remember now what I rang you up for to begin with—Oh yes—that child Thora’s address—Norma, I mean—and you gave it to me. But there was something else I wanted to—oh, I remember. An old friend of mine. A most fascinating little man. Actually I was talking about him the other day down there. Hercule Poirot his name is. He’s going to be staying quite close to the Restaricks and he is most tremendously anxious to meet old Sir Roderick. He knows a lot about him and has a terrific admiration for him, and for some wonderful discovery of his in the war—or some scientific thing he did—anyway, he is very anxious to “call upon him and present his respects”, that’s how he put it. Will that be all right, do you think? Will you warn them? Yes, he’ll probably just turn up out of the blue. Tell them to make him tell them some wonderful espionage stories… He—what? Oh! your mowers? Yes, of course you must go. Goodbye.’

She put back the receiver and sank down in an armchair. ‘Goodness, how exhausting. Was that all right?’

‘Not bad,’ said Poirot.

‘I thought I’d better pin it all to the old boy. Then you’ll get to see the lot which I suppose is what you want. And one can always be vague about scientific subjects if one is a woman, and you can think up something more definite that sounds probable by the time you arrive. Now, do you want to hear what she was telling me?’

‘There has been gossip, I gather. About the health of Mrs Restarick?’

‘That’s it. It seems she had some kind of mysterious illness—gastric in nature—and the doctors were puzzled. They sent her into hospital and she got quite all right, but there didn’t seem any real cause to account for it. And she went home, and it all began to start again—and again the doctors were puzzled. And then people began to talk. A rather irresponsible nurse started it and her sister told a neighbour, and the neighbour went out on daily work and told someone else, and how queer it all was. And then people began saying that her husband must be trying to poison her. The sort of thing people always say—but in this case it really didn’t seem to make sense. And then Naomi and I wondered about the au pair girl, she’s a kind of secretary companion to the old boy—so really there isn’t any kind of reason why she should administer weed killer to Mrs Restarick.’

‘I heard you suggesting a few.’

‘Well, there is usually something possible…’

‘Murder desired…’ said Poirot thoughtfully…‘But not yet committed.’

CHAPTER 3

Mrs Oliver drove into the inner court of Borodene Mansions. There were six cars filling the parking space. As Mrs Oliver hesitated, one of the cars reversed out and drove away. Mrs Oliver hurried neatly into the vacant space.

She descended, banged the door and stood looking up to the sky. It was a recent block, occupying a space left by the havoc of a land mine in the last war. It might, Mrs Oliver thought, have been lifted en bloc from the Great West Road and, first deprived of some such legend as SKYLARK’S FEATHER RAZOR BLADES, have been deposited as a block of flats in situ. It looked extremely functional and whoever had built it had obviously scorned any ornamental additions.

It was a busy time. Cars and people were going in and out of the courtyard as the day’s work came to a close.

Mrs Oliver glanced down at her wrist. Ten minutes to seven. About the right time, as far as she could judge. The kind of time when girls in jobs might be presumed to have returned, either to renew their make up, change their clothes to tight exotic pants or whatever their particular addiction was, and go out again, or else to settle down to home life and wash their smalls and their stockings. Anyway, quite a sensible time to try. The block was exactly the same on the east and the west, with big swing doors set in the centre. Mrs Oliver chose the left hand side but immediately found that she was wrong. All this side was numbers from 100 to 200. She crossed over to the other side.

No. 67 was on the sixth floor. Mrs Oliver pressed the button of the lift. The doors opened like a yawning mouth with a menacing clash. Mrs Oliver hurried into the yawning cavern. She was always afraid of modern lifts.

Crash. The doors came to again. The lift went up. It stopped almost immediately (that was frightening too!). Mrs Oliver scuttled out like a frightened rabbit.

She looked up at the wall and went along the right hand passage. She came to a door marked 67 in metal numbers affixed to the centre of the door. The numeral 7 detached itself and fell on her feet as she arrived.

‘This place doesn’t like me,’ said Mrs Oliver to herself as she winced with pain and picked the number up gingerly and affixed it by its spike to the door again.

She pressed the bell. Perhaps everyone was out.

However, the door opened almost at once. A tall handsome girl stood in the doorway. She was wearing a dark well-cut suit with a very short skirt, a white silk shirt, and was very well shod. She had swept-up dark hair, good but discreet make up, and for some reason was slightly alarming to Mrs Oliver.

‘Oh,’ said Mrs Oliver, galvanizing herself to say the right thing. ‘Is Miss Restarick in, by any chance?’

‘No, I’m sorry, she’s out. Can I give her a message?’

Mrs Oliver said, ‘Oh’ again—before proceeding. She made a play of action by producing a parcel rather untidily done up in brown paper. ‘I promised her a book,’ she explained. ‘One of mine that she hadn’t read. I hope I’ve remembered actually which it was. She won’t be in soon, I suppose?’

‘I really couldn’t say. I don’t know what she is doing tonight.’

‘Oh. Are you Miss Reece-Holland?’

The girl looked slightly surprised.

‘Yes, I am.’

‘I’ve met your father,’ said Mrs Oliver. She went on, ‘I’m Mrs Oliver. I write books,’ she added in the usual guilty style in which she invariably made such an announcement.

‘Won’t you come in?’

Mrs Oliver accepted the invitation, and Claudia Reece-Holland led her into a sitting-room. All the rooms of the flats were papered the same with an artificial raw wood pattern. Tenants could then display their modern pictures or apply any forms of decoration they fancied. There was a foundation of modern built-in furniture, cupboard, bookshelves and so on, a large settee and a pull-out type of table. Personal bits and pieces could be added by the tenants. There were also signs of individuality displayed here by a gigantic Harlequin pasted on one wall, and a stencil of a monkey swinging from branches of palm fronds on another wall.

‘I’m sure Norma will be thrilled to get your book, Mrs Oliver. Won’t you have a drink? Sherry? Gin?’

This girl had the brisk manner of a really good secretary. Mrs Oliver refused.

‘You’ve got a splendid view up here,’ she said, looking out of the window and blinking a little as she got the setting sun straight in her eyes.

‘Yes. Not so funny when the lift goes out of order.’

‘I shouldn’t have thought that lift would dare to go out of order. It’s so—so—robot-like.’

‘Recently installed, but none the better for that,’ said Claudia. ‘It needs frequent adjusting and all that.’

Another girl came in, talking as she entered.

‘Claudia, have you any idea where I put—’

She stopped, looking at Mrs Oliver.

Claudia made a quick introduction.

‘Frances Cary—Mrs Oliver. Mrs Ariadne Oliver.’

‘Oh, how exciting,’ said Frances.

She was a tall willowy girl, with long black hair, a heavily made up dead white face, and eyebrows and eyelashes slightly slanted upwards—the effect heightened by mascara. She wore tight velvet pants and a heavy sweater. She was a complete contrast to the brisk and efficient Claudia.

‘I brought a book I’d promised Norma Restarick,’ said Mrs Oliver.

‘Oh!—what a pity she’s still in the country.’

‘Hasn’t she come back?’

There was quite definitely a pause. Mrs Oliver thought the two girls exchanged a glance.

‘I thought she had a job in London,’ said Mrs Oliver, endeavouring to convey innocent surprise.

‘Oh yes,’ said Claudia. ‘She’s in an interior decorating place. She’s sent down with patterns occasionally to places in the country.’ She smiled. ‘We live rather separate lives here,’ she explained. ‘Come and go as we like—and don’t usually bother to leave messages. But I won’t forget to give her your book when she does get back.’

Nothing could have been easier than the casual explanation.

Mrs Oliver rose. ‘Well, thank you very much.’

Claudia accompanied her to the door. ‘I shall tell my father I’ve met you,’ she said. ‘He’s a great reader of detective stories.’

Closing the door she went back into the sitting-room.

The girl Frances was leaning against the window.

‘Sorry,’ she said. ‘Did I boob?’

‘I’d just said that Norma was out.’

Frances shrugged her shoulders.

‘I couldn’t tell. Claudia, where is that girl? Why didn’t she come back on Monday? Where has she gone?’

‘I can’t imagine.’

‘She didn’t stay on down with her people? That’s where she went for the weekend.’

‘No. I rang up, actually, to find out.’

‘I suppose it doesn’t really matter… All the same, she is—well, there’s something queer about her.’

‘She’s not really queerer than anyone else.’ But the opinion sounded uncertain.

‘Oh yes, she is,’ said Frances. ‘Sometimes she gives me the shivers. She’s not normal, you know.’

She laughed suddenly.

‘Norma isn’t normal! You know she isn’t, Claudia, although you won’t admit it. Loyalty to your employer, I suppose.’

CHAPTER 4

Hercule Poirot walked along the main street of Long Basing. That is, if you can describe as a main street a street that is to all intents and purposes the only street, which was the case in Long Basing. It was one of those villages that exhibit a tendency to length without breadth. It had an impressive church with a tall tower and a yew tree of elderly dignity in its churchyard. It had its full quota of village shops disclosing much variety. It had two antique shops, one mostly consisting of stripped pine chimney pieces, the other disclosing a full house of piled up ancient maps, a good deal of porcelain, most of it chipped, some worm-eaten old oak chests, shelves of glass, some Victorian silver, all somewhat hampered in display by lack of space. There were two cafés, both rather nasty, there was a basket shop, quite delightful, with a large variety of home-made wares, there was a post office-cum-greengrocer, there was a draper’s which dealt largely in millinery and also a shoe department for children and a large miscellaneous selection of haberdashery of all kinds. There was a stationery and newspaper shop which also dealt in tobacco and sweets. There was a wool shop which was clearly the aristocrat of the place. Two white-haired severe women were in charge of shelves and shelves of knitting materials of every description. Also large quantities of dress-making patterns and knitting patterns and which branched off into a counter for art needlework. What had lately been the local grocer’s had now blossomed into calling itself ‘a supermarket’ complete with stacks of wire baskets and packaged materials of every cereal and cleaning material, all in dazzling paper boxes. And there was a small establishment with one small window with Lillah written across it in fancy letters, a fashion display of one French blouse, labelled ‘Latest chic’, and a navy skirt and a purple striped jumper labelled ‘separates’. These were displayed by being flung down as by a careless hand in the window.

All of this Poirot observed with a detached interest. Also contained within the limits of the village and facing on the street were several small houses, old-fashioned in style, sometimes retaining Georgian purity, more often showing some signs of Victorian improvement, as a veranda, bow window, or a small conservatory. One or two houses had had a complete face lift and showed signs of claiming to be new and proud of it. There were also some delightful and decrepit old-world cottages, some pretending to be a hundred or so years older than they were, others completely genuine, any added comforts of plumbing or such being carefully hidden from any casual glance.

Poirot walked gently along digesting all that he saw. If his impatient friend, Mrs Oliver, had been with him, she would have immediately demanded why he was wasting time, as the house to which he was bound was a quarter of a mile beyond the village limits. Poirot would have told her that he was absorbing the local atmosphere; that these things were sometimes important. At the end of the village there came an abrupt transition. On one side, set back from the road, was a row of newly built council houses, a strip of green in front of them and a gay note set by each house having been given a different coloured front door. Beyond the council houses the sway of fields and hedges resumed its course interspersed now and then by the occasional ‘desirable residences’ of a house agent’s list, with their own trees and gardens and a general air of reserve and of keeping themselves to themselves. Ahead of him farther down the road Poirot descried a house, the top storey of which displayed an unusual note of bulbous construction. Something had evidently been tacked on up there not so many years ago. This no doubt was the Mecca towards which his feet were bent. He arrived at a gate to which the nameplate Crosshedges was attached. He surveyed the house. It was a conventional house dating perhaps to the beginning of the century. It was neither beautiful nor ugly. Commonplace was perhaps the word to describe it. The garden was more attractive than the house and had obviously been the subject of a great deal of care and attention in its time, though it had been allowed to fall into disarray. It still had smooth green lawns, plenty of flower beds, carefully planted areas of shrubs to display a certain landscape effect. It was all in good order. A gardener was certainly employed in this garden, Poirot reflected. A personal interest was perhaps also taken, since he noted in a corner near the house a woman bending over one of the flower beds, tying up dahlias, he thought. Her head showed as a bright circle of pure gold colour. She was tall, slim but square-shouldered. He unlatched the gate, passed through and walked up towards the house. The woman turned her head and then straightened herself, turning towards him inquiringly.

She remained standing, waiting for him to speak, some garden twine hanging from her left hand. She looked, he noted, puzzled.

‘Yes?’ she said.

Poirot, very foreign, took off his hat with a flourish and bowed. Her eyes rested on his moustaches with a kind of fascination.

‘Mrs Restarick?’

‘Yes. I—’

‘I hope I do not derange you, Madame.’

A faint smile touched her lips. ‘Not at all. Are you—’

‘I have permitted myself to pay a visit on you. A friend of mine, Mrs Ariadne Oliver—’

‘Oh, of course. I know who you must be. Monsieur Poiret.’

‘Monsieur Poirot,’ he corrected her with an emphasis on the last syllable. ‘Hercule Poirot, at your service. I was passing through this neighbourhood and I ventured to call upon you here in the hope that I might be allowed to pay my respects to Sir Roderick Horsefield.’

‘Yes. Naomi Lorrimer told us you might turn up.’

‘I hope it is not inconvenient?’

‘Oh, it is not inconvenient at all. Ariadne Oliver was here last weekend. She came over with the Lorrimers. Her books are most amusing, aren’t they? But perhaps you don’t find detective stories amusing. You are a detective yourself, aren’t you—a real one?’

‘I am all that there is of the most real,’ said Hercule Poirot.

He noticed that she repressed a smile. He studied her more closely. She was handsome in a rather artificial fashion. Her golden hair was stiffly arranged. He wondered whether she might not at heart be secretly unsure of herself, whether she were not carefully playing the part of the English lady absorbed in her garden. He wondered a little what her social background might have been.

‘You have a very fine garden here,’ he said.

‘You like gardens?’

‘Not as the English like gardens. You have for a garden a special talent in England. It means something to you that it does not to us.’

‘To French people, you mean? Oh yes. I believe that Mrs Oliver mentioned that you were once with the Belgian Police Force?’

‘That is so. Me, I am an old Belgian police dog.’ He gave a polite little laugh and said, waving his hands, ‘But your gardens, you English, I admire. I sit at your feet! The Latin races, they like the formal garden, the gardens of the château, the Château of Versailles in miniature, and also of course they invented the potager. Very important, the potager. Here in England you have the potager, but you got it from France and you do not love your potager as much as you love your flowers. Hein? That is so?’

‘Yes, I think you are right,’ said Mary Restarick. ‘Do come into the house. You came to see my uncle.’

‘I came, as you say, to pay homage to Sir Roderick, but I pay homage to you also, Madame. Always I pay homage to beauty when I meet it.’ He bowed.

She laughed with slight embarrassment. ‘You mustn’t pay me so many compliments.’

She led the way through an open french window and he followed her.

‘I knew your uncle slightly in 1944.’

‘Poor dear, he’s getting quite an old man now. He’s very deaf, I’m afraid.’

‘It was long ago that I encountered him. He will probably have forgotten. It was a matter of espionage and of scientific developments of a certain invention. We owed that invention to the ingenuity of Sir Roderick. He will be willing, I hope, to receive me.’

‘Oh, I’m sure he’ll love it,’ said Mrs Restarick. ‘He has rather a dull life in some ways nowadays. I have to be so much in London—we are looking for a suitable house there.’ She sighed and said, ‘Elderly people can be very difficult sometimes.’

‘I know,’ said Poirot. ‘Frequently I, too, am difficult.’

She laughed. ‘Ah no, M. Poirot, come now, you mustn’t pretend you’re old.’

‘Sometimes I am told so,’ said Poirot. He sighed. ‘By young girls,’ he added mournfully.

‘That’s very unkind of them. It’s probably the sort of thing that our daughter would do,’ she added.

‘Ah, you have a daughter?’

‘Yes. At least, she is my stepdaughter.’

‘I shall have much pleasure in meeting her,’ said Poirot politely.

‘Oh well, I’m afraid she is not here. She’s in London. She works there.’

‘The young girls, they all do jobs nowadays.’

‘Everybody’s supposed to do a job,’ said Mrs Restarick vaguely. ‘Even when they get married they’re always being persuaded back into industry or back into teaching.’

‘Have they persuaded you, Madame, to come back into anything?’

‘No. I was brought up in South Africa. I only came here with my husband a short time ago—It’s all—rather strange to me still.’

She looked round her with what Poirot judged to be an absence of enthusiasm. It was a handsomely furnished room of a conventional type—without personality. Two large portraits hung on the walls—the only personal touch. The first was that of a thin lipped woman in a grey velvet evening dress. Facing her on the opposite wall was a man of about thirty-odd with an air of repressed energy about him.

‘Your daughter, I suppose, finds it dull in the country?’

‘Yes, it is much better for her to be in London. She doesn’t like it here.’ She paused abruptly, and then as though the last words were almost dragged out of her, she said, ‘—and she doesn’t like me.’

‘Impossible,’ said Hercule Poirot, with Gallic politeness.

‘Not at all impossible! Oh well, I suppose it often happens. I suppose it’s hard for girls to accept a stepmother.’

‘Was your daughter very fond of her own mother?’

‘I suppose she must have been. She’s a difficult girl. I suppose most girls are.’

Poirot sighed and said, ‘Mothers and fathers have much less control over daughters nowadays. It is not as it used to be in the old good-fashioned days.’

‘No indeed.’

‘One dare not say so, Madame, but I must confess I regret that they show so very little discrimination in choosing their—how do you say it?—their boy friends?’

‘Norma has been a great worry to her father in that way. However, I suppose it is no good complaining. People must make their own experiments. But I must take you up to Uncle Roddy—he has his own rooms upstairs.’

She led the way out of the room. Poirot looked back over his shoulder. A dull room, a room without character—except perhaps for the two portraits. By the style of the woman’s dress, Poirot judged that they dated from some years back. If that was the first Mrs Restarick, Poirot did not think that he would have liked her.

He said, ‘Those are fine portraits, Madame.’

‘Yes. Lansberger did them.’

It was the name of a famous and exceedingly expensive fashionable portrait painter of twenty years ago. His meticulous naturalism had now gone out of fashion, and since his death, he was little spoken of. His sitters were sometimes sneeringly spoken of as ‘clothes props’, but Poirot thought they were a good deal more than that. He suspected that there was a carefully concealed mockery behind the smooth exteriors that Lansberger executed so effortlessly.

Mary Restarick said as she went up the stairs ahead of him:

‘They have just come out of storage—and been cleaned up and—’

She stopped abruptly—coming to a dead halt, one hand on the stair-rail.

Above her, a figure had just turned the corner of the staircase on its way down. It was a figure that seemed strangely incongruous. It might have been someone in fancy dress, someone who certainly did not match with this house.

He was a figure familiar enough to Poirot in different conditions, a figure often met in the streets of London or even at parties. A representative of the youth of today. He wore a black coat, an elaborate velvet waistcoat, skin tight pants, and rich curls of chestnut hair hung down on his neck. He looked exotic and rather beautiful, and it needed a few moments to be certain of his sex.

‘David!’ Mary Restarick spoke sharply. ‘What on earth are you doing here?’

The young man was by no means taken aback. ‘Startled you?’ he asked. ‘So sorry.’

‘What are you doing here—in this house? You—have you come down here with Norma?’

‘Norma? No, I hoped to find her here.’

‘Find her here—what do you mean? She’s in London.’

‘Oh, but my dear, she isn’t. At any rate, she’s not at 67 Borodene Mansions.’

‘What do you mean, she isn’t there?’

‘Well, since she didn’t come back this weekend, I thought she was probably here with you. I came down to see what she was up to.’

‘She left here Sunday night as usual.’ She added in an angry voice, ‘Why didn’t you ring the bell and let us know you were here? What are you doing roaming about the house?’

‘Really, darling, you seem to be thinking I’m going to pinch the spoons or something. Surely it’s natural to walk into a house in broad daylight. Why ever not?’

‘Well, we’re old-fashioned and we don’t like it.’

‘Oh dear, dear.’ David sighed. ‘The fuss everyone makes. Well, my dear, if I’m not going to have a welcome and you don’t seem to know where your stepdaughter is, I suppose I’d better be moving along. Shall I turn out my pockets before I go?’

‘Don’t be absurd, David.’

‘Ta-ta, then.’ The young man passed them, waved an airy hand and went on down and out through the open front door.

‘Horrible creature,’ said Mary Restarick, with a sharpness of rancour that startled Poirot. ‘I can’t bear him. I simply can’t stand him. Why is England absolutely full of these people nowadays?’

‘Ah, Madame, do not disquiet yourself. It is all a question of fashion. There have always been fashions. You see less in the country, but in London you meet plenty of them.’

‘Dreadful,’ said Mary. ‘Absolutely dreadful. Effeminate, exotic.’

‘And yet not unlike a Vandyke portrait, do you not think so, Madame? In a gold frame, wearing a lace collar, you would not then say he was effeminate or exotic.’

‘Daring to come down here like that. Andrew would have been furious. It worries him dreadfully. Daughters can be very worrying. It’s not even as though Andrew knew Norma well. He’s been abroad since she was a child. He left her entirely to her mother to bring up, and now he finds her a complete puzzle. So do I for that matter. I can’t help feeling that she is a very odd type of girl. One has no kind of authority over them these days. They seem to like the worst type of young men. She’s absolutely infatuated with this David Baker. One can’t do anything. Andrew forbade him the house, and look, he turns up here, walks in as cool as a cucumber. I think—I almost think I’d better not tell Andrew. I don’t want him to be unduly worried. I believe she goes about with this creature in London, and not only with him. There are some much worse ones even. The kind that don’t wash, completely unshaven faces and funny sprouting beards and greasy clothes.’

Poirot said cheerfully, ‘Alas, Madame, you must not distress yourself. The indiscretions of youth pass.’

‘I hope so, I’m sure. Norma is a very difficult girl. Sometimes I think she’s not right in the head. She’s so peculiar. She really looks sometimes as though she isn’t all there. These extraordinary dislikes she takes—’

‘Dislikes?’

‘She hates me. Really hates me. I don’t see why it’s necessary. I suppose she was very devoted to her mother, but after all it’s only reasonable that her father should marry again, isn’t it?’

‘Do you think she really hates you?’

‘Oh, I know she does. I’ve had ample proof of it. I can’t say how relieved I was when she went off to London. I didn’t want to make trouble—’ She stopped suddenly. It was as though for the first time she realised that she was talking to a stranger.

Poirot had the capacity to attract confidences. It was as though when people were talking to him they hardly realised who it was they were talking to. She gave a short laugh now.

‘Dear me,’ she said, ‘I don’t really know why I’m saying all this to you. I expect every family has these problems. Poor stepmothers, we have a hard time of it. Ah, here we are.’

She tapped on a door.

‘Come in, come in.’

It was a stentorian roar.

‘Here is a visitor to see you, Uncle,’ said Mary Restarick, as she walked into the room, Poirot behind her.

A broad-shouldered, square-faced, red-cheeked, irascible looking elderly man had been pacing the floor. He stumped forward towards them. At the table behind him a girl was sitting sorting letters and papers. Her head was bent over them, a sleek, dark head.

‘This is Monsieur Hercule Poirot, Uncle Roddy,’ said Mary Restarick.

Poirot stepped forward gracefully into action and speech. ‘Ah, Sir Roderick, it is many years—many years since I have had the pleasure of meeting you. We have to go back, so far as the last war. It was, I think, in Normandy the last time. How well I remember, there was there also Colonel Race and there was General Abercromby and there was Air-Marshal Sir Edmund Collingsby. What decisions we had to take! And what difficulties we had with security. Ah, nowadays, there is no longer the need for secrecy. I recall the unmasking of that secret agent who succeeded for so long—you remember Captain Henderson.’

‘Ah. Captain Henderson indeed. Lord, that damned swine! Unmasked!’

‘You may not remember me, Hercule Poirot.’

‘Yes, yes, of course I remember you. Ah, it was a close shave that, a close shave. You were the French representative, weren’t you? There were one or two of them, one I couldn’t get on with—can’t remember his name. Ah well, sit down, sit down. Nothing like having a chat over old days.’

‘I feared so much that you might not remember me or my colleague, Monsieur Giraud.’

‘Yes, yes, of course I remember both of you. Ah, those were the days, those were the days indeed.’

The girl at the table got up. She moved a chair politely towards Poirot.

‘That’s right, Sonia, that’s right,’ said Sir Roderick. ‘Let me introduce you,’ he said, ‘to my charming little secretary here. Makes a great difference to me. Helps me, you know, files all my work. Don’t know how I ever got on without her.’

Poirot bowed politely. ‘Enchanté, mademoiselle,’ he murmured.

The girl murmured something in rejoinder. She was a small creature with black bobbed hair. She looked shy. Her dark blue eyes were usually modestly cast down, but she smiled up sweetly and shyly at her employer. He patted her on the shoulder.

‘Don’t know what I should do without her,’ he said. ‘I don’t really.’

‘Oh, no,’ the girl protested. ‘I am not much good really. I cannot type very fast.’

‘You type quite fast enough, my dear. You’re my memory, too. My eyes and my ears and a great many other things.’

She smiled again at him.

‘One remembers,’ murmured Poirot, ‘some of the excellent stories that used to go the round. I don’t know if they were exaggerated or not. Now, for instance, the day that someone stole your car and—’ he proceeded to follow up the tale.

Sir Roderick was delighted. ‘Ha, ha, of course now. Yes, indeed, well, bit of exaggeration, I expect. But on the whole, that’s how it was. Yes, yes, well, fancy your remembering that, after all this long time. But I could tell you a better one than that now.’ He launched forth into another tale.

Poirot listened, applauded. Finally he glanced at his watch and rose to his feet.

‘But I must detain you no longer,’ he said. ‘You are engaged, I can see, in important work. It was just that being in this neighbourhood I could not help paying my respects. Years pass, but you, I see, have lost none of your vigour, of your enjoyment of life.’

‘Well, well, perhaps you may say so. Anyway, you mustn’t pay me too many compliments—but surely you’ll stay and have tea. I’m sure Mary will give you some tea.’ He looked round. ‘Oh, she’s gone away. Nice girl.’

‘Yes, indeed, and very handsome. I expect she has been a great comfort to you for many years.’

‘Oh! They’ve only married recently. She’s my nephew’s second wife. I’ll be frank with you. I’ve never cared very much for this nephew of mine, Andrew—not a steady chap. Always restless. His elder brother Simon was my favourite. Not that I knew him well, either. As for Andrew, he behaved very badly to his first wife. Went off, you know. Left her high and dry. Went off with a thoroughly bad lot. Everybody knew about her. But he was infatuated with her. The whole thing broke up in a year or two: silly fellow. The girl he’s married seems all right. Nothing wrong with her as far as I know. Now Simon was a steady chap—damned dull, though. I can’t say I liked it when my sister married into that family. Marrying into trade, you know. Rich, of course, but money isn’t everything—we’ve usually married into the Services. I never saw much of the Restarick lot.’

‘They have, I believe, a daughter. A friend of mine met her last week.’

‘Oh, Norma. Silly girl. Goes about in dreadful clothes and has picked up with a dreadful young man. Ah well, they’re all alike nowadays. Long-haired young fellows, beatniks, Beatles, all sorts of names they’ve got. I can’t keep up with them. Practically talk a foreign language. Still, nobody cares to hear an old man’s criticisms, so there we are. Even Mary—I always thought she was a good, sensible sort, but as far as I can see she can be thoroughly hysterical in some ways—mainly about her health. Some fuss about going to hospital for observation or something. What about a drink? Whisky? No? Sure you won’t stop and have a drop of tea?’

‘Thank you, but I am staying with friends.’

‘Well, I must say I have enjoyed this chat with you very much. Nice to remember some of the things that happened in the old days. Sonia, dear, perhaps you’ll take Monsieur—sorry, what’s your name, it’s gone again—ah, yes, Poirot. Take him down to Mary, will you?’

‘No, no,’ Hercule Poirot hastily waved aside the offer. ‘I could not dream of troubling Madame any more. I am quite all right. Quite all right. I can find my way perfectly. It has been a great pleasure to meet you again.’

He left the room.

‘Haven’t the faintest idea who that chap was,’ said Sir Roderick, after Poirot had gone.

‘You do not know who he was?’ Sonia asked, looking at him in a startled manner.

‘Personally I don’t remember who half the people are who come up and talk to me nowadays. Of course, I have to make a good shot at it. One learns to get away with that, you know. Same thing at parties. Up comes a chap and says, “Perhaps you don’t remember me. I last saw you in 1939.” I have to say “Of course I remember,” but I don’t. It’s a handicap being nearly blind and deaf. We got pally with a lot of frogs like that towards the end of the war. Don’t remember half of them. Oh, he’d been there all right. He knew me and I knew a good many of the chaps he talked about. That story about me and the stolen car, that was true enough. Exaggerated a bit, of course, they made a pretty good story of it at the time. Ah well, I don’t think he knew I didn’t remember him. Clever chap, I should say, but a thorough frog, isn’t he? You know, mincing and dancing and bowing and scraping. Now then, where were we?’

Sonia picked up a letter and handed it to him. She tentatively proffered a pair of spectacles which he immediately rejected.

‘Don’t want those damned things—I can see all right.’

He screwed up his eyes and peered down at the letter he was holding. Then he capitulated and thrust it back into her hands.

‘Well, perhaps you’d better read it to me.’

She started reading it in her clear soft voice.

CHAPTER 5

Hercule Poirot stood upon the landing for a moment. His head was a little on one side with a listening air. He could hear nothing from downstairs. He crossed to the landing window and looked out. Mary Restarick was below on the terrace, resuming her gardening work. Poirot nodded his head in satisfaction. He walked gently along the corridor. One by one in turn he opened the doors. A bathroom, a linen cupboard, a double bedded spare room, an occupied single bedroom, a woman’s room with a double bed (Mary Restarick’s?). The next door was that of an adjoining room and was, he guessed, the room belonging to Andrew Restarick. He turned to the other side of the landing. The door he opened first was a single bedroom. It was not, he judged, occupied at the time, but it was a room which possibly was occupied at weekends. There were toilet brushes on the dressing-table. He listened carefully, then tip-toed in. He opened the wardrobe. Yes, there were some clothes hanging up there. Country clothes.

There was a writing table but there was nothing on it. He opened the desk drawers very softly. There were a few odds and ends, a letter or two, but the letters were trivial and dated some time ago. He shut the desk drawers. He walked downstairs, and going out of the house, bade farewell to his hostess. He refused her offer of tea. He had promised to get back, he said, as he had to catch a train to town very shortly afterwards.

‘Don’t you want a taxi? We could order you one, or I could drive you in the car.’

‘No, no, Madame, you are too kind.’

Poirot walked back to the village and turned down the lane by the church. He crossed a little bridge over a stream. Presently he came to where a large car with a chauffeur was waiting discreetly under a beech tree. The chauffeur opened the door of the car, Poirot got inside, sat down and removed his patent leather shoes, uttering a gasp of relief.

‘Now we return to London,’ he said.

The chauffeur closed the door, returned to his seat and the car purred quietly away. The sight of a young man standing by the roadside furiously thumbing a ride was not an unusual one. Poirot’s eyes rested almost indifferently on this member of the fraternity, a brightly dressed young man with long and exotic hair. There were many such but in the moment of passing him Poirot suddenly sat upright and addressed the driver.

‘If you please, stop. Yes, and if you can reverse a little… There is someone requesting a lift.’

The chauffeur turned an incredulous eye over his shoulder. It was the last remark he would have expected. However, Poirot was gently nodding his head, so he obeyed.

The young man called David advanced to the door. ‘Thought you weren’t going to stop for me,’ he said cheerfully. ‘Much obliged, I’m sure.’

He got in, removed a small pack from his shoulders and let it slide to the floor, smoothed down his copper brown locks. ‘So you recognised me,’ he said.

‘You are perhaps somewhat conspicuously dressed.’

‘Oh, do you think so? Not really. I’m just one of a band of brothers.’

‘The school of Vandyke. Very dressy.’

‘Oh. I’ve never thought of it like that. Yes, there may be something in what you say.’

‘You should wear a cavalier’s hat,’ said Poirot, ‘and a lace collar, if I might advise.’

‘Oh, I don’t think we go quite as far as that.’ The young man laughed. ‘How Mrs Restarick dislikes the mere sight of me. Actually I reciprocate her dislike. I don’t care much for Restarick, either. There is something singularly unattractive about successful tycoons, don’t you think?’

‘It depends on the point of view. You have been paying attentions to the daughter, I understand.’

‘That is such a nice phrase,’ said David. ‘Paying attentions to the daughter. I suppose it might be called that. But there’s plenty of fifty-fifty about it, you know. She’s paying attention to me, too.’

‘Where is Mademoiselle now?’

David turned his head rather sharply. ‘And why do you ask that?’

‘I should like to meet her.’ He shrugged his shoulders.

‘I don’t believe she’d be your type, you know, any more than I am. Norma’s in London.’

‘But you said to her stepmother—’

‘Oh! We don’t tell stepmothers everything.’

‘And where is she in London?’

‘She works in an interior decorator’s down the King’s Road somewhere in Chelsea. Can’t remember the name of it for the moment. Susan Phelps, I think.’

‘But that is not where she lives, I presume. You have her address?’

‘Oh yes, a great block of flats. I don’t really understand your interest.’

‘One is interested in so many things.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘What brought you to that house—(what is its name?—Crosshedges) today. Brought you secretly into the house and up the stairs.’

‘I came in the back door, I admit.’

‘What were you looking for upstairs?’

‘That’s my business. I don’t want to be rude—but aren’t you being rather nosy?’

‘Yes, I am displaying curiosity. I would like to know exactly where this young lady is.’

‘I see. Dear Andrew and dear Mary—lord rot ’em—are employing you, is that it? They are trying to find her?’

‘As yet,’ said Poirot, ‘I do not think they know that she is missing.’

‘Someone must be employing you.’

‘You are exceedingly perceptive,’ said Poirot. He leant back.

‘I wondered what you were up to,’ said David. ‘That’s why I hailed you. I hoped you’d stop and give me a bit of dope. She’s my girl. You know that, I suppose?’

‘I understand that that is supposed to be the idea,’ said Poirot cautiously. ‘If so, you should know where she is. Is that not so, Mr—I am sorry, I do not think I know your name beyond, that is, that your Christian name is David.’

‘Baker.’

‘Perhaps, Mr Baker, you have had a quarrel.’

‘No, we haven’t had a quarrel. Why should you think we had?’

‘Miss Norma Restarick left Crosshedges on Sunday evening, or was it Monday morning?’

‘It depends. There is an early bus you can take. Gets you to London a little after ten. It would make her a bit late at work, but not too much. Usually she goes back on Sunday night.’

‘She left there Sunday night but she has not arrived at Borodene Mansions.’

‘Apparently not. So Claudia says.’

‘This Miss Reece-Holland—that is her name, is it not?—was she surprised or worried?’

‘Good lord, no, why should she be. They don’t keep tabs on each other all the time, these girls.’

‘But you thought she was going back there?’

‘She didn’t go back to work either. They’re fed up at the shop, I can tell you.’

‘Are you worried, Mr Baker?’

‘No. Naturally—I mean, well, I’m damned if I know. I don’t see any reason I should be worried, only time’s getting on. What is it today—Thursday?’

‘She has not quarrelled with you?’

‘No. We don’t quarrel.’

‘But you are worried about her, Mr Baker?’

‘What business is it of yours?’

‘It is no business of mine but there has, I understand, been trouble at home. She does not like her stepmother.’

‘Quite right too. She’s a bitch, that woman. Hard as nails. She doesn’t like Norma either.’

‘She has been ill, has she not? She had to go to hospital.’

‘Who are you talking about—Norma?’

‘No, I am not talking about Miss Restarick. I am talking about Mrs Restarick.’

‘I believe she did go into a nursing home. No reason she should. Strong as a horse, I’d say.’

‘And Miss Restarick hates her stepmother.’

‘She’s a bit unbalanced sometimes, Norma. You know, goes off the deep end. I tell you, girls always hate their stepmothers.’

‘Does that always make stepmothers ill? Ill enough to go to hospital?’

‘What the hell are you getting at?’

‘Gardening perhaps—or the use of weed killer.’

‘What do you mean by talking about weed killer? Are you suggesting that Norma—that she’d dream of—that—’

‘People talk,’ said Poirot. ‘Talk goes round the neighbourhood.’

‘Do you mean that somebody has said that Norma has tried to poison her stepmother? That’s ridiculous. It’s absolutely absurd.’

‘It is very unlikely, I agree,’ said Poirot. ‘Actually, people have not been saying that.’

‘Oh. Sorry. I misunderstood. But—what did you mean?’

‘My dear young man,’ said Poirot, ‘you must realise that there are rumours going about, and rumours are almost always about the same person—a husband.’

‘What, poor old Andrew? Most unlikely I should say.’

‘Yes. Yes, it does not seem to me very likely.’

‘Well, what were you there for then? You are a detective, aren’t you?’

‘Yes.’

‘Well, then?’

‘We are talking at cross purposes,’ said Poirot. ‘I did not go down there to inquire into any doubtful or possible case of poisoning. You must forgive me if I cannot answer your question. It is all very hush-hush, you understand.’

‘What on earth do you mean by that?’

‘I went there,’ said Poirot, ‘to see Sir Roderick Horsefield.’

‘What, that old boy? He’s practically ga-ga, isn’t he?’

‘He is a man,’ said Poirot, ‘who is in possession of a great many secrets. I do not mean that he takes an active part in such things nowadays, but he knows a good deal. He was connected with a great many things in the past war. He knew several people.’

‘That’s all over years ago, though.’

‘Yes, yes, his part in things is all over years ago. But do you not realise that there are certain things that it might be useful to know?’

‘What sort of things?’

‘Faces,’ said Poirot. ‘A well known face perhaps, which Sir Roderick might recognise. A face or a mannerism, a way of talking, a way of walking, a gesture. People do remember, you know. Old people. They remember, not things that have happened last week or last month or last year, but they remember something that happened, say, nearly twenty years ago. And they may remember someone who does not want to be remembered. And they can tell you certain things about a certain man or a certain woman or something they were mixed up in—I am speaking very vaguely, you understand. I went to him for information.’

‘You went to him for information, did you? That old boy? Ga-ga. And he gave it to you?’

‘Let us say that I am quite satisfied.’

David continued to stare at him. ‘I wonder now,’ he said. ‘Did you go to see the old boy or did you go to see the little girl, eh? Did you want to know what she was doing in the house? I’ve wondered once or twice myself. Do you think she took that post there to get a bit of past information out of the old boy?’

‘I do not think,’ said Poirot, ‘that it will serve any useful purpose to discuss these matters. She seems a very devoted and attentive—what shall I call her—secretary?’

‘A mixture of a hospital nurse, a secretary, a companion, an au pair girl, an uncle’s help? Yes, one could find a good many names for her, couldn’t one? He’s besotted about her. You noticed that?’

‘It is not unnatural under the circumstances,’ said Poirot primly.

‘I can tell you someone who doesn’t like her, and that’s our Mary.’

‘And she perhaps does not like Mary Restarick either.’

‘So that’s what you think, is it?’ said David. ‘That Sonia doesn’t like Mary Restarick. Perhaps you go as far as thinking that she may have made a few inquiries as to where the weed killer was kept? Bah,’ he added, ‘the whole thing’s ridiculous. All right. Thanks for the lift. I think I’ll get out here.’

‘Aha. This is where you want to be? We are still a good seven miles out of London.’

‘I’ll get out here. Goodbye, M. Poirot.’

‘Goodbye.’

Poirot leant back in his seat as David slammed the door.

Mrs Oliver prowled round her sitting-room. She was very restless. An hour ago she had parcelled up a typescript that she had just finished correcting. She was about to send it off to her publisher who was anxiously awaiting it and constantly prodding her about it every three or four days.

‘There you are,’ said Mrs Oliver, addressing the empty air and conjuring up an imaginary publisher. ‘There you are, and I hope you like it! I don’t. I think it’s lousy! I don’t believe you know whether anything I write is good or bad. Anyway, I warned you. I told you it was frightful. You said “Oh! no, no, I don’t believe that for a moment.”

‘You just wait and see,’ said Mrs Oliver vengefully. ‘You just wait and see.’

She opened the door, called to Edith, her maid, gave her the parcel and directed that it should be taken to the post at once.

‘And now,’ said Mrs Oliver, ‘what am I going to do with myself?’

She began strolling about again. ‘Yes,’ thought Mrs Oliver, ‘I wish I had those tropical birds and things back on the wall instead of these idiotic cherries. I used to feel like something in a tropical wood. A lion or a tiger or a leopard or a cheetah! What could I possibly feel like in a cherry orchard except a bird scarer?’

She looked round again. ‘Cheeping like a bird, that’s what I ought to be doing,’ she said gloomily. ‘Eating cherries… I wish it was the right time of year for cherries. I’d like some cherries. I wonder now—’ She went to the telephone. ‘I will ascertain, Madam,’ said the voice of George in answer to her inquiry. Presently another voice spoke.

‘Hercule Poirot, at your service, Madame,’ he said.

‘Where’ve you been?’ said Mrs Oliver. ‘You’ve been away all day. I suppose you went down to look up the Restaricks. Is that it? Did you see Sir Roderick? What did you find out?’

‘Nothing,’ said Hercule Poirot.

‘How dreadfully dull,’ said Mrs Oliver.

‘No, I do not think it is really so dull. It is rather astonishing that I have not found out anything.’

‘Why is it so astonishing? I don’t understand.’

‘Because,’ said Poirot, ‘it means either there was nothing to find out, and that, let me tell you, does not accord with the facts; or else something was being very cleverly concealed. That, you see, would be interesting. Mrs Restarick, by the way, did not know the girl was missing.’

‘You mean—she has nothing to do with the girl having disappeared?’

‘So it seems. I met there the young man.’

‘You mean the unsatisfactory young man that nobody likes?’

‘That is right. The unsatisfactory young man.’

‘Did you think he was unsatisfactory?’

‘From whose point of view?’

‘Not from the girl’s point of view, I suppose.’

‘The girl who came to see me I am sure would have been highly delighted with him.’

‘Did he look very awful?’

‘He looked very beautiful,’ said Hercule Poirot.

‘Beautiful?’ said Mrs Oliver. ‘I don’t know that I like beautiful young men.’

‘Girls do,’ said Poirot.

‘Yes, you’re quite right. They like beautiful young men. I don’t mean good-looking young men or smart-looking young men or well-dressed or well-washed looking young men. I mean they either like young men looking as though they were just going on in a Restoration comedy, or else very dirty young men looking as though they were just going to take some awful tramp’s job.’

‘It seemed that he also did not know where the girl is now—’

‘Or else he wasn’t admitting it.’

‘Perhaps. He had gone down there. Why? He was actually in the house. He had taken the trouble to walk in without anyone seeing him. Again why? For what reason? Was he looking for the girl? Or was he looking for something else?’

‘You think he was looking for something?’

‘He was looking for something in the girl’s room,’ said Poirot.

‘How do you know? Did you see him there?’

‘No, I only saw him coming down the stairs, but I found a very nice little piece of damp mud in Norma’s room that could have come from his shoe. It is possible that she herself may have asked him to bring her something from that room—there are a lot of possibilities. There is another girl in that house—and a pretty one—He may have come down there to meet her. Yes—many possibilities.’

‘What are you going to do next?’ demanded Mrs Oliver.

‘Nothing,’ said Poirot.

‘That’s very dull,’ said Mrs Oliver disapprovingly.

‘I am going to receive, perhaps, a little information from those I have employed to find it; though it is quite possible that I shall receive nothing at all.’

‘But aren’t you going to do something?’

‘Not till the right moment,’ said Poirot.

‘Well, I shall,’ said Mrs Oliver.

‘Pray, pray be very careful,’ he implored her.

‘What nonsense! What could happen to me?’

‘Where there is murder, anything can happen. I tell that to you. I, Poirot.’

CHAPTER 6

Mr Goby sat in a chair. He was a small shrunken little man, so nondescript as to be practically nonexistent.

He looked attentively at the claw foot of an antique table and addressed his remarks to it. He never addressed anybody direct.

‘Glad you got the names for me, Mr Poirot,’ he said. ‘Otherwise, you know, it might have taken a lot of time. As it is, I’ve got the main facts—and a bit of gossip on the side… Always useful, that. I’ll begin at Borodene Mansions, shall I?’

Poirot inclined his head graciously.

‘Plenty of porters,’ Mr Goby informed the clock on the chimney piece. ‘I started there, used one or two different young men. Expensive, but worth it. Didn’t want it thought that there was anyone making any particular inquiries! Shall I use initials, or names?’

‘Within these walls you can use the names,’ said Poirot.

‘Miss Claudia Reece-Holland spoken of as a very nice young lady. Father an MP. Ambitious man. Gets himself in the news a lot. She’s his only daughter. She does secretarial work. Serious girl. No wild parties, no drink, no beatniks. Shares flat with two others. Number two works for the Wedderburn Gallery in Bond Street. Arty type. Whoops it up a bit with the Chelsea set. Goes around to places arranging exhibitions and art shows.

‘The third one is your one. Not been there long. General opinion is that she’s a bit “wanting”. Not all there in the top storey. But it’s all a bit vague. One of the porters is a gossipy type. Buy him a drink or two and you’ll be surprised at the things he’ll tell you! Who drinks, and who drugs, and who’s having trouble with his income tax, and who keeps his cash behind the cistern. Of course you can’t believe it all. Anyway, there was some story about a revolver being fired one night.’

‘A revolver fired? Was anyone injured?’

‘There seems a bit of doubt as to that. His story is he heard a shot fired one night, and he comes out and there was this girl, your girl, standing there with a revolver in her hand. She looked sort of dazed. And then one of the other young ladies—or both of them, in fact—they come running along. And Miss Cary (that’s the arty one) says, “Norma, what on earth have you done?” and Miss Reece-Holland, she says sharp-like, “Shut up, can’t you, Frances. Don’t be a fool!” and she took the revolver away from your girl and says, “Give me that.” She slams it into her handbag and then she notices this chap Micky, and goes over to him and says, laughing-like, “That must have startled you, didn’t it?” and Micky he says it gave him quite a turn, and she says, “You needn’t worry. Matter of fact, we’d no idea this thing was loaded. We were just fooling about.” And then she says: “Anyway, if anybody asks you questions, tell them it is quite all right,” and then she says: “Come on, Norma” and took her arm and led her along to the elevator, and they all went up again.

‘But Micky said he was a bit doubtful still. He went and had a good look round the courtyard.’

Mr Goby lowered his eyes and quoted from his notebook:

‘“I’ll tell you, I found something, I did! I found some wet patches. Sure as anything I did. Drops of blood they were. I touched them with my finger. I tell you what I think. Somebody had been shot—some man as he was running away… I went upstairs and I asked if I could speak to Miss Holland. I says to her: ‘I think there may have been someone shot, Miss,’ I says. ‘There are some drops of blood in the courtyard.’ ‘Good gracious,’ she says, ‘How ridiculous. I expect, you know,’ she says, ‘it must have been one of the pigeons.’ And then she says: ‘I’m sorry if it gave you a turn. Forget about it,’ and she slipped me a five pound note. Five pound note, no less! Well, naturally, I didn’t open my mouth after that.”

‘And then, after another whisky, he comes out with some more. “If you ask me, she took a pot shot at that low class young chap that comes to see her. I think she and he had a row and she did her best to shoot him. That’s what I think. But least said soonest mended, so I’m not repeating it. If anyone asks me anything I’ll say I don’t know what they’re talking about.”’ Mr Goby paused.

‘Interesting,’ said Poirot.

‘Yes, but it’s as likely as not that it’s a pack of lies. Nobody else seems to know anything about it. There’s a story about a gang of young thugs who came barging into the courtyard one night, and had a bit of a fight—flick-knives out and all that.’

‘I see,’ said Poirot. ‘Another possible source of blood in the courtyard.’

‘Maybe the girl did have a row with her young man, threatened to shoot him, perhaps. And Micky overheard it and mixed the whole thing up—especially if there was a car backfiring just then.’

‘Yes,’ said Hercule Poirot, and sighed, ‘that would account for things quite well.’

Mr Goby turned over another leaf of his notebook and selected his confidant. He chose an electric radiator.

‘Joshua Restarick Ltd. Family firm. Been going over a hundred years. Well thought of in the City. Always very sound. Nothing spectacular. Founded by Joshua Restarick in 1850. Launched out after the first war, with greatly increased investments abroad, mostly South Africa, West Africa and Australia. Simon and Andrew Restarick—the last of the Restaricks. Simon, the elder brother, died about a year ago, no children. His wife had died some years previously. Andrew Restarick seems to have been a restless chap. His heart was never really in the business though everyone says he had plenty of ability. Finally ran off with some woman, leaving his wife and a daughter of five years old. Went to South Africa, Kenya, and various other places. No divorce. His wife died two years ago. Had been an invalid for some time. He travelled about a lot, and wherever he went he seems to have made money. Concessions for minerals mostly. Everything he touched prospered.

‘After his brother’s death, he seems to have decided it was time to settle down. He’d married again and he thought the right thing to do was to come back and make a home for his daughter. They’re living at the moment with his uncle Sir Roderick Horsefield—uncle by marriage that is. That’s only temporary. His wife’s looking at houses all over London. Expense no object. They’re rolling in money.’

Poirot sighed. ‘I know,’ he said. ‘What you outline to me is a success story! Everyone makes money! Everybody is of good family and highly respected. Their relations are distinguished. They are well thought of in business circles.

‘There is only one cloud in the sky. A girl who is said to be “a bit wanting”, a girl who is mixed up with a dubious boy friend who has been on probation more than once. A girl who may quite possibly have tried to poison her stepmother, and who either suffers from hallucinations, or else has committed a crime! I tell you, none of that accords well with the success story you have brought me.’

Mr Goby shook his head sadly and said rather obscurely:

‘There’s one in every family.’

‘This Mrs Restarick is quite a young woman. I presume she is not the woman he originally ran away with?’

‘Oh no, that bust up quite soon. She was a pretty bad lot by all accounts, and a tartar as well. He was a fool ever to be taken in by her.’ Mr Goby shut his notebook and looked inquiringly at Poirot. ‘Anything more you want me to do?’

‘Yes. I want to know a little more about the late Mrs Andrew Restarick. She was an invalid, she was frequently in nursing homes. What kind of nursing homes? Mental homes?’

‘I take your point, Mr Poirot.’

‘And any history of insanity in the family—on either side?’

‘I’ll see to it, Mr Poirot.’

Mr Goby rose to his feet. ‘Then I’ll take leave of you, sir. Good night.’

Poirot remained thoughtful after Mr Goby had left. He raised and lowered his eyebrows. He wondered, he wondered very much.

Then he rang Mrs Oliver:

‘I told you before,’ he said, ‘to be careful. I repeat that—Be very careful.’

‘Careful of what?’ said Mrs Oliver.

‘Of yourself. I think there might be danger. Danger to anyone who goes poking about where they are not wanted. There is murder in the air—I do not want it to be yours.’

‘Have you had the information you said you might have?’

‘Yes,’ said Poirot, ‘I have had a little information. Mostly rumour and gossip, but it seems something happened at Borodene Mansions.’

‘What sort of thing?’

‘Blood in the courtyard,’ said Poirot.

‘Really!’ said Mrs Oliver. ‘That’s just like the title of an old-fashioned detective story. The Stain on the Staircase. I mean nowadays you say something more like She Asked for Death.’

‘Perhaps there may not have been blood in the courtyard. Perhaps it is only what an imaginative, Irish porter imagined.’

‘Probably an upset milk bottle,’ said Mrs Oliver. ‘He couldn’t see it at night. What happened?’

Poirot did not answer directly.

‘The girl thought she “might have committed a murder”. Was that the murder she meant?’

‘You mean she did shoot someone?’

‘One might presume that she did shoot at someone, but for all intents and purposes missed them. A few drops of blood… That was all. No body.’

‘Oh dear,’ said Mrs Oliver, ‘it’s all very confused. Surely if anyone could still run out of a courtyard, you wouldn’t think you’d killed him, would you?’

‘C’est difficile,’ said Poirot, and rang off.

‘I’m worried,’ said Claudia Reece-Holland.

She refilled her cup from the coffee percolator. Frances Cary gave an enormous yawn. Both girls were breakfasting in the small kitchen of the flat. Claudia was dressed and ready to start for her day’s work. Frances was still in dressing-gown and pyjamas. Her black hair fell over one eye.

‘I’m worried about Norma,’ continued Claudia.

Frances yawned.

‘I shouldn’t worry if I were you. She’ll ring up or turn up sooner or later, I suppose.’

‘Will she? You know, Fran, I can’t help wondering—’

‘I don’t see why,’ said Frances, pouring herself out more coffee. She sipped it doubtfully. ‘I mean—Norma’s not really our business, is she? I mean, we’re not looking after her or spoon-feeding her or anything. She just shares the flat. Why all this motherly solicitude? I certainly wouldn’t worry.’

‘I daresay you wouldn’t. You never worry over anything. But it’s not the same for you as it is for me.’

‘Why isn’t it the same? You mean because you’re the tenant of the flat or something?’

‘Well, I’m in rather a special position, as you might say.’

Frances gave another enormous yawn.

‘I was up too late last night,’ she said. ‘At Basil’s party. I feel dreadful. Oh well, I suppose black coffee will be helpful. Have some more before I’ve drunk it all? Basil would make us try some new pills—Emerald Dreams. I don’t think it’s really worth trying all these silly things.’

‘You’ll be late at your gallery,’ said Claudia.

‘Oh well, I don’t suppose it matters much. Nobody notices or cares.

‘I saw David last night,’ she added. ‘He was all dressed up and really looked rather wonderful.’

‘Now don’t say you’re falling for him, too, Fran. He really is too awful.’

‘Oh, I know you think so. You’re such a conventional type, Claudia.’

‘Not at all. But I cannot say I care for all your arty set. Trying out all these drugs and passing out or getting fighting mad.’

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