\u201cRemorse?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYes. You never would believe me when I told you she poisoned her husband. I\u2019m more than ever convinced of it now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think you\u2019re very logical,\u201d I objected. \u201cSurely if a woman committed a crime like murder, she\u2019d be sufficiently cold-blooded to enjoy the fruits of it without any weak-minded sentimentality such as repentance.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Caroline shook her head.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThere probably are women like that\u2014but Mrs. Ferrars wasn\u2019t one of them. She was a mass of nerves. An overmastering impulse drove her on to get rid of her husband because she was the sort of person who simply can\u2019t endure suffering of any kind, and there\u2019s no doubt that the wife of a man like Ashley Ferrars must have had to suffer a good deal\u2014\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I nodded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAnd ever since she\u2019s been haunted by what she did. I can\u2019t help feeling sorry for her.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I don\u2019t think Caroline ever felt sorry for Mrs. Ferrars whilst she was alive. Now that she has gone where (presumably)6 Paris frocks can no longer be worn, Caroline is prepared to indulge in the softer emotions of pity and comprehension.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I told her firmly that her whole idea was nonsense. I was all the more firm because I secretly agreed with some part, at least, of what she had said. But it is all wrong that Caroline should arrive at the truth simply by a kind of inspired guesswork. I wasn\u2019t going to encourage that sort of thing. She will go round the village airing her views, and every one will think that she is doing so on medical data supplied by me. Life is very trying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNonsense,\u201d said Caroline, in reply to my strictures. \u201cYou\u2019ll see. Ten to one she\u2019s left a letter confessing everything.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cShe didn\u2019t leave a letter of any kind,\u201d I said sharply, and not seeing where the admission was going to land me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOh!\u201d said Caroline. \u201cSo you did<\/em> inquire about that, did you? I believe, James, that in your heart of hearts, you think very much as I do. You\u2019re a precious old humbug.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOne always has to take the possibility of suicide into consideration,\u201d I said repressively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWill there be an inquest?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThere may be. It all depends. If I am able to declare myself absolutely satisfied that the overdose was taken accidentally, an inquest might be dispensed with.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAnd are you absolutely satisfied?\u201d asked my sister shrewdly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I did not answer, but got up from table.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 7<\/p>\n\n\n\n WHO\u2019S WHO IN KING\u2019S ABBOT<\/p>\n\n\n\n Before I proceed further with what I said to Caroline and what Caroline said to me, it might be as well to give some idea of what I should describe as our local geography. Our village, King\u2019s Abbot, is, I imagine, very much like any other village. Our big town is Cranchester, nine miles away. We have a large railway station, a small post office, and two rival \u201cGeneral Stores.\u201d Able-bodied men are apt to leave the place early in life, but we are rich in unmarried ladies and retired military officers. Our hobbies and recreations can be summed up in the one word, \u201cgossip.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n There are only two houses of any importance in King\u2019s Abbot. One is King\u2019s Paddock, left to Mrs. Ferrars by her late husband. The other, Fernly Park, is owned by Roger Ackroyd. Ackroyd has always interested me by being a man more impossibly like a country squire than any country squire could really be. He reminds one of the red-faced sportsmen who always appeared early in the first act of an old-fashioned musical comedy, the setting being the village green. They usually sang a song about going up to London. Nowadays we have revues, and the country squire has died out of musical fashion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Of course, Ackroyd is not really a country squire. He8 is an immensely successful manufacturer of (I think) wagon wheels. He is a man of nearly fifty years of age, rubicund of face and genial of manner. He is hand and glove with the vicar, subscribes liberally to parish funds (though rumor has it that he is extremely mean in personal expenditure), encourages cricket matches, Lads\u2019 Clubs, and Disabled Soldiers\u2019 Institutes. He is, in fact, the life and soul of our peaceful village of King\u2019s Abbot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now when Roger Ackroyd was a lad of twenty-one, he fell in love with, and married, a beautiful woman some five or six years his senior. Her name was Paton, and she was a widow with one child. The history of the marriage was short and painful. To put it bluntly, Mrs. Ackroyd was a dipsomaniac. She succeeded in drinking herself into her grave four years after her marriage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the years that followed, Ackroyd showed no disposition to make a second matrimonial adventure. His wife\u2019s child by her first marriage was only seven years old when his mother died. He is now twenty-five. Ackroyd has always regarded him as his own son, and has brought him up accordingly, but he has been a wild lad and a continual source of worry and trouble to his stepfather. Nevertheless we are all very fond of Ralph Paton in King\u2019s Abbot. He is such a good-looking youngster for one thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As I said before, we are ready enough to gossip in our village. Everybody noticed from the first that Ackroyd and Mrs. Ferrars got on very well together. After her husband\u2019s death, the intimacy became more marked. They were always seen about together, and it was freely9 conjectured that at the end of her period of mourning, Mrs. Ferrars would become Mrs. Roger Ackroyd. It was felt, indeed, that there was a certain fitness in the thing. Roger Ackroyd\u2019s wife had admittedly died of drink. Ashley Ferrars had been a drunkard for many years before his death. It was only fitting that these two victims of alcoholic excess should make up to each other for all that they had previously endured at the hands of their former spouses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Ferrars only came to live here just over a year ago, but a halo of gossip has surrounded Ackroyd for many years past. All the time that Ralph Paton was growing up to manhood, a series of lady housekeepers presided over Ackroyd\u2019s establishment, and each in turn was regarded with lively suspicion by Caroline and her cronies. It is not too much to say that for at least fifteen years the whole village has confidently expected Ackroyd to marry one of his housekeepers. The last of them, a redoubtable lady called Miss Russell, has reigned undisputed for five years, twice as long as any of her predecessors. It is felt that but for the advent of Mrs. Ferrars, Ackroyd could hardly have escaped. That\u2014and one other factor\u2014the unexpected arrival of a widowed sister-in-law with her daughter from Canada. Mrs. Cecil Ackroyd, widow of Ackroyd\u2019s ne\u2019er-do-well younger brother, has taken up her residence at Fernly Park, and has succeeded, according to Caroline, in putting Miss Russell in her proper place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I don\u2019t know exactly what a \u201cproper place\u201d constitutes\u2014it sounds chilly and unpleasant\u2014but I know that10 Miss Russell goes about with pinched lips, and what I can only describe as an acid smile, and that she professes the utmost sympathy for \u201cpoor Mrs. Ackroyd\u2014dependent on the charity of her husband\u2019s brother. The bread of charity is so bitter, is it not? I<\/em> should be quite miserable if I did not work for my living.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I don\u2019t know what Mrs. Cecil Ackroyd thought of the Ferrars affair when it came on the tapis. It was clearly to her advantage that Ackroyd should remain unmarried. She was always very charming\u2014not to say gushing\u2014to Mrs. Ferrars when they met. Caroline says that proves less than nothing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Such have been our preoccupations in King\u2019s Abbot for the last few years. We have discussed Ackroyd and his affairs from every standpoint. Mrs. Ferrars has fitted into her place in the scheme.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now there has been a rearrangement of the kaleidoscope. From a mild discussion of probable wedding presents, we have been jerked into the midst of tragedy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Revolving these and sundry other matters in my mind, I went mechanically on my round. I had no cases of special interest to attend, which was, perhaps, as well, for my thoughts returned again and again to the mystery of Mrs. Ferrars\u2019s death. Had she taken her own life? Surely, if she had done so, she would have left some word behind to say what she contemplated doing? Women, in my experience, if they once reach the determination to commit suicide, usually wish to reveal the state of mind that led to the fatal action. They covet the limelight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 11<\/p>\n\n\n\n When had I last seen her? Not for over a week. Her manner then had been normal enough considering\u2014well\u2014considering everything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Then I suddenly remembered that I had seen her, though not to speak to, only yesterday. She had been walking with Ralph Paton, and I had been surprised because I had had no idea that he was likely to be in King\u2019s Abbot. I thought, indeed, that he had quarreled finally with his stepfather. Nothing had been seen of him down here for nearly six months. They had been walking along, side by side, their heads close together, and she had been talking very earnestly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I think I can safely say that it was at this moment that a foreboding of the future first swept over me. Nothing tangible as yet\u2014but a vague premonition of the way things were setting. That earnest t\u00eate-\u00e0-t\u00eate<\/em> between Ralph Paton and Mrs. Ferrars the day before struck me disagreeably.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I was still thinking of it when I came face to face with Roger Ackroyd.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSheppard!\u201d he exclaimed. \u201cJust the man I wanted to get hold of. This is a terrible business.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou\u2019ve heard then?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n He nodded. He had felt the blow keenly, I could see. His big red cheeks seemed to have fallen in, and he looked a positive wreck of his usual jolly, healthy self.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt\u2019s worse than you know,\u201d he said quietly. \u201cLook here, Sheppard, I\u2019ve got to talk to you. Can you come back with me now?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n 12<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHardly. I\u2019ve got three patients to see still, and I must be back by twelve to see my surgery patients.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThen this afternoon\u2014no, better still, dine to-night. At 7.30? Will that suit you?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYes\u2014I can manage that all right. What\u2019s wrong? Is it Ralph?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I hardly knew why I said that\u2014except, perhaps, that it had so often been Ralph.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ackroyd stared blankly at me as though he hardly understood. I began to realize that there must be something very wrong indeed somewhere. I had never seen Ackroyd so upset before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cRalph?\u201d he said vaguely. \u201cOh! no, it\u2019s not Ralph. Ralph\u2019s in London\u2014\u2014Damn! Here\u2019s old Miss Ganett coming. I don\u2019t want to have to talk to her about this ghastly business. See you to-night, Sheppard. Seven-thirty.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I nodded, and he hurried away, leaving me wondering. Ralph in London? But he had certainly been in King\u2019s Abbot the preceding afternoon. He must have gone back to town last night or early this morning, and yet Ackroyd\u2019s manner had conveyed quite a different impression. He had spoken as though Ralph had not been near the place for months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I had no time to puzzle the matter out further. Miss Ganett was upon me, thirsting for information. Miss Ganett has all the characteristics of my sister Caroline, but she lacks that unerring aim in jumping to conclusions which lends a touch of greatness to Caroline\u2019s13 maneuvers. Miss Ganett was breathless and interrogatory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Wasn\u2019t it sad about poor dear Mrs. Ferrars? A lot of people were saying she had been a confirmed drug-taker for years. So wicked the way people went about saying things. And yet, the worst of it was, there was usually a grain of truth somewhere in these wild statements. No smoke without fire! They were saying too that Mr. Ackroyd had found out about it, and had broken off the engagement\u2014because there was<\/em> an engagement. She, Miss Ganett, had proof positive of that. Of course I<\/em> must know all about it\u2014doctors always did\u2014but they never tell?<\/p>\n\n\n\n And all this with a sharp beady eye on me to see how I reacted to these suggestions. Fortunately long association with Caroline has led me to preserve an impassive countenance, and to be ready with small non-committal remarks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On this occasion I congratulated Miss Ganett on not joining in ill-natured gossip. Rather a neat counterattack, I thought. It left her in difficulties, and before she could pull herself together, I had passed on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I went home thoughtful, to find several patients waiting for me in the surgery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I had dismissed the last of them, as I thought, and was just contemplating a few minutes in the garden before lunch when I perceived one more patient waiting for me. She rose and came towards me as I stood somewhat surprised.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I don\u2019t know why I should have been, except that there14 is a suggestion of cast iron about Miss Russell, a something that is above the ills of the flesh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ackroyd\u2019s housekeeper is a tall woman, handsome but forbidding in appearance. She has a stern eye, and lips that shut tightly, and I feel that if I were an under housemaid or a kitchenmaid I should run for my life whenever I heard her coming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cGood morning, Dr. Sheppard,\u201d said Miss Russell. \u201cI should be much obliged if you would take a look at my knee.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I took a look, but, truth to tell, I was very little wiser when I had done so. Miss Russell\u2019s account of vague pains was so unconvincing that with a woman of less integrity of character I should have suspected a trumped-up tale. It did cross my mind for one moment that Miss Russell might have deliberately invented this affection of the knee in order to pump me on the subject of Mrs. Ferrars\u2019s death, but I soon saw that there, at least, I had misjudged her. She made a brief reference to the tragedy, nothing more. Yet she certainly seemed disposed to linger and chat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWell, thank you very much for this bottle of liniment, doctor,\u201d she said at last. \u201cNot that I believe it will do the least good.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I didn\u2019t think it would either, but I protested in duty bound. After all, it couldn\u2019t do any harm, and one must stick up for the tools of one\u2019s trade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI don\u2019t believe in all these drugs,\u201d said Miss Russell, her eyes sweeping over my array of bottles disparagingly.15 \u201cDrugs do a lot of harm. Look at the cocaine habit.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWell, as far as that goes\u2014\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt\u2019s very prevalent in high society.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I\u2019m sure Miss Russell knows far more about high society than I do. I didn\u2019t attempt to argue with her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cJust tell me this, doctor,\u201d said Miss Russell. \u201cSuppose you are really a slave of the drug habit. Is there any cure?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n One cannot answer a question like that offhand. I gave her a short lecture on the subject, and she listened with close attention. I still suspected her of seeking information about Mrs. Ferrars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNow, veronal, for instance\u2014\u2014\u201d I proceeded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But, strangely enough, she didn\u2019t seem interested in veronal. Instead she changed the subject, and asked me if it was true that there were certain poisons so rare as to baffle detection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAh!\u201d I said. \u201cYou\u2019ve been reading detective stories.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n She admitted that she had.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe essence of a detective story,\u201d I said, \u201cis to have a rare poison\u2014if possible something from South America, that nobody has ever heard of\u2014something that one obscure tribe of savages use to poison their arrows with. Death is instantaneous, and Western science is powerless to detect it. That is the kind of thing you mean?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYes. Is there really such a thing?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I shook my head regretfully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019m afraid there isn\u2019t. There\u2019s curare<\/em>, of course.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I told her a good deal about curare, but she seemed to16 have lost interest once more. She asked me if I had any in my poison cupboard, and when I replied in the negative I fancy I fell in her estimation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n She said she must be getting back, and I saw her out at the surgery door just as the luncheon gong went.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I should never have suspected Miss Russell of a fondness for detective stories. It pleases me very much to think of her stepping out of the housekeeper\u2019s room to rebuke a delinquent housemaid, and then returning to a comfortable perusal of The Mystery of the Seventh Death, or something of the kind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 17<\/p>\n\n\n\n THE MAN WHO GREW VEGETABLE MARROWS<\/p>\n\n\n\n I told Caroline at lunch time that I should be dining at Fernly. She expressed no objection\u2014on the contrary\u2014\u2014<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cExcellent,\u201d she said. \u201cYou\u2019ll hear all about it. By the way, what is the trouble with Ralph?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWith Ralph?\u201d I said, surprised; \u201cthere\u2019s isn\u2019t any.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThen why is he staying at the Three Boars instead of at Fernly Park?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I did not for a minute question Caroline\u2019s statement that Ralph Paton was staying at the local inn. That Caroline said so was enough for me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAckroyd told me he was in London,\u201d I said. In the surprise of the moment I departed from my valuable rule of never parting with information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOh!\u201d said Caroline. I could see her nose twitching as she worked on this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHe arrived at the Three Boars yesterday morning,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd he\u2019s still there. Last night he was out with a girl.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n That did not surprise me in the least. Ralph, I should say, is out with a girl most nights of his life. But I did rather wonder that he chose to indulge in the pastime in King\u2019s Abbot instead of in the gay metropolis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOne of the barmaids?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 18<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNo. That\u2019s just it. He went out to meet her. I don\u2019t know who she is.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n (Bitter for Caroline to have to admit such a thing.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBut I can guess,\u201d continued my indefatigable sister.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I waited patiently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHis cousin.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cFlora Ackroyd?\u201d I exclaimed in surprise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Flora Ackroyd is, of course, no relation whatever really to Ralph Paton, but Ralph has been looked upon for so long as practically Ackroyd\u2019s own son, that cousinship is taken for granted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cFlora Ackroyd,\u201d said my sister.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBut why not go to Fernly if he wanted to see her?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSecretly engaged,\u201d said Caroline, with immense enjoyment. \u201cOld Ackroyd won\u2019t hear of it, and they have to meet this way.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I saw a good many flaws in Caroline\u2019s theory, but I forbore to point them out to her. An innocent remark about our new neighbor created a diversion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The house next door, The Larches, has recently been taken by a stranger. To Caroline\u2019s extreme annoyance, she has not been able to find out anything about him, except that he is a foreigner. The Intelligence Corps has proved a broken reed. Presumably the man has milk and vegetables and joints of meat and occasional whitings just like everybody else, but none of the people who make it their business to supply these things seem to have acquired any information. His name, apparently, is Mr. Porrott\u2014a name which conveys an odd feeling of unreality. The one thing we do know about him is that19 he is interested in the growing of vegetable marrows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But that is certainly not the sort of information that Caroline is after. She wants to know where he comes from, what he does, whether he is married, what his wife was, or is, like, whether he has children, what his mother\u2019s maiden name was\u2014and so on. Somebody very like Caroline must have invented the questions on passports, I think.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMy dear Caroline,\u201d I said. \u201cThere\u2019s no doubt at all about what the man\u2019s profession has been. He\u2019s a retired hairdresser. Look at that mustache of his.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Caroline dissented. She said that if the man was a hairdresser, he would have wavy hair\u2014not straight. All hairdressers did.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I cited several hairdressers personally known to me who had straight hair, but Caroline refused to be convinced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI can\u2019t make him out at all,\u201d she said in an aggrieved voice. \u201cI borrowed some garden tools the other day, and he was most polite, but I couldn\u2019t get anything out of him. I asked him point blank at last whether he was a Frenchman, and he said he wasn\u2019t\u2014and somehow I didn\u2019t like to ask him any more.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I began to be more interested in our mysterious neighbor. A man who is capable of shutting up Caroline and sending her, like the Queen of Sheba, empty away must be something of a personality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI believe,\u201d said Caroline, \u201cthat he\u2019s got one of those new vacuum cleaners\u2014\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I saw a meditated loan and the opportunity of further20 questioning gleaming from her eye. I seized the chance to escape into the garden. I am rather fond of gardening. I was busily exterminating dandelion roots when a shout of warning sounded from close by and a heavy body whizzed by my ear and fell at my feet with a repellant squelch. It was a vegetable marrow!<\/p>\n\n\n\n I looked up angrily. Over the wall, to my left, there appeared a face. An egg-shaped head, partially covered with suspiciously black hair, two immense mustaches, and a pair of watchful eyes. It was our mysterious neighbor, Mr. Porrott.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He broke at once into fluent apologies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI demand of you a thousand pardons, monsieur. I am without defense. For some months now I cultivate the marrows. This morning suddenly I enrage myself with these marrows. I send them to promenade themselves\u2014alas! not only mentally but physically. I seize the biggest. I hurl him over the wall. Monsieur, I am ashamed. I prostrate myself.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Before such profuse apologies, my anger was forced to melt. After all, the wretched vegetable hadn\u2019t hit me. But I sincerely hoped that throwing large vegetables over walls was not our new friend\u2019s hobby. Such a habit could hardly endear him to us as a neighbor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The strange little man seemed to read my thoughts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAh! no,\u201d he exclaimed. \u201cDo not disquiet yourself. It is not with me a habit. But can you figure to yourself, monsieur, that a man may work towards a certain object, may labor and toil to attain a certain kind of leisure and occupation, and then find that, after all, he yearns for21 the old busy days, and the old occupations that he thought himself so glad to leave?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYes,\u201d I said slowly. \u201cI fancy that that is a common enough occurrence. I myself am perhaps an instance. A year ago I came into a legacy\u2014enough to enable me to realize a dream. I have always wanted to travel, to see the world. Well, that was a year ago, as I said, and\u2014I am still here.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n My little neighbor nodded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe chains of habit. We work to attain an object, and the object gained, we find that what we miss is the daily toil. And mark you, monsieur, my work was interesting work. The most interesting work there is in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYes?\u201d I said encouragingly. For the moment the spirit of Caroline was strong within me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe study of human nature, monsieur!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cJust so,\u201d I said kindly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Clearly a retired hairdresser. Who knows the secrets of human nature better than a hairdresser?<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAlso, I had a friend\u2014a friend who for many years never left my side. Occasionally of an imbecility to make one afraid, nevertheless he was very dear to me. Figure to yourself that I miss even his stupidity. His na\u00efvet\u00e9<\/em>, his honest outlook, the pleasure of delighting and surprising him by my superior gifts\u2014all these I miss more than I can tell you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHe died?\u201d I asked sympathetically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNot so. He lives and flourishes\u2014but on the other side of the world. He is now in the Argentine.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIn the Argentine,\u201d I said enviously.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 22<\/p>\n\n\n\n I have always wanted to go to South America. I sighed, and then looked up to find Mr. Porrott eyeing me sympathetically. He seemed an understanding little man.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou will go there, yes?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I shook my head with a sigh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI could have gone,\u201d I said, \u201ca year ago. But I was foolish\u2014and worse than foolish\u2014greedy. I risked the substance for the shadow.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI comprehend,\u201d said Mr. Porrott. \u201cYou speculated?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I nodded mournfully, but in spite of myself I felt secretly entertained. This ridiculous little man was so portentously solemn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNot the Porcupine Oilfields?\u201d he asked suddenly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I stared.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI thought of them, as a matter of fact, but in the end I plumped for a gold mine in Western Australia.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n My neighbor was regarding me with a strange expression which I could not fathom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt is Fate,\u201d he said at last.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhat is Fate?\u201d I asked irritably.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThat I should live next to a man who seriously considers Porcupine Oilfields, and also West Australian Gold Mines. Tell me, have you also a penchant for auburn hair?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I stared at him open-mouthed, and he burst out laughing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNo, no, it is not the insanity that I suffer from. Make your mind easy. It was a foolish question that I put to you there, for, see you, my friend of whom I spoke was23 a young man, a man who thought all women good, and most of them beautiful. But you are a man of middle age, a doctor, a man who knows the folly and the vanity of most things in this life of ours. Well, well, we are neighbors. I beg of you to accept and present to your excellent sister my best marrow.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n He stooped, and with a flourish produced an immense specimen of the tribe, which I duly accepted in the spirit in which it was offered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIndeed,\u201d said the little man cheerfully, \u201cthis has not been a wasted morning. I have made the acquaintance of a man who in some ways resembles my far-off friend. By the way, I should like to ask you a question. You doubtless know every one in this tiny village. Who is the young man with the very dark hair and eyes, and the handsome face. He walks with his head flung back, and an easy smile on his lips?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The description left me in no doubt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThat must be Captain Ralph Paton,\u201d I said slowly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI have not seen him about here before?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNo, he has not been here for some time. But he is the son\u2014adopted son, rather\u2014of Mr. Ackroyd of Fernly Park.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n My neighbor made a slight gesture of impatience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOf course, I should have guessed. Mr. Ackroyd spoke of him many times.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou know Mr. Ackroyd?\u201d I said, slightly surprised.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMr. Ackroyd knew me in London\u2014when I was at work there. I have asked him to say nothing of my profession down here.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n 24<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI see,\u201d I said, rather amused by this patent snobbery, as I thought it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But the little man went on with an almost grandiloquent smirk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOne prefers to remain incognito. I am not anxious for notoriety. I have not even troubled to correct the local version of my name.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIndeed,\u201d I said, not knowing quite what to say.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cCaptain Ralph Paton,\u201d mused Mr. Porrott. \u201cAnd so he is engaged to Mr. Ackroyd\u2019s niece, the charming Miss Flora.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWho told you so?\u201d I asked, very much surprised.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMr. Ackroyd. About a week ago. He is very pleased about it\u2014has long desired that such a thing should come to pass, or so I understood from him. I even believe that he brought some pressure to bear upon the young man. That is never wise. A young man should marry to please himself\u2014not to please a stepfather from whom he has expectations.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n My ideas were completely upset. I could not see Ackroyd taking a hairdresser into his confidence, and discussing the marriage of his niece and stepson with him. Ackroyd extends a genial patronage to the lower orders, but he has a very great sense of his own dignity. I began to think that Porrott couldn\u2019t be a hairdresser after all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To hide my confusion, I said the first thing that came into my head.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhat made you notice Ralph Paton? His good looks?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNo, not that alone\u2014though he is unusually good-looking25 for an Englishman\u2014what your lady novelists would call a Greek God. No, there was something about that young man that I did not understand.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n He said the last sentence in a musing tone of voice which made an indefinable impression upon me. It was as though he was summing up the boy by the light of some inner knowledge that I did not share. It was that impression that was left with me, for at that moment my sister\u2019s voice called me from the house.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I went in. Caroline had her hat on, and had evidently just come in from the village. She began without preamble.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI met Mr. Ackroyd.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYes?\u201d I said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI stopped him, of course, but he seemed in a great hurry, and anxious to get away.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I have no doubt but that that was the case. He would feel towards Caroline much as he had felt towards Miss Ganett earlier in the day\u2014perhaps more so. Caroline is less easy to shake off.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI asked him at once about Ralph. He was absolutely astonished. Had no idea the boy was down here. He actually said he thought I must have made a mistake. I! A mistake!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cRidiculous,\u201d I said. \u201cHe ought to have known you better.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThen he went on to tell me that Ralph and Flora are engaged.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI know that too,\u201d I interrupted, with modest pride.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWho told you?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n 26<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOur new neighbor.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Caroline visibly wavered for a second or two, much as a roulette ball might coyly hover between two numbers. Then she declined the tempting red herring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI told Mr. Ackroyd that Ralph was staying at the Three Boars.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cCaroline,\u201d I said, \u201cdo you never reflect that you might do a lot of harm with this habit of yours of repeating everything indiscriminately?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNonsense,\u201d said my sister. \u201cPeople ought to know things. I consider it my duty to tell them. Mr. Ackroyd was very grateful to me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWell?\u201d I said, for there was clearly more to come.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI think he went straight off to the Three Boars, but if so he didn\u2019t find Ralph there.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNo?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNo. Because as I was coming back through the wood\u2014\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cComing back through the wood?\u201d I interrupted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Caroline had the grace to blush.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt was such a lovely day,\u201d she exclaimed. \u201cI thought I would make a little round. The woods with their autumnal tints are so perfect at this time of year.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Caroline does not care a hang for woods at any time of year. Normally she regards them as places where you get your feet damp, and where all kinds of unpleasant things may drop on your head. No, it was good sound mongoose instinct which took her to our local wood. It is the only place adjacent to the village of King\u2019s Abbot27 where you can talk with a young woman unseen by the whole of the village. It adjoins the Park of Fernly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWell,\u201d I said, \u201cgo on.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAs I say, I was just coming back through the wood when I heard voices.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Caroline paused.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYes?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOne was Ralph Paton\u2019s\u2014I knew it at once. The other was a girl\u2019s. Of course I didn\u2019t mean to listen\u2014\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOf course not,\u201d I interjected, with patent sarcasm\u2014which was, however, wasted on Caroline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBut I simply couldn\u2019t help overhearing. The girl said something\u2014I didn\u2019t quite catch what it was, and Ralph answered. He sounded very angry. \u2018My dear girl,\u2019 he said. \u2018Don\u2019t you realize that it is quite on the cards the old man will cut me off with a shilling? He\u2019s been pretty fed up with me for the last few years. A little more would do it. And we need the dibs, my dear. I shall be a very rich man when the old fellow pops off. He\u2019s mean as they make \u2019em, but he\u2019s rolling in money really. I don\u2019t want him to go altering his will. You leave it to me, and don\u2019t worry.\u2019 Those were his exact words. I remember them perfectly. Unfortunately, just then I stepped on a dry twig or something, and they lowered their voices and moved away. I couldn\u2019t, of course, go rushing after them, so wasn\u2019t able to see who the girl was.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThat must have been most vexing,\u201d I said. \u201cI suppose, though, you hurried on to the Three Boars, felt28 faint, and went into the bar for a glass of brandy, and so were able to see if both the barmaids were on duty?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt wasn\u2019t a barmaid,\u201d said Caroline unhesitatingly. \u201cIn fact, I\u2019m almost sure that it was Flora Ackroyd, only\u2014\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOnly it doesn\u2019t seem to make sense,\u201d I agreed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBut if it wasn\u2019t Flora, who could it have been?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Rapidly my sister ran over a list of maidens living in the neighborhood, with profuse reasons for and against.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When she paused for breath, I murmured something about a patient, and slipped out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I proposed to make my way to the Three Boars. It seemed likely that Ralph Paton would have returned there by now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I knew Ralph very well\u2014better, perhaps, than any one else in King\u2019s Abbot, for I had known his mother before him, and therefore I understood much in him that puzzled others. He was, to a certain extent, the victim of heredity. He had not inherited his mother\u2019s fatal propensity for drink, but nevertheless he had in him a strain of weakness. As my new friend of this morning had declared, he was extraordinarily handsome. Just on six feet, perfectly proportioned, with the easy grace of an athlete, he was dark, like his mother, with a handsome, sunburnt face always ready to break into a smile. Ralph Paton was of those born to charm easily and without effort. He was self-indulgent and extravagant, with no veneration for anything on earth, but he was lovable nevertheless, and his friends were all devoted to him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Could I do anything with the boy? I thought I could.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 29<\/p>\n\n\n\n On inquiry at the Three Boars I found that Captain Paton had just come in. I went up to his room and entered unannounced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For a moment, remembering what I had heard and seen, I was doubtful of my reception, but I need have had no misgivings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhy, it\u2019s Sheppard! Glad to see you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n He came forward to meet me, hand outstretched, a sunny smile lighting up his face.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe one person I am glad to see in this infernal place.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I raised my eyebrows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhat\u2019s the place been doing?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n He gave a vexed laugh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt\u2019s a long story. Things haven\u2019t been going well with me, doctor. But have a drink, won\u2019t you?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThanks,\u201d I said, \u201cI will.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n He pressed the bell, then, coming back, threw himself into a chair.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNot to mince matters,\u201d he said gloomily, \u201cI\u2019m in the devil of a mess. In fact, I haven\u2019t the least idea what to do next.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhat\u2019s the matter?\u201d I asked sympathetically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt\u2019s my confounded stepfather.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhat has he done?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt isn\u2019t what he\u2019s done yet, but what he\u2019s likely to do.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The bell was answered, and Ralph ordered the drinks. When the man had gone again, he sat hunched in the arm-chair, frowning to himself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 30<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIs it really\u2014serious?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He nodded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019m fairly up against it this time,\u201d he said soberly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The unusual ring of gravity in his voice told me that he spoke the truth. It took a good deal to make Ralph grave.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIn fact,\u201d he continued, \u201cI can\u2019t see my way ahead…. I\u2019m damned if I can.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIf I could help\u2014\u2014\u201d I suggested diffidently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But he shook his head very decidedly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cGood of you, doctor. But I can\u2019t let you in on this. I\u2019ve got to play a lone hand.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n He was silent a minute and then repeated in a slightly different tone of voice:\u2014<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYes\u2014I\u2019ve got to play a lone hand….\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n 31<\/p>\n\n\n\n DINNER AT FERNLY<\/p>\n\n\n\n It was just a few minutes before half-past seven when I rang the front door bell of Fernly Park. The door was opened with admirable promptitude by Parker, the butler.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The night was such a fine one that I had preferred to come on foot. I stepped into the big square hall and Parker relieved me of my overcoat. Just then Ackroyd\u2019s secretary, a pleasant young fellow by the name of Raymond, passed through the hall on his way to Ackroyd\u2019s study, his hands full of papers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cGood-evening, doctor. Coming to dine? Or is this a professional call?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The last was in allusion to my black bag, which I had laid down on the oak chest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I explained that I expected a summons to a confinement case at any moment, and so had come out prepared for an emergency call. Raymond nodded, and went on his way, calling over his shoulder:\u2014<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cGo into the drawing-room. You know the way. The ladies will be down in a minute. I must just take these papers to Mr. Ackroyd, and I\u2019ll tell him you\u2019re here.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n On Raymond\u2019s appearance Parker had withdrawn, so I was alone in the hall. I settled my tie, glanced in a large mirror which hung there, and crossed to the door32 directly facing me, which was, as I knew, the door of the drawing-room.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I noticed, just as I was turning the handle, a sound from within\u2014the shutting down of a window, I took it to be. I noted it, I may say, quite mechanically, without attaching any importance to it at the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I opened the door and walked in. As I did so, I almost collided with Miss Russell, who was just coming out. We both apologized.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For the first time I found myself appraising the housekeeper and thinking what a handsome woman she must once have been\u2014indeed, as far as that goes, still was. Her dark hair was unstreaked with gray, and when she had a color, as she had at this minute, the stern quality of her looks was not so apparent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Quite subconsciously I wondered whether she had been out, for she was breathing hard, as though she had been running.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019m afraid I\u2019m a few minutes early,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOh! I don\u2019t think so. It\u2019s gone half-past seven, Dr. Sheppard.\u201d She paused a minute before saying, \u201cI\u2014didn\u2019t know you were expected to dinner to-night. Mr. Ackroyd didn\u2019t mention it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I received a vague impression that my dining there displeased her in some way, but I couldn\u2019t imagine why.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHow\u2019s the knee?\u201d I inquired.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMuch the same, thank you, doctor. I must be going now. Mrs. Ackroyd will be down in a moment. I\u2014I only came in here to see if the flowers were all right.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n She passed quickly out of the room. I strolled to the33 window, wondering at her evident desire to justify her presence in the room. As I did so, I saw what, of course, I might have known all the time had I troubled to give my mind to it, namely, that the windows were long French ones opening on the terrace. The sound I had heard, therefore, could not have been that of a window being shut down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Quite idly, and more to distract my mind from painful thoughts than for any other reason, I amused myself by trying to guess what could have caused the sound in question.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Coals on the fire? No, that was not the kind of noise at all. A drawer of the bureau pushed in? No, not that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Then my eye was caught by what, I believe, is called a silver table, the lid of which lifts, and through the glass of which you can see the contents. I crossed over to it, studying the things. There were one or two pieces of old silver, a baby shoe belonging to King Charles the First, some Chinese jade figures, and quite a number of African implements and curios. Wanting to examine one of the jade figures more closely, I lifted the lid. It slipped through my fingers and fell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At once I recognized the sound I had heard. It was this same table lid being shut down gently and carefully. I repeated the action once or twice for my own satisfaction. Then I lifted the lid to scrutinize the contents more closely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I was still bending over the open silver table when Flora Ackroyd came into the room.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Quite a lot of people do not like Flora Ackroyd, but34 nobody can help admiring her. And to her friends she can be very charming. The first thing that strikes you about her is her extraordinary fairness. She has the real Scandinavian pale gold hair. Her eyes are blue\u2014blue as the waters of a Norwegian fiord, and her skin is cream and roses. She has square, boyish shoulders and slight hips. And to a jaded medical man it is very refreshing to come across such perfect health.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A simple straight-forward English girl\u2014I may be old-fashioned, but I think the genuine article takes a lot of beating.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Flora joined me by the silver table, and expressed heretical doubts as to King Charles I ever having worn the baby shoe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAnd anyway,\u201d continued Miss Flora, \u201call this making a fuss about things because some one wore or used them seems to me all nonsense. They\u2019re not wearing or using them now. The pen that George Eliot wrote The Mill on the Floss with\u2014that sort of thing\u2014well, it\u2019s only just a pen after all. If you\u2019re really keen on George Eliot, why not get The Mill on the Floss in a cheap edition and read it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI suppose you never read such old out-of-date stuff, Miss Flora?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou\u2019re wrong, Dr. Sheppard. I love The Mill on the Floss.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I was rather pleased to hear it. The things young women read nowadays and profess to enjoy positively frighten me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou haven\u2019t congratulated me yet, Dr. Sheppard,\u201d said Flora. \u201cHaven\u2019t you heard?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n 35<\/p>\n\n\n\n She held out her left hand. On the third finger of it was an exquisitely set single pearl.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019m going to marry Ralph, you know,\u201d she went on. \u201cUncle is very pleased. It keeps me in the family, you see.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I took both her hands in mine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMy dear,\u201d I said, \u201cI hope you\u2019ll be very happy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe\u2019ve been engaged for about a month,\u201d continued Flora in her cool voice, \u201cbut it was only announced yesterday. Uncle is going to do up Cross-stones, and give it to us to live in, and we\u2019re going to pretend to farm. Really, we shall hunt all the winter, town for the season, and then go yachting. I love the sea. And, of course, I shall take a great interest in the parish affairs, and attend all the Mothers\u2019 Meetings.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Just then Mrs. Ackroyd rustled in, full of apologies for being late.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I am sorry to say I detest Mrs. Ackroyd. She is all chains and teeth and bones. A most unpleasant woman. She has small pale flinty blue eyes, and however gushing her words may be, those eyes of hers always remain coldly speculative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I went across to her, leaving Flora by the window. She gave me a handful of assorted knuckles and rings to squeeze, and began talking volubly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Had I heard about Flora\u2019s engagement? So suitable in every way. The dear young things had fallen in love at first sight. Such a perfect pair, he so dark and she so fair.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI can\u2019t tell you, my dear Dr. Sheppard, the relief to a mother\u2019s heart.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n 36<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mrs. Ackroyd sighed\u2014a tribute to her mother\u2019s heart, whilst her eyes remained shrewdly observant of me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI was wondering. You are such an old friend of dear Roger\u2019s. We know how much he trusts to your judgment. So difficult for me\u2014in my position, as poor Cecil\u2019s widow. But there are so many tiresome things\u2014settlements, you know\u2014all that. I fully believe that Roger intends to make settlements upon dear Flora, but, as you know, he is just a leetle<\/em> peculiar about money. Very usual, I\u2019ve heard, amongst men who are captains of industry. I wondered, you know, if you could just sound<\/em> him on the subject? Flora is so fond of you. We feel you are quite an old friend, although we have only really known you just over two years.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mrs. Ackroyd\u2019s eloquence was cut short as the drawing-room door opened once more. I was pleased at the interruption. I hate interfering in other people\u2019s affairs, and I had not the least intention of tackling Ackroyd on the subject of Flora\u2019s settlements. In another moment I should have been forced to tell Mrs. Ackroyd as much.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou know Major Blunt, don\u2019t you, doctor?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYes, indeed,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A lot of people know Hector Blunt\u2014at least by repute. He has shot more wild animals in unlikely places than any man living, I suppose. When you mention him, people say: \u201cBlunt\u2014you don\u2019t mean the big game man, do you?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n His friendship with Ackroyd has always puzzled me a little. The two men are so totally dissimilar. Hector Blunt is perhaps five years Ackroyd\u2019s junior. They made37 friends early in life, and though their ways have diverged, the friendship still holds. About once in two years Blunt spends a fortnight at Fernly, and an immense animal\u2019s head, with an amazing number of horns which fixes you with a glazed stare as soon as you come inside the front door, is a permanent reminder of the friendship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Blunt had entered the room now with his own peculiar, deliberate, yet soft-footed tread. He is a man of medium height, sturdily and rather stockily built. His face is almost mahogany-colored, and is peculiarly expressionless. He has gray eyes that give the impression of always watching something that is happening very far away. He talks little, and what he does say is said jerkily, as though the words were forced out of him unwillingly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He said now: \u201cHow are you, Sheppard?\u201d in his usual abrupt fashion, and then stood squarely in front of the fireplace looking over our heads as though he saw something very interesting happening in Timbuctoo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMajor Blunt,\u201d said Flora, \u201cI wish you\u2019d tell me about these African things. I\u2019m sure you know what they all are.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I have heard Hector Blunt described as a woman hater, but I noticed that he joined Flora at the silver table with what might be described as alacrity. They bent over it together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I was afraid Mrs. Ackroyd would begin talking about settlements again, so I made a few hurried remarks about the new sweet pea. I knew there was a new sweet pea because the Daily Mail had told me so that morning.38 Mrs. Ackroyd knows nothing about horticulture, but she is the kind of woman who likes to appear well-informed about the topics of the day, and she, too, reads the Daily Mail. We were able to converse quite intelligently until Ackroyd and his secretary joined us, and immediately afterwards Parker announced dinner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n My place at table was between Mrs. Ackroyd and Flora. Blunt was on Mrs. Ackroyd\u2019s other side, and Geoffrey Raymond next to him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dinner was not a cheerful affair. Ackroyd was visibly preoccupied. He looked wretched, and ate next to nothing. Mrs. Ackroyd, Raymond, and I kept the conversation going. Flora seemed affected by her uncle\u2019s depression, and Blunt relapsed into his usual taciturnity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Immediately after dinner Ackroyd slipped his arm through mine and led me off to his study.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOnce we\u2019ve had coffee, we shan\u2019t be disturbed again,\u201d he explained. \u201cI told Raymond to see to it that we shouldn\u2019t be interrupted.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I studied him quietly without appearing to do so. He was clearly under the influence of some strong excitement. For a minute or two he paced up and down the room, then, as Parker entered with the coffee tray, he sank into an arm-chair in front of the fire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The study was a comfortable apartment. Book-shelves lined one wall of it. The chairs were big and covered in dark blue leather. A large desk stood by the window and was covered with papers neatly docketed and filed. On a round table were various magazines and sporting papers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 39<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019ve had a return of that pain after food lately,\u201d remarked Ackroyd casually, as he helped himself to coffee. \u201cYou must give me some more of those tablets of yours.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n It struck me that he was anxious to convey the impression that our conference was a medical one. I played up accordingly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI thought as much. I brought some up with me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cGood man. Hand them over now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThey\u2019re in my bag in the hall. I\u2019ll get them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ackroyd arrested me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cDon\u2019t you trouble. Parker will get them. Bring in the doctor\u2019s bag, will you, Parker?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cVery good, sir.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Parker withdrew. As I was about to speak, Ackroyd threw up his hand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNot yet. Wait. Don\u2019t you see I\u2019m in such a state of nerves that I can hardly contain myself?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I saw that plainly enough. And I was very uneasy. All sorts of forebodings assailed me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ackroyd spoke again almost immediately.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMake certain that window\u2019s closed, will you?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Somewhat surprised, I got up and went to it. It was not a French window, but one of the ordinary sash type. The heavy blue velvet curtains were drawn in front of it, but the window itself was open at the top.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Parker re\u00ebntered the room with my bag while I was still at the window.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThat\u2019s all right,\u201d I said, emerging again into the room.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 40<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou\u2019ve put the latch across?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYes, yes. What\u2019s the matter with you, Ackroyd?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The door had just closed behind Parker, or I would not have put the question.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ackroyd waited just a minute before replying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019m in hell,\u201d he said slowly, after a minute. \u201cNo, don\u2019t bother with those damned tablets. I only said that for Parker. Servants are so curious. Come here and sit down. The door\u2019s closed too, isn\u2019t it?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYes. Nobody can overhear; don\u2019t be uneasy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSheppard, nobody knows what I\u2019ve gone through in the last twenty-four hours. If a man\u2019s house ever fell in ruins about him, mine has about me. This business of Ralph\u2019s is the last straw. But we won\u2019t talk about that now. It\u2019s the other\u2014the other\u2014\u2014! I don\u2019t know what to do about it. And I\u2019ve got to make up my mind soon.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhat\u2019s the trouble?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ackroyd remained silent for a minute or two. He seemed curiously averse to begin. When he did speak, the question he asked came as a complete surprise. It was the last thing I expected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSheppard, you attended Ashley Ferrars in his last illness, didn\u2019t you?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYes, I did.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n He seemed to find even greater difficulty in framing his next question.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cDid you never suspect\u2014did it ever enter your head\u2014that\u2014well, that he might have been poisoned?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I was silent for a minute or two. Then I made up my mind what to say. Roger Ackroyd was not Caroline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 41<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019ll tell you the truth,\u201d I said. \u201cAt the time I had no suspicion whatever, but since\u2014well, it was mere idle talk on my sister\u2019s part that first put the idea into my head. Since then I haven\u2019t been able to get it out again. But, mind you, I\u2019ve no foundation whatever for that suspicion.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHe was<\/em> poisoned,\u201d said Ackroyd.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He spoke in a dull heavy voice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWho by?\u201d I asked sharply.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHis wife.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHow do you know that?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cShe told me so herself.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYesterday! My God! yesterday! It seems ten years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I waited a minute, and then he went on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou understand, Sheppard, I\u2019m telling you this in confidence. It\u2019s to go no further. I want your advice\u2014I can\u2019t carry the whole weight by myself. As I said just now, I don\u2019t know what to do.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cCan you tell me the whole story?\u201d I said. \u201cI\u2019m still in the dark. How did Mrs. Ferrars come to make this confession to you?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt\u2019s like this. Three months ago I asked Mrs. Ferrars to marry me. She refused. I asked her again and she consented, but she refused to allow me to make the engagement public until her year of mourning was up. Yesterday I called upon her, pointed out that a year and three weeks had now elapsed since her husband\u2019s death, and that there could be no further objection to making the42 engagement public property. I had noticed that she had been very strange in her manner for some days. Now, suddenly, without the least warning, she broke down completely. She\u2014she told me everything. Her hatred of her brute of a husband, her growing love for me, and the\u2014the dreadful means she had taken. Poison! My God! It was murder in cold blood.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I saw the repulsion, the horror, in Ackroyd\u2019s face. So Mrs. Ferrars must have seen it. Ackroyd is not the type of the great lover who can forgive all for love\u2019s sake. He is fundamentally a good citizen. All that was sound and wholesome and law-abiding in him must have turned from her utterly in that moment of revelation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYes,\u201d he went on, in a low, monotonous voice, \u201cshe confessed everything. It seems that there is one person who has known all along\u2014who has been blackmailing her for huge sums. It was the strain of that that drove her nearly mad.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWho was the man?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Suddenly before my eyes there arose the picture of Ralph Paton and Mrs. Ferrars side by side. Their heads so close together. I felt a momentary throb of anxiety. Supposing\u2014oh! but surely that was impossible. I remembered the frankness of Ralph\u2019s greeting that very afternoon. Absurd!<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cShe wouldn\u2019t tell me his name,\u201d said Ackroyd slowly. \u201cAs a matter of fact, she didn\u2019t actually say that it was a man. But of course\u2014\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOf course,\u201d I agreed. \u201cIt must have been a man. And you\u2019ve no suspicion at all?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n 43<\/p>\n\n\n\n For answer Ackroyd groaned and dropped his head into his hands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt can\u2019t be,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m mad even to think of such a thing. No, I won\u2019t even admit to you the wild suspicion that crossed my mind. I\u2019ll tell you this much, though. Something she said made me think that the person in question might be actually among my household\u2014but that can\u2019t be so. I must have misunderstood her.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhat did you say to her?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhat could I say? She saw, of course, the awful shock it had been to me. And then there was the question, what was my duty in the matter? She had made me, you see, an accessory after the fact. She saw all that, I think, quicker than I did. I was stunned, you know. She asked me for twenty-four hours\u2014made me promise to do nothing till the end of that time. And she steadfastly refused to give me the name of the scoundrel who had been blackmailing her. I suppose she was afraid that I might go straight off and hammer him, and then the fat would have been in the fire as far as she was concerned. She told me that I should hear from her before twenty-four hours had passed. My God! I swear to you, Sheppard, that it never entered my head what she meant to do. Suicide! And I drove her to it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNo, no,\u201d I said. \u201cDon\u2019t take an exaggerated view of things. The responsibility for her death doesn\u2019t lie at your door.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe question is, what am I to do now? The poor lady is dead. Why rake up past trouble?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI rather agree with you,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 44<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBut there\u2019s another point. How am I to get hold of that scoundrel who drove her to death as surely as if he\u2019d killed her. He knew of the first crime, and he fastened on to it like some obscene vulture. She\u2019s paid the penalty. Is he to go scot-free?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI see,\u201d I said slowly. \u201cYou want to hunt him down? It will mean a lot of publicity, you know.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYes, I\u2019ve thought of that. I\u2019ve zigzagged to and fro in my mind.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI agree with you that the villain ought to be punished, but the cost has got to be reckoned.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ackroyd rose and walked up and down. Presently he sank into the chair again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cLook here, Sheppard, suppose we leave it like this. If no word comes from her, we\u2019ll let the dead things lie.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhat do you mean by word coming from her?\u201d I asked curiously.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI have the strongest impression that somewhere or somehow she must have left a message for me\u2014before she went. I can\u2019t argue about it, but there it is.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I shook my head.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cShe left no letter or word of any kind. I asked.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSheppard, I\u2019m convinced that she did. And more, I\u2019ve a feeling that by deliberately choosing death, she wanted the whole thing to come out, if only to be revenged on the man who drove her to desperation. I believe that if I could have seen her then, she would have told me his name and bid me go for him for all I was worth.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n He looked at me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 45<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou don\u2019t believe in impressions?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOh, yes, I do, in a sense. If, as you put it, word should come from her\u2014\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I broke off. The door opened noiselessly and Parker entered with a salver on which were some letters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe evening post, sir,\u201d he said, handing the salver to Ackroyd.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Then he collected the coffee cups and withdrew.<\/p>\n\n\n\n My attention, diverted for a moment, came back to Ackroyd. He was staring like a man turned to stone at a long blue envelope. The other letters he had let drop to the ground.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHer writing<\/em>,\u201d he said in a whisper. \u201cShe must have gone out and posted it last night, just before\u2014before\u2014\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n He ripped open the envelope and drew out a thick enclosure. Then he looked up sharply.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou\u2019re sure you shut the window?\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cQuite sure,\u201d I said, surprised. \u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAll this evening I\u2019ve had a queer feeling of being watched, spied upon. What\u2019s that\u2014\u2014?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n He turned sharply. So did I. We both had the impression of hearing the latch of the door give ever so slightly. I went across to it and opened it. There was no one there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNerves,\u201d murmured Ackroyd to himself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He unfolded the thick sheets of paper, and read aloud in a low voice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 46<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMy dear, my very dear Roger,\u2014A life calls for a life. I see that\u2014I saw it in your face this afternoon. So I am taking the only road open to me. I leave to you the punishment of the person who has made my life a hell upon earth for the last year. I would not tell you the name this afternoon, but I propose to write it to you now. I have no children or near relations to be spared, so do not fear publicity. If you can, Roger, my very dear Roger, forgive me the wrong I meant to do you, since when the time came, I could not do it after all….<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n Ackroyd, his finger on the sheet to turn it over, paused.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSheppard, forgive me, but I must read this alone,\u201d he said unsteadily. \u201cIt was meant for my eyes, and my eyes only.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n He put the letter in the envelope and laid it on the table.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cLater, when I am alone.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNo,\u201d I cried impulsively, \u201cread it now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ackroyd stared at me in some surprise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI beg your pardon,\u201d I said, reddening. \u201cI do not mean read it aloud to me. But read it through whilst I am still here.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ackroyd shook his head.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNo, I\u2019d rather wait.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n But for some reason, obscure to myself, I continued to urge him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAt least, read the name of the man,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now Ackroyd is essentially pig-headed. The more you urge him to do a thing, the more determined he is not to do it. All my arguments were in vain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 47<\/p>\n\n\n\n The letter had been brought in at twenty minutes to nine. It was just on ten minutes to nine when I left him, the letter still unread. I hesitated with my hand on the door handle, looking back and wondering if there was anything I had left undone. I could think of nothing. With a shake of the head I passed out and closed the door behind me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I was startled by seeing the figure of Parker close at hand. He looked embarrassed, and it occurred to me that he might have been listening at the door.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What a fat, smug, oily face the man had, and surely there was something decidedly shifty in his eye.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMr. Ackroyd particularly does not want to be disturbed,\u201d I said coldly. \u201cHe told me to tell you so.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cQuite so, sir. I\u2014I fancied I heard the bell ring.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n This was such a palpable untruth that I did not trouble to reply. Preceding me to the hall, Parker helped me on with my overcoat, and I stepped out into the night. The moon was overcast and everything seemed very dark and still. The village church clock chimed nine o\u2019clock as I passed through the lodge gates. I turned to the left towards the village, and almost cannoned into a man coming in the opposite direction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis the way to Fernly Park, mister?\u201d asked the stranger in a hoarse voice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I looked at him. He was wearing a hat pulled down over his eyes, and his coat collar turned up. I could see little or nothing of his face, but he seemed a young fellow. The voice was rough and uneducated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThese are the lodge gates here,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 48<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThank you, mister.\u201d He paused, and then added, quite unnecessarily, \u201cI\u2019m a stranger in these parts, you see.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n He went on, passing through the gates as I turned to look after him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The odd thing was that his voice reminded me of some one\u2019s voice that I knew, but whose it was I could not think.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ten minutes later I was at home once more. Caroline was full of curiosity to know why I had returned so early. I had to make up a slightly fictitious account of the evening in order to satisfy her, and I had an uneasy feeling that she saw through the transparent device.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At ten o\u2019clock I rose, yawned, and suggested bed. Caroline acquiesced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It was Friday night, and on Friday night I wind the clocks. I did it as usual, whilst Caroline satisfied herself that the servants had locked up the kitchen properly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It was a quarter past ten as we went up the stairs. I had just reached the top when the telephone rang in the hall below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMrs. Bates,\u201d said Caroline immediately.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019m afraid so,\u201d I said ruefully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I ran down the stairs and took up the receiver.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhat?\u201d I said. \u201cWhat?<\/em> Certainly, I\u2019ll come at once.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I ran upstairs, caught up my bag, and stuffed a few extra dressings into it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cParker telephoning,\u201d I shouted to Caroline, \u201cfrom Fernly. They\u2019ve just found Roger Ackroyd murdered.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n 49<\/p>\n\n\n\n MURDER<\/p>\n\n\n\n I got out the car in next to no time, and drove rapidly to Fernly. Jumping out, I pulled the bell impatiently. There was some delay in answering, and I rang again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Then I heard the rattle of the chain and Parker, his impassivity of countenance quite unmoved, stood in the open doorway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I pushed past him into the hall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhere is he?\u201d I demanded sharply.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI beg your pardon, sir?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYour master. Mr. Ackroyd. Don\u2019t stand there staring at me, man. Have you notified the police?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe police, sir? Did you say the police?\u201d Parker stared at me as though I were a ghost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhat\u2019s the matter with you, Parker? If, as you say, your master has been murdered\u2014\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n A gasp broke from Parker.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe master? Murdered? Impossible, sir!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n It was my turn to stare.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cDidn\u2019t you telephone to me, not five minutes ago, and tell me that Mr. Ackroyd had been found murdered?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMe, sir? Oh! no indeed, sir. I wouldn\u2019t dream of doing such a thing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cDo you mean to say it\u2019s all a hoax? That there\u2019s nothing the matter with Mr. Ackroyd?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n 50<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cExcuse me, sir, did the person telephoning use my name?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019ll give you the exact words I heard. \u2018Is that Dr. Sheppard? Parker, the butler at Fernly, speaking. Will you please come at once, sir. Mr. Ackroyd has been murdered.<\/em>\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Parker and I stared at each other blankly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cA very wicked joke to play, sir,\u201d he said at last, in a shocked tone. \u201cFancy saying a thing like that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhere is Mr. Ackroyd?\u201d I asked suddenly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cStill in the study, I fancy, sir. The ladies have gone to bed, and Major Blunt and Mr. Raymond are in the billiard room.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI think I\u2019ll just look in and see him for a minute,\u201d I said. \u201cI know he didn\u2019t want to be disturbed again, but this odd practical joke has made me uneasy. I\u2019d just like to satisfy myself that he\u2019s all right.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cQuite so, sir. It makes me feel quite uneasy myself. If you don\u2019t object to my accompanying you as far as the door, sir\u2014\u2014?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNot at all,\u201d I said. \u201cCome along.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I passed through the door on the right, Parker on my heels, traversed the little lobby where a small flight of stairs led upstairs to Ackroyd\u2019s bedroom, and tapped on the study door.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There was no answer. I turned the handle, but the door was locked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAllow me, sir,\u201d said Parker.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Very nimbly, for a man of his build, he dropped on one knee and applied his eye to the keyhole.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 51<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cKey is in the lock all right, sir,\u201d he said, rising. \u201cOn the inside. Mr. Ackroyd must have locked himself in and possibly just dropped off to sleep.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I bent down and verified Parker\u2019s statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt seems all right,\u201d I said, \u201cbut, all the same, Parker, I\u2019m going to wake your master up. I shouldn\u2019t be satisfied to go home without hearing from his own lips that he\u2019s quite all right.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n So saying, I rattled the handle and called out, \u201cAckroyd, Ackroyd, just a minute.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n But still there was no answer. I glanced over my shoulder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI don\u2019t want to alarm the household,\u201d I said hesitatingly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Parker went across and shut the door from the big hall through which we had come.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI think that will be all right now, sir. The billiard room is at the other side of the house, and so are the kitchen quarters and the ladies\u2019 bedrooms.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I nodded comprehendingly. Then I banged once more frantically on the door, and stooping down, fairly bawled through the keyhole:\u2014<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAckroyd, Ackroyd! It\u2019s Sheppard. Let me in.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n And still\u2014silence. Not a sign of life from within the locked room. Parker and I glanced at each other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cLook here, Parker,\u201d I said, \u201cI\u2019m going to break this door in\u2014or rather, we are. I\u2019ll take the responsibility.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIf you say so, sir,\u201d said Parker, rather doubtfully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI do say so. I\u2019m seriously alarmed about Mr. Ackroyd.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n 52<\/p>\n\n\n\n I looked round the small lobby and picked up a heavy oak chair. Parker and I held it between us and advanced to the assault. Once, twice, and three times we hurled it against the lock. At the third blow it gave, and we staggered into the room.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ackroyd was sitting as I had left him in the arm-chair before the fire. His head had fallen sideways, and clearly visible, just below the collar of his coat, was a shining piece of twisted metalwork.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Parker and I advanced till we stood over the recumbent figure. I heard the butler draw in his breath with a sharp hiss.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cStabbed from be\u2019ind,\u201d he murmured. \u201c\u2019Orrible!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n He wiped his moist brow with his handkerchief, then stretched out a hand gingerly towards the hilt of the dagger.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou mustn\u2019t touch that,\u201d I said sharply. \u201cGo at once to the telephone and ring up the police station. Inform them of what has happened. Then tell Mr. Raymond and Major Blunt.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cVery good, sir.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Parker hurried away, still wiping his perspiring brow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I did what little had to be done. I was careful not to disturb the position of the body, and not to handle the dagger at all. No object was to be attained by moving it. Ackroyd had clearly been dead some little time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Then I heard young Raymond\u2019s voice, horror-stricken and incredulous, outside.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhat do you say? Oh! impossible! Where\u2019s the doctor?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n 53<\/p>\n\n\n\n He appeared impetuously in the doorway, then stopped dead, his face very white. A hand put him aside, and Hector Blunt came past him into the room.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMy God!\u201d said Raymond from behind him; \u201cit\u2019s true, then.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Blunt came straight on till he reached the chair. He bent over the body, and I thought that, like Parker, he was going to lay hold of the dagger hilt. I drew him back with one hand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNothing must be moved,\u201d I explained. \u201cThe police must see him exactly as he is now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Blunt nodded in instant comprehension. His face was expressionless as ever, but I thought I detected signs of emotion beneath the stolid mask. Geoffrey Raymond had joined us now, and stood peering over Blunt\u2019s shoulder at the body.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis is terrible,\u201d he said in a low voice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He had regained his composure, but as he took off the pince-nez he habitually wore and polished them I observed that his hand was shaking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cRobbery, I suppose,\u201d he said. \u201cHow did the fellow get in? Through the window? Has anything been taken?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n He went towards the desk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou think it\u2019s burglary?\u201d I said slowly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhat else could it be? There\u2019s no question of suicide, I suppose?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNo man could stab himself in such a way,\u201d I said confidently. \u201cIt\u2019s murder right enough. But with what motive?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n 54<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cRoger hadn\u2019t an enemy in the world,\u201d said Blunt quietly. \u201cMust have been burglars. But what was the thief after? Nothing seems to be disarranged?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n He looked round the room. Raymond was still sorting the papers on the desk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThere seems nothing missing, and none of the drawers show signs of having been tampered with,\u201d the secretary observed at last. \u201cIt\u2019s very mysterious.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Blunt made a slight motion with his head.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThere are some letters on the floor here,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I looked down. Three or four letters still lay where Ackroyd had dropped them earlier in the evening.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But the blue envelope containing Mrs. Ferrars\u2019s letter had disappeared. I half opened my mouth to speak, but at that moment the sound of a bell pealed through the house. There was a confused murmur of voices in the hall, and then Parker appeared with our local inspector and a police constable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cGood evening, gentlemen,\u201d said the inspector. \u201cI\u2019m terribly sorry for this! A good kind gentleman like Mr. Ackroyd. The butler says it is murder. No possibility of accident or suicide, doctor?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNone whatever,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAh! A bad business.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n He came and stood over the body.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBeen moved at all?\u201d he asked sharply.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBeyond making certain that life was extinct\u2014an easy matter\u2014I have not disturbed the body in any way.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAh! And everything points to the murderer having55 got clear away\u2014for the moment, that is. Now then, let me hear all about it. Who found the body?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I explained the circumstances carefully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cA telephone message, you say? From the butler?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cA message that I never sent,\u201d declared Parker earnestly. \u201cI\u2019ve not been near the telephone the whole evening. The others can bear me out that I haven\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cVery odd, that. Did it sound like Parker\u2019s voice, doctor?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWell\u2014I can\u2019t say I noticed. I took it for granted, you see.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNaturally. Well, you got up here, broke in the door, and found poor Mr. Ackroyd like this. How long should you say he had been dead, doctor?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHalf an hour at least\u2014perhaps longer,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe door was locked on the inside, you say? What about the window?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI myself closed and bolted it earlier in the evening at Mr. Ackroyd\u2019s request.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The inspector strode across to it and threw back the curtains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWell, it\u2019s open now anyway,\u201d he remarked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n True enough, the window was open, the lower sash being raised to its fullest extent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The inspector produced a pocket torch and flashed it along the sill outside.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis is the way he went all right,\u201d he remarked, \u201cand<\/em> got in. See here.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the light of the powerful torch, several clearly defined footmarks could be seen. They seemed to be those56 of shoes with rubber studs in the soles. One particularly clear one pointed inwards, another, slightly overlapping it, pointed outwards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cPlain as a pikestaff,\u201d said the inspector. \u201cAny valuables missing?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Geoffrey Raymond shook his head.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNot so that we can discover. Mr. Ackroyd never kept anything of particular value in this room.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cH\u2019m,\u201d said the inspector. \u201cMan found an open window. Climbed in, saw Mr. Ackroyd sitting there\u2014maybe he\u2019d fallen asleep. Man stabbed him from behind, then lost his nerve and made off. But he\u2019s left his tracks pretty clearly. We ought to get hold of him<\/em> without much difficulty. No suspicious strangers been hanging about anywhere?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOh!\u201d I said suddenly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhat is it, doctor?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI met a man this evening\u2014just as I was turning out of the gate. He asked me the way to Fernly Park.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhat time would that be?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cJust nine o\u2019clock. I heard it chime the hour as I was turning out of the gate.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cCan you describe him?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I did so to the best of my ability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The inspector turned to the butler.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAny one answering that description come to the front door?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNo, sir. No one has been to the house at all this evening.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhat about the back?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n 57<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI don\u2019t think so, sir, but I\u2019ll make inquiries.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n He moved towards the door, but the inspector held up a large hand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNo, thanks. I\u2019ll do my own inquiring. But first of all I want to fix the time a little more clearly. When was Mr. Ackroyd last seen alive?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cProbably by me,\u201d I said, \u201cwhen I left at\u2014let me see\u2014about ten minutes to nine. He told me that he didn\u2019t wish to be disturbed, and I repeated the order to Parker.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cJust so, sir,\u201d said Parker respectfully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMr. Ackroyd was certainly alive at half-past nine,\u201d put in Raymond, \u201cfor I heard his voice in here talking.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWho was he talking to?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThat I don\u2019t know. Of course, at the time I took it for granted that it was Dr. Sheppard who was with him. I wanted to ask him a question about some papers I was engaged upon, but when I heard the voices I remembered that he had said he wanted to talk to Dr. Sheppard without being disturbed, and I went away again. But now it seems that the doctor had already left?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I nodded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI was at home by a quarter-past nine,\u201d I said. \u201cI didn\u2019t go out again until I received the telephone call.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWho could have been with him at half-past nine?\u201d queried the inspector. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t you, Mr.\u2014er\u2014\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMajor Blunt,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMajor Hector Blunt?\u201d asked the inspector, a respectful tone creeping into his voice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Blunt merely jerked his head affirmatively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI think we\u2019ve seen you down here before, sir,\u201d said the58 inspector. \u201cI didn\u2019t recognize you for the moment, but you were staying with Mr. Ackroyd a year ago last May.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cJune,\u201d corrected Blunt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cJust so, June it was. Now, as I was saying, it wasn\u2019t you with Mr. Ackroyd at nine-thirty this evening?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Blunt shook his head.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNever saw him after dinner,\u201d he volunteered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The inspector turned once more to Raymond.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou didn\u2019t overhear any of the conversation going on, did you, sir?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI did catch just a fragment of it,\u201d said the secretary, \u201cand, supposing as I did that it was Dr. Sheppard who was with Mr. Ackroyd, that fragment struck me as distinctly odd. As far as I can remember, the exact words were these. Mr. Ackroyd was speaking. \u2018The calls on my purse have been so frequent of late\u2019\u2014that is what he was saying\u2014\u2018of late, that I fear it is impossible for me to accede to your request….\u2019 I went away again at once, of course, so did not hear any more. But I rather wondered because Dr. Sheppard\u2014\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201c\u2014\u2014Does not ask for loans for himself or subscriptions for others,\u201d I finished.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cA demand for money,\u201d said the inspector musingly. \u201cIt may be that here we have a very important clew.\u201d He turned to the butler. \u201cYou say, Parker, that nobody was admitted by the front door this evening?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThat\u2019s what I say, sir.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThen it seems almost certain that Mr. Ackroyd himself59 must have admitted this stranger. But I don\u2019t quite see\u2014\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The inspector went into a kind of day-dream for some minutes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOne thing\u2019s clear,\u201d he said at length, rousing himself from his absorption. \u201cMr. Ackroyd was alive and well at nine-thirty. That is the last moment at which he is known to have been alive.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Parker gave vent to an apologetic cough which brought the inspector\u2019s eyes on him at once.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWell?\u201d he said sharply.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIf you\u2019ll excuse me, sir, Miss Flora saw him after that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMiss Flora?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYes, sir. About a quarter to ten that would be. It was after that that she told me Mr. Ackroyd wasn\u2019t to be disturbed again to-night.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cDid he send her to you with that message?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNot exactly, sir. I was bringing a tray with soda and whisky when Miss Flora, who was just coming out of this room, stopped me and said her uncle didn\u2019t want to be disturbed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The inspector looked at the butler with rather closer attention than he had bestowed on him up to now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou\u2019d already been told that Mr. Ackroyd didn\u2019t want to be disturbed, hadn\u2019t you?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Parker began to stammer. His hands shook.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYes, sir. Yes, sir. Quite so, sir.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAnd yet you were proposing to do so?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019d forgotten, sir. At least I mean, I always bring60 the whisky and soda about that time, sir, and ask if there\u2019s anything more, and I thought\u2014well, I was doing as usual without thinking.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n It was at this moment that it began to dawn upon me that Parker was most suspiciously flustered. The man was shaking and twitching all over.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cH\u2019m,\u201d said the inspector. \u201cI must see Miss Ackroyd at once. For the moment we\u2019ll leave this room exactly as it is. I can return here after I\u2019ve heard what Miss Ackroyd has to tell me. I shall just take the precaution of shutting and bolting the window.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n This precaution accomplished, he led the way into the hall and we followed him. He paused a moment, as he glanced up at the little staircase, then spoke over his shoulder to the constable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cJones, you\u2019d better stay here. Don\u2019t let any one go into that room.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Parker interposed deferentially.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIf you\u2019ll excuse me, sir. If you were to lock the door into the main hall, nobody could gain access to this part. That staircase leads only to Mr. Ackroyd\u2019s bedroom and bathroom. There is no communication with the other part of the house. There once was a door through, but Mr. Ackroyd had it blocked up. He liked to feel that his suite was entirely private.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n To make things clear and explain the position, I have appended a rough sketch of the right-hand wing of the house. The small staircase leads, as Parker explained, to a big bedroom (made by two being knocked into one) and an adjoining bathroom and lavatory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 61<\/p>\n\n\n\n 62<\/p>\n\n\n\n The inspector took in the position at a glance. We went through into the large hall and he locked the door behind him, slipping the key into his pocket. Then he gave the constable some low-voiced instructions, and the latter prepared to depart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe must get busy on those shoe tracks,\u201d explained the inspector. \u201cBut first of all, I must have a word with Miss Ackroyd. She was the last person to see her uncle alive. Does she know yet?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Raymond shook his head.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWell, no need to tell her for another five minutes. She can answer my questions better without being upset by knowing the truth about her uncle. Tell her there\u2019s been a burglary, and ask her if she would mind dressing and coming down to answer a few questions.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n It was Raymond who went upstairs on this errand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMiss Ackroyd will be down in a minute,\u201d he said, when he returned. \u201cI told her just what you suggested.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n In less than five minutes Flora descended the staircase. She was wrapped in a pale pink silk kimono. She looked anxious and excited.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The inspector stepped forward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cGood-evening, Miss Ackroyd,\u201d he said civilly. \u201cWe\u2019re afraid there\u2019s been an attempt at robbery, and we want you to help us. What\u2019s this room\u2014the billiard room? Come in here and sit down.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Flora sat down composedly on the wide divan which ran the length of the wall, and looked up at the inspector.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI don\u2019t quite understand. What has been stolen? What do you want me to tell you?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n 63<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt\u2019s just this, Miss Ackroyd. Parker here says you came out of your uncle\u2019s study at about a quarter to ten. Is that right?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cQuite right. I had been to say good-night to him.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAnd the time is correct?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWell, it must have been about then. I can\u2019t say exactly. It might have been later.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWas your uncle alone, or was there any one with him?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHe was alone. Dr. Sheppard had gone.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cDid you happen to notice whether the window was open or shut?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Flora shook her head.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI can\u2019t say. The curtains were drawn.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cExactly. And your uncle seemed quite as usual?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI think so.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cDo you mind telling us exactly what passed between you?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Flora paused a minute, as though to collect her recollections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI went in and said, \u2018Good-night, uncle, I\u2019m going to bed now. I\u2019m tired to-night.\u2019 He gave a sort of grunt, and\u2014I went over and kissed him, and he said something about my looking nice in the frock I had on, and then he told me to run away as he was busy. So I went.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cDid he ask specially not to be disturbed?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOh! yes, I forgot. He said: \u2018Tell Parker I don\u2019t want anything more to-night, and that he\u2019s not to disturb me.\u2019 I met Parker just outside the door and gave him uncle\u2019s message.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n 64<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cJust so,\u201d said the inspector.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWon\u2019t you tell me what it is that has been stolen?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe\u2019re not quite\u2014certain,\u201d said the inspector hesitatingly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A wide look of alarm came into the girl\u2019s eyes. She started up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhat is it? You\u2019re hiding something from me?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Moving in his usual unobtrusive manner, Hector Blunt came between her and the inspector. She half stretched out her hand, and he took it in both of his, patting it as though she were a very small child, and she turned to him as though something in his stolid, rocklike demeanor promised comfort and safety.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt\u2019s bad news, Flora,\u201d he said quietly. \u201cBad news for all of us. Your Uncle Roger\u2014\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYes?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt will be a shock to you. Bound to be. Poor Roger\u2019s dead.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Flora drew away from him, her eyes dilating with horror.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhen?\u201d she whispered. \u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cVery soon after you left him, I\u2019m afraid,\u201d said Blunt gravely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Flora raised her hand to her throat, gave a little cry, and I hurried to catch her as she fell. She had fainted, and Blunt and I carried her upstairs and laid her on her bed. Then I got him to wake Mrs. Ackroyd and tell her the news. Flora soon revived, and I brought her mother to her, telling her what to do for the girl. Then I hurried downstairs again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 65<\/p>\n\n\n\n THE TUNISIAN DAGGER<\/p>\n\n\n\n I met the inspector just coming from the door which led into the kitchen quarters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHow\u2019s the young lady, doctor?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cComing round nicely. Her mother\u2019s with her.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThat\u2019s good. I\u2019ve been questioning the servants. They all declare that no one has been to the back door to-night. Your description of that stranger was rather vague. Can\u2019t you give us something more definite to go upon?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019m afraid not,\u201d I said regretfully. \u201cIt was a dark night, you see, and the fellow had his coat collar well pulled up and his hat squashed down over his eyes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cH\u2019m,\u201d said the inspector. \u201cLooked as though he wanted to conceal his face. Sure it was no one you know?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I replied in the negative, but not as decidedly as I might have done. I remembered my impression that the stranger\u2019s voice was not unfamiliar to me. I explained this rather haltingly to the inspector.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt was a rough, uneducated voice, you say?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I agreed, but it occurred to me that the roughness had been of an almost exaggerated quality. If, as the inspector thought, the man had wished to hide his face, he might equally well have tried to disguise his voice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 66<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cDo you mind coming into the study with me again, doctor? There are one or two things I want to ask you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I acquiesced. Inspector Davis unlocked the door of the lobby, we passed through, and he locked the door again behind him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe don\u2019t want to be disturbed,\u201d he said grimly. \u201cAnd we don\u2019t want any eavesdropping either. What\u2019s all this about blackmail?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBlackmail!\u201d I exclaimed, very much startled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIs it an effort of Parker\u2019s imagination? Or is there something in it?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIf Parker heard anything about blackmail,\u201d I said slowly, \u201che must have been listening outside this door with his ear glued against the keyhole.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Davis nodded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNothing more likely. You see, I\u2019ve been instituting a few inquiries as to what Parker has been doing with himself this evening. To tell the truth, I didn\u2019t like his manner. The man knows something. When I began to question him, he got the wind up, and plumped out some garbled story of blackmail.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I took an instant decision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019m rather glad you\u2019ve brought the matter up,\u201d I said. \u201cI\u2019ve been trying to decide whether to make a clean breast of things or not. I\u2019d already practically decided to tell you everything, but I was going to wait for a favorable opportunity. You might as well have it now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n And then and there I narrated the whole events of the evening as I have set them down here. The inspector listened keenly, occasionally interjecting a question.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 67<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMost extraordinary story I ever heard,\u201d he said, when I had finished. \u201cAnd you say that letter has completely disappeared? It looks bad\u2014it looks very bad indeed. It gives us what we\u2019ve been looking for\u2014a motive for the murder.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I nodded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI realize that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou say that Mr. Ackroyd hinted at a suspicion he had that some member of his household was involved? Household\u2019s rather an elastic term.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou don\u2019t think that Parker himself might be the man we\u2019re after?\u201d I suggested.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt looks very like it. He was obviously listening at the door when you came out. Then Miss Ackroyd came across him later bent on entering the study. Say he tried again when she was safely out of the way. He stabbed Ackroyd, locked the door on the inside, opened the window, and got out that way, and went round to a side door which he had previously left open. How\u2019s that?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThere\u2019s only one thing against it,\u201d I said slowly. \u201cIf Ackroyd went on reading that letter as soon as I left, as he intended to do, I don\u2019t see him continuing to sit on here and turn things over in his mind for another hour. He\u2019d have had Parker in at once, accused him then and there, and there would have been a fine old uproar. Remember, Ackroyd was a man of choleric temper.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMightn\u2019t have had time to go on with the letter just then,\u201d suggested the inspector. \u201cWe know some one was with him at half-past nine. If that visitor turned up as soon as you left, and after he went, Miss Ackroyd came in68 to say good-night\u2014well, he wouldn\u2019t be able to go on with the letter until close upon ten o\u2019clock.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAnd the telephone call?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cParker sent that all right\u2014perhaps before he thought of the locked door and open window. Then he changed his mind\u2014or got in a panic\u2014and decided to deny all knowledge of it. That was it, depend upon it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYe-es,\u201d I said rather doubtfully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAnyway, we can find out the truth about the telephone call from the exchange. If it was put through from here, I don\u2019t see how any one else but Parker could have sent it. Depend upon it, he\u2019s our man. But keep it dark\u2014we don\u2019t want to alarm him just yet, till we\u2019ve got all the evidence. I\u2019ll see to it he doesn\u2019t give us the slip. To all appearances we\u2019ll be concentrating on your mysterious stranger.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n He rose from where he had been sitting astride the chair belonging to the desk, and crossed over to the still form in the arm-chair.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe weapon ought to give us a clew,\u201d he remarked, looking up. \u201cIt\u2019s something quite unique\u2014a curio, I should think, by the look of it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n He bent down, surveying the handle attentively, and I heard him give a grunt of satisfaction. Then, very gingerly, he pressed his hands down below the hilt and drew the blade out from the wound. Still carrying it so as not to touch the handle, he placed it in a wide china mug which adorned the mantelpiece.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYes,\u201d he said, nodding at it. \u201cQuite a work of art. There can\u2019t be many of them about.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n 69<\/p>\n\n\n\n It was indeed a beautiful object. A narrow, tapering blade, and a hilt of elaborately intertwined metals of curious and careful workmanship. He touched the blade gingerly with his finger, testing its sharpness, and made an appreciative grimace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cLord, what an edge,\u201d he exclaimed. \u201cA child could drive that into a man\u2014as easy as cutting butter. A dangerous sort of toy to have about.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMay I examine the body properly now?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He nodded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cGo ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I made a thorough examination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWell?\u201d said the inspector, when I had finished.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019ll spare you the technical language,\u201d I said. \u201cWe\u2019ll keep that for the inquest. The blow was delivered by a right-handed man standing behind him, and death must have been instantaneous. By the expression on the dead man\u2019s face, I should say that the blow was quite unexpected. He probably died without knowing who his assailant was.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cButlers can creep about as soft-footed as cats,\u201d said Inspector Davis. \u201cThere\u2019s not going to be much mystery about this crime. Take a look at the hilt of that dagger.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I took the look.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI dare say they\u2019re not apparent to you, but I can see them clearly enough.\u201d He lowered his voice. \u201cFingerprints!<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n He stood off a few steps to judge of his effect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYes,\u201d I said mildly. \u201cI guessed that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I do not see why I should be supposed to be totally70 devoid of intelligence. After all, I read detective stories, and the newspapers, and am a man of quite average ability. If there had been toe marks on the dagger handle, now, that would have been quite a different thing. I would then have registered any amount of surprise and awe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I think the inspector was annoyed with me for declining to get thrilled. He picked up the china mug and invited me to accompany him to the billiard room.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI want to see if Mr. Raymond can tell us anything about this dagger,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Locking the outer door behind us again, we made our way to the billiard room, where we found Geoffrey Raymond. The inspector held up his exhibit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cEver seen this before, Mr. Raymond?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhy\u2014I believe\u2014I\u2019m almost sure that is a curio given to Mr. Ackroyd by Major Blunt. It comes from Morocco\u2014no, Tunis. So the crime was committed with that? What an extraordinary thing. It seems almost impossible, and yet there could hardly be two daggers the same. May I fetch Major Blunt?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Without waiting for an answer, he hurried off.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNice young fellow that,\u201d said the inspector. \u201cSomething honest and ingenuous about him.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I agreed. In the two years that Geoffrey Raymond has been secretary to Ackroyd, I have never seen him ruffled or out of temper. And he has been, I know, a most efficient secretary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In a minute or two Raymond returned, accompanied by Blunt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 71<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI was right,\u201d said Raymond excitedly. \u201cIt is<\/em> the Tunisian dagger.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMajor Blunt hasn\u2019t looked at it yet,\u201d objected the inspector.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSaw it the moment I came into the study,\u201d said the quiet man.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou recognized it then?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Blunt nodded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou said nothing about it,\u201d said the inspector suspiciously.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWrong moment,\u201d said Blunt. \u201cLot of harm done by blurting out things at the wrong time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n He returned the inspector\u2019s stare placidly enough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The latter grunted at last and turned away. He brought the dagger over to Blunt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou\u2019re quite sure about it, sir. You identify it positively?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAbsolutely. No doubt whatever.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhere was this\u2014er\u2014curio usually kept? Can you tell me that, sir?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n It was the secretary who answered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIn the silver table in the drawing-room.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhat?\u201d I exclaimed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The others looked at me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYes, doctor?\u201d said the inspector encouragingly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt\u2019s nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYes, doctor?\u201d said the inspector again, still more encouragingly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt\u2019s so trivial,\u201d I explained apologetically. \u201cOnly that when I arrived last night for dinner I heard the lid of the silver table being shut down in the drawing-room.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n 72<\/p>\n\n\n\n I saw profound skepticism and a trace of suspicion on the inspector\u2019s countenance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHow did you know it was the silver table lid?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I was forced to explain in detail\u2014a long, tedious explanation which I would infinitely rather not have had to make.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The inspector heard me to the end.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWas the dagger in its place when you were looking over the contents?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI don\u2019t know,\u201d I said. \u201cI can\u2019t say I remember noticing it\u2014but, of course, it may have been there all the time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe\u2019d better get hold of the housekeeper,\u201d remarked the inspector, and pulled the bell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A few minutes later Miss Russell, summoned by Parker, entered the room.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI don\u2019t think I went near the silver table,\u201d she said, when the inspector had posed his question. \u201cI was looking to see that all the flowers were fresh. Oh! yes, I remember now. The silver table was open\u2014which it had no business to be, and I shut the lid down as I passed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n She looked at him aggressively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI see,\u201d said the inspector. \u201cCan you tell me if this dagger was in its place then?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Miss Russell looked at the weapon composedly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI can\u2019t say, I\u2019m sure,\u201d she replied. \u201cI didn\u2019t stop to look. I knew the family would be down any minute, and I wanted to get away.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThank you,\u201d said the inspector.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There was just a trace of hesitation in his manner, as73 though he would have liked to question her further, but Miss Russell clearly accepted the words as a dismissal, and glided from the room.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cRather a Tartar, I should fancy, eh?\u201d said the inspector, looking after her. \u201cLet me see. This silver table is in front of one of the windows, I think you said, doctor?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Raymond answered for me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYes, the left-hand window.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAnd the window was open?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThey were both ajar.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWell, I don\u2019t think we need go into the question much further. Somebody\u2014I\u2019ll just say somebody\u2014could get that dagger any time he liked, and exactly when he got it doesn\u2019t matter in the least. I\u2019ll be coming up in the morning with the chief constable, Mr. Raymond. Until then, I\u2019ll keep the key of that door. I want Colonel Melrose to see everything exactly as it is. I happen to know that he\u2019s dining out the other side of the county, and, I believe, staying the night….\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n We watched the inspector take up the jar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI shall have to pack this carefully,\u201d he observed. \u201cIt\u2019s going to be an important piece of evidence in more ways than one.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n A few minutes later as I came out of the billiard room with Raymond, the latter gave a low chuckle of amusement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I felt the pressure of his hand on my arm, and followed the direction of his eyes. Inspector Davis seemed to be inviting Parker\u2019s opinion of a small pocket diary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 74<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cA little obvious,\u201d murmured my companion. \u201cSo Parker is the suspect, is he? Shall we oblige Inspector Davis with a set of our fingerprints also?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n He took two cards from the card tray, wiped them with his silk handkerchief, then handed one to me and took the other himself. Then, with a grin, he handed them to the police inspector.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSouvenirs,\u201d he said. \u201cNo. 1, Dr. Sheppard; No. 2, my humble self. One from Major Blunt will be forthcoming in the morning.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Youth is very buoyant. Even the brutal murder of his friend and employer could not dim Geoffrey Raymond\u2019s spirits for long. Perhaps that is as it should be. I do not know. I have lost the quality of resilience long since myself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It was very late when I got back, and I hoped that Caroline would have gone to bed. I might have known better.<\/p>\n\n\n\n She had hot cocoa waiting for me, and whilst I drank it, she extracted the whole history of the evening from me. I said nothing of the blackmailing business, but contented myself with giving her the facts of the murder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe police suspect Parker,\u201d I said, as I rose to my feet and prepared to ascend to bed. \u201cThere seems a fairly clear case against him.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cParker!\u201d said my sister. \u201cFiddlesticks! That inspector must be a perfect fool. Parker indeed! Don\u2019t tell me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n With which obscure pronouncement we went up to bed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 75<\/p>\n\n\n\n I LEARN MY NEIGHBOR\u2019S PROFESSION<\/p>\n\n\n\n On the following morning I hurried unforgivably over my round. My excuse can be that I had no very serious cases to attend. On my return Caroline came into the hall to greet me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cFlora Ackroyd is here,\u201d she announced in an excited whisper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I concealed my surprise as best I could.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cShe\u2019s very anxious to see you. She\u2019s been here half an hour.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Caroline led the way into our small sitting-room, and I followed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Flora was sitting on the sofa by the window. She was in black and she sat nervously twisting her hands together. I was shocked by the sight of her face. All the color had faded away from it. But when she spoke her manner was as composed and resolute as possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cDr. Sheppard, I have come to ask you to help me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOf course he\u2019ll help you, my dear,\u201d said Caroline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I don\u2019t think Flora really wished Caroline to be present at the interview. She would, I am sure, have infinitely preferred to speak to me privately. But she also wanted to waste no time, so she made the best of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 76<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI want you to come to The Larches with me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe Larches?\u201d I queried, surprised.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cTo see that funny little man?\u201d exclaimed Caroline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYes. You know who he is, don\u2019t you?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe fancied,\u201d I said, \u201cthat he might be a retired hairdresser.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Flora\u2019s blue eyes opened very wide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhy, he\u2019s Hercule Poirot! You know who I mean\u2014the private detective. They say he\u2019s done the most wonderful things\u2014just like detectives do in books. A year ago he retired and came to live down here. Uncle knew who he was, but he promised not to tell any one, because M. Poirot wanted to live quietly without being bothered by people.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSo that\u2019s who he is,\u201d I said slowly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou\u2019ve heard of him, of course?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019m rather an old fogey, as Caroline tells me,\u201d I said, \u201cbut I have<\/em> just heard of him.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cExtraordinary!\u201d commented Caroline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I don\u2019t know what she was referring to\u2014possibly her own failure to discover the truth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou want to go and see him?\u201d I asked slowly. \u201cNow why?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cTo get him to investigate this murder, of course,\u201d said Caroline sharply. \u201cDon\u2019t be so stupid, James.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I was not really being stupid. Caroline does not always understand what I am driving at.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou haven\u2019t got confidence in Inspector Davis?\u201d I went on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 77<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOf course she hasn\u2019t,\u201d said Caroline. \u201cI haven\u2019t either.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Any one would have thought it was Caroline\u2019s uncle who had been murdered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAnd how do you know he would take up the case?\u201d I asked. \u201cRemember he has retired from active work.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThat\u2019s just it,\u201d said Flora simply. \u201cI\u2019ve got to persuade him.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou are sure you are doing wisely?\u201d I asked gravely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOf course she is,\u201d said Caroline. \u201cI\u2019ll go with her myself if she likes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019d rather the doctor came with me if you don\u2019t mind, Miss Sheppard,\u201d said Flora.<\/p>\n\n\n\n She knows the value of being direct on certain occasions. Any hints would certainly have been wasted on Caroline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou see,\u201d she explained, following directness with tact, \u201cDr. Sheppard being the doctor, and having found the body, he would be able to give all the details to M. Poirot.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYes,\u201d said Caroline grudgingly, \u201cI see that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I took a turn or two up and down the room.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cFlora,\u201d I said gravely, \u201cbe guided by me. I advise you not to drag this detective into the case.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Flora sprang to her feet. The color rushed into her cheeks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI know why you say that,\u201d she cried. \u201cBut it\u2019s exactly for that reason I\u2019m so anxious to go. You\u2019re afraid! But I\u2019m not. I know Ralph better than you do.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n 78<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cRalph,\u201d said Caroline. \u201cWhat has Ralph got to do with it?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Neither of us heeded her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cRalph may be weak,\u201d continued Flora. \u201cHe may have done foolish things in the past\u2014wicked things even\u2014but he wouldn\u2019t murder any one.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNo, no,\u201d I exclaimed. \u201cI never thought it of him.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThen why did you go to the Three Boars last night?\u201d demanded Flora, \u201con your way home\u2014after uncle\u2019s body was found?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I was momentarily silenced. I had hoped that that visit of mine would remain unnoticed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHow did you know about that?\u201d I countered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI went there this morning,\u201d said Flora. \u201cI heard from the servants that Ralph was staying there\u2014\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I interrupted her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou had no idea that he was in King\u2019s Abbot?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNo. I was astounded. I couldn\u2019t understand it. I went there and asked for him. They told me, what I suppose they told you last night, that he went out at about nine o\u2019clock yesterday evening\u2014and\u2014and never came back.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Her eyes met mine defiantly, and as though answering something in my look, she burst out:\u2014<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWell, why shouldn\u2019t he? He might have gone\u2014anywhere. He may even have gone back to London.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cLeaving his luggage behind?\u201d I asked gently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Flora stamped her foot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI don\u2019t care. There must be a simple explanation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAnd that\u2019s why you want to go to Hercule Poirot?79 Isn\u2019t it better to leave things as they are? The police don\u2019t suspect Ralph in the least, remember. They\u2019re working on quite another tack.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBut that\u2019s just it<\/em>,\u201d cried the girl. \u201cThey do<\/em> suspect him. A man from Cranchester turned up this morning\u2014Inspector Raglan, a horrid, weaselly little man. I found he had been to the Three Boars this morning before me. They told me all about his having been there, and the questions he had asked. He must think Ralph did it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThat\u2019s a change of mind from last night, if so,\u201d I said slowly. \u201cHe doesn\u2019t believe in Davis\u2019s theory that it was Parker then?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cParker indeed,\u201d said my sister, and snorted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Flora came forward and laid her hand on my arm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOh! Dr. Sheppard, let us go at once to this M. Poirot. He will find out the truth.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMy dear Flora,\u201d I said gently, laying my hand on hers. \u201cAre you quite sure it is the truth we want?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n She looked at me, nodding her head gravely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou\u2019re not sure,\u201d she said. \u201cI am. I know Ralph better than you do.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOf course he didn\u2019t do it,\u201d said Caroline, who had been keeping silent with great difficulty. \u201cRalph may be extravagant, but he\u2019s a dear boy, and has the nicest manners.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I wanted to tell Caroline that large numbers of murderers have had nice manners, but the presence of Flora restrained me. Since the girl was determined, I was forced to give in to her and we started at once, getting away before my sister was able to fire off any more pronouncements80 beginning with her favorite words, \u201cOf course.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n An old woman with an immense Breton cap opened the door of The Larches to us. M. Poirot was at home, it seemed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We were ushered into a little sitting-room arranged with formal precision, and there, after the lapse of a minute or so, my friend of yesterday came to us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMonsieur le docteur,\u201d he said, smiling. \u201cMademoiselle.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n He bowed to Flora.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cPerhaps,\u201d I began, \u201cyou have heard of the tragedy which occurred last night.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n His face grew grave.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBut certainly I have heard. It is horrible. I offer mademoiselle all my sympathy. In what way can I serve you?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMiss Ackroyd,\u201d I said, \u201cwants you to\u2014to\u2014\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cTo find the murderer,\u201d said Flora in a clear voice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI see,\u201d said the little man. \u201cBut the police will do that, will they not?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThey might make a mistake,\u201d said Flora. \u201cThey are on their way to make a mistake now, I think. Please, M. Poirot, won\u2019t you help us? If\u2014if it is a question of money\u2014\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Poirot held up his hand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNot that, I beg of you, mademoiselle. Not that I do not care for money.\u201d His eyes showed a momentary twinkle. \u201cMoney, it means much to me and always has done. No, if I go into this, you must understand one81 thing clearly. I shall go through with it to the end.<\/em> The good dog, he does not leave the scent, remember! You may wish that, after all, you had left it to the local police.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI want the truth,\u201d said Flora, looking him straight in the eyes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAll the truth?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAll the truth.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThen I accept,\u201d said the little man quietly. \u201cAnd I hope you will not regret those words. Now, tell me all the circumstances.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cDr. Sheppard had better tell you,\u201d said Flora. \u201cHe knows more than I do.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Thus enjoined, I plunged into a careful narrative, embodying all the facts I have previously set down. Poirot listened carefully, inserting a question here and there, but for the most part sitting in silence, his eyes on the ceiling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I brought my story to a close with the departure of the inspector and myself from Fernly Park the previous night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAnd now,\u201d said Flora, as I finished, \u201ctell him all about Ralph.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I hesitated, but her imperious glance drove me on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou went to this inn\u2014this Three Boars\u2014last night on your way home?\u201d asked Poirot, as I brought my tale to a close. \u201cNow exactly why was that?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I paused a moment to choose my words carefully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI thought some one ought to inform the young man of his uncle\u2019s death. It occurred to me after I had left82 Fernly that possibly no one but myself and Mr. Ackroyd were aware that he was staying in the village.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Poirot nodded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cQuite so. That was your only motive in going there, eh?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThat was my only motive,\u201d I said stiffly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt was not to\u2014shall we say\u2014reassure yourself about ce jeune homme<\/em>?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cReassure myself?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI think, M. le docteur, that you know very well what I mean, though you pretend not to do so. I suggest that it would have been a relief to you if you had found that Captain Paton had been at home all the evening.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNot at all,\u201d I said sharply.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The little detective shook his head at me gravely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou have not the trust in me of Miss Flora,\u201d he said. \u201cBut no matter. What we have to look at is this\u2014Captain Paton is missing, under circumstances which call for an explanation. I will not hide from you that the matter looks grave. Still, it may admit of a perfectly simple explanation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThat\u2019s just what I keep saying,\u201d cried Flora eagerly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Poirot touched no more upon that theme. Instead he suggested an immediate visit to the local police. He thought it better for Flora to return home, and for me to be the one to accompany him there and introduce him to the officer in charge of the case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We carried out this plan forthwith. We found Inspector Davis outside the police station looking very glum indeed. With him was Colonel Melrose, the Chief Constable,83 and another man whom, from Flora\u2019s description of \u201cweaselly,\u201d I had no difficulty in recognizing as Inspector Raglan from Cranchester.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I know Melrose fairly well, and I introduced Poirot to him and explained the situation. The chief constable was clearly vexed, and Inspector Raglan looked as black as thunder. Davis, however, seemed slightly exhilarated by the sight of his superior officer\u2019s annoyance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe case is going to be plain as a pikestaff,\u201d said Raglan. \u201cNot the least need for amateurs to come butting in. You\u2019d think any fool would have seen the way things were last night, and then we shouldn\u2019t have lost twelve hours.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n He directed a vengeful glance at poor Davis, who received it with perfect stolidity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMr. Ackroyd\u2019s family must, of course, do what they see fit,\u201d said Colonel Melrose. \u201cBut we cannot have the official investigation hampered in any way. I know M. Poirot\u2019s great reputation, of course,\u201d he added courteously.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe police can\u2019t advertise themselves, worse luck,\u201d said Raglan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It was Poirot who saved the situation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt is true that I have retired from the world,\u201d he said. \u201cI never intended to take up a case again. Above all things, I have a horror of publicity. I must beg, that in the case of my being able to contribute something to the solution of the mystery, my name may not be mentioned.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Inspector Raglan\u2019s face lightened a little.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 84<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019ve heard of some very remarkable successes of yours,\u201d observed the colonel, thawing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI have had much experience,\u201d said Poirot quietly. \u201cBut most of my successes have been obtained by the aid of the police. I admire enormously your English police. If Inspector Raglan permits me to assist him, I shall be both honored and flattered.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The inspector\u2019s countenance became still more gracious.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Colonel Melrose drew me aside.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cFrom all I hear, this little fellow\u2019s done some really remarkable things,\u201d he murmured. \u201cWe\u2019re naturally anxious not to have to call in Scotland Yard. Raglan seems very sure of himself, but I\u2019m not quite certain that I agree with him. You see, I\u2014er\u2014know the parties concerned better than he does. This fellow doesn\u2019t seem out after kudos, does he? Would work in with us unobtrusively, eh?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cTo the greater glory of Inspector Raglan,\u201d I said solemnly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWell, well,\u201d said Colonel Melrose breezily in a louder voice, \u201cwe must put you wise to the latest developments, M. Poirot.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI thank you,\u201d said Poirot. \u201cMy friend, Dr. Sheppard, said something of the butler being suspected?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThat\u2019s all bunkum,\u201d said Raglan instantly. \u201cThese high-class servants get in such a funk that they act suspiciously for nothing at all.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe fingerprints?\u201d I hinted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNothing like Parker\u2019s.\u201d He gave a faint smile, and85 added: \u201cAnd yours and Mr. Raymond\u2019s don\u2019t fit either, doctor.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhat about those of Captain Ralph Paton?\u201d asked Poirot quietly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I felt a secret admiration for the way he took the bull by the horns. I saw a look of respect creep into the inspector\u2019s eye.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI see you don\u2019t let the grass grow under your feet, Mr. Poirot. It will be a pleasure to work with you, I\u2019m sure. We\u2019re going to take that young gentleman\u2019s fingerprints as soon as we can lay hands upon him.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI can\u2019t help thinking you\u2019re mistaken, inspector,\u201d said Colonel Melrose warmly. \u201cI\u2019ve known Ralph Paton from a boy upward. He\u2019d never stoop to murder.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMaybe not,\u201d said the inspector tonelessly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhat have you got against him?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWent out just on nine o\u2019clock last night. Was seen in neighborhood of Fernly Park somewhere about nine-thirty. Not been seen since. Believed to be in serious money difficulties. I\u2019ve got a pair of his shoes here\u2014shoes with rubber studs in them. He had two pairs, almost exactly alike. I\u2019m going up now to compare them with those footmarks. The constable is up there seeing that no one tampers with them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe\u2019ll go at once,\u201d said Colonel Melrose. \u201cYou and M. Poirot will accompany us, will you not?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n We assented, and all drove up in the colonel\u2019s car. The inspector was anxious to get at once to the footmarks, and asked to be put down at the lodge. About half-way up the drive, on the right, a path branched off86 which led round to the terrace and the window of Ackroyd\u2019s study.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWould you like to go with the inspector, M. Poirot?\u201d asked the chief constable, \u201cor would you prefer to examine the study?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Poirot chose the latter alternative. Parker opened the door to us. His manner was smug and deferential, and he seemed to have recovered from his panic of the night before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Colonel Melrose took a key from his pocket, and unlocking the door which led into the lobby, he ushered us through into the study.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cExcept for the removal of the body, M. Poirot, this room is exactly as it was last night.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAnd the body was found\u2014where?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n As precisely as possible, I described Ackroyd\u2019s position. The arm-chair still stood in front of the fire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Poirot went and sat down in it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe blue letter you speak of, where was it when you left the room?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMr. Ackroyd had laid it down on this little table at his right hand.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Poirot nodded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cExcept for that, everything was in its place?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYes, I think so.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cColonel Melrose, would you be so extremely obliging as to sit down in this chair a minute. I thank you. Now, M. le docteur, will you kindly indicate to me the exact position of the dagger?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I did so, whilst the little man stood in the doorway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 87<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe hilt of the dagger was plainly visible from the door then. Both you and Parker could see it at once?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Poirot went next to the window.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe electric light was on, of course, when you discovered the body?\u201d he asked over his shoulder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I assented, and joined him where he was studying the marks on the window-sill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe rubber studs are the same pattern as those in Captain Paton\u2019s shoes,\u201d he said quietly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Then he came back once more to the middle of the room. His eye traveled round, searching everything in the room with a quick, trained glance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAre you a man of good observation, Dr. Sheppard?\u201d he asked at last.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI think so,\u201d I said, surprised.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThere was a fire in the grate, I see. When you broke the door down and found Mr. Ackroyd dead, how was the fire? Was it low?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I gave a vexed laugh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2014I really can\u2019t say. I didn\u2019t notice. Perhaps Mr. Raymond or Major Blunt\u2014\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The little man opposite me shook his head with a faint smile.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOne must always proceed with method. I made an error of judgment in asking you that question. To each man his own knowledge. You could tell me the details of the patient\u2019s appearance\u2014nothing there would escape you. If I wanted information about the papers on that desk, Mr. Raymond would have noticed anything88 there was to see. To find out about the fire, I must ask the man whose business it is to observe such things. You permit\u2014\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n He moved swiftly to the fireplace and rang the bell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After a lapse of a minute or two Parker appeared.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe bell rang, sir,\u201d he said hesitatingly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cCome in, Parker,\u201d said Colonel Melrose. \u201cThis gentleman wants to ask you something.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Parker transferred a respectful attention to Poirot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cParker,\u201d said the little man, \u201cwhen you broke down the door with Dr. Sheppard last night, and found your master dead, what was the state of the fire?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Parker replied without a pause.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt had burned very low, sir. It was almost out.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAh!\u201d said Poirot. The exclamation sounded almost triumphant. He went on:\u2014<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cLook round you, my good Parker. Is this room exactly as it was then?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The butler\u2019s eye swept round. It came to rest on the windows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe curtains were drawn, sir, and the electric light was on.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Poirot nodded approval.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAnything else?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYes, sir, this chair was drawn out a little more.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n He indicated a big grandfather chair to the left of the door between it and the window. I append a plan of the room with the chair in question marked with an X.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cJust show me,\u201d said Poirot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 89<\/p>\n\n\n\n The butler drew the chair in question out a good two feet from the wall, turning it so that the seat faced the door.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cVoil\u00e0 ce qui est curieux<\/em>,\u201d murmured Poirot. \u201cNo one would want to sit in a chair in such a position, I fancy. Now who pushed it back into place again, I wonder? Did you, my friend?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNo, sir,\u201d said Parker. \u201cI was too upset with seeing the master and all.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Poirot looked across at me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cDid you, doctor?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I shook my head.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt was back in position when I arrived with the police, sir,\u201d put in Parker. \u201cI\u2019m sure of that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cCurious,\u201d said Poirot again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 90<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cRaymond or Blunt must have pushed it back,\u201d I suggested. \u201cSurely it isn\u2019t important?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt is completely unimportant,\u201d said Poirot. \u201cThat is why it is so interesting,\u201d he added softly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cExcuse me a minute,\u201d said Colonel Melrose. He left the room with Parker.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cDo you think Parker is speaking the truth?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAbout the chair, yes. Otherwise I do not know. You will find, M. le docteur, if you have much to do with cases of this kind, that they all resemble each other in one thing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhat is that?\u201d I asked curiously.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cEvery one concerned in them has something to hide.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHave I?\u201d I asked, smiling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Poirot looked at me attentively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI think you have,\u201d he said quietly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBut\u2014\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHave you told me everything known to you about this young man Paton?\u201d He smiled as I grew red. \u201cOh! do not fear. I will not press you. I shall learn it in good time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI wish you\u2019d tell me something of your methods,\u201d I said hastily, to cover my confusion. \u201cThe point about the fire, for instance?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOh! that was very simple. You leave Mr. Ackroyd at\u2014ten minutes to nine, was it not?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYes, exactly, I should say.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe window is then closed and bolted and the door unlocked. At a quarter past ten when the body is discovered, the door is locked and the window is open.91 Who opened it? Clearly only Mr. Ackroyd himself could have done so, and for one of two reasons. Either because the room became unbearably hot (but since the fire was nearly out and there was a sharp drop in temperature last night, that cannot be the reason), or because he admitted some one that way. And if he admitted some one that way, it must have been some one well known to him, since he had previously shown himself uneasy on the subject of that same window.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt sounds very simple,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cEverything is simple, if you arrange the facts methodically. We are concerned now with the personality of the person who was with him at nine-thirty last night. Everything goes to show that that was the individual admitted by the window, and though Mr. Ackroyd was seen alive later by Miss Flora, we cannot approach a solution of the mystery until we know who that visitor was. The window may have been left open after his departure and so afforded entrance to the murderer, or the same person may have returned a second time. Ah! here is the colonel who returns.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Colonel Melrose entered with an animated manner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThat telephone call has been traced at last,\u201d he said. \u201cIt did not come from here. It was put through to Dr. Sheppard at 10.15 last night from a public call office at King\u2019s Abbot station. And at 10.23 the night mail leaves for Liverpool.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n 92<\/p>\n\n\n\n INSPECTOR RAGLAN IS CONFIDENT<\/p>\n\n\n\n We looked at each other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou\u2019ll have inquiries made at the station, of course?\u201d I said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNaturally, but I\u2019m not over sanguine as to the result. You know what that station is like.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I did. King\u2019s Abbot is a mere village, but its station happens to be an important junction. Most of the big expresses stop there, and trains are shunted, re-sorted, and made up. It has two or three public telephone boxes. At that time of night three local trains come in close upon each other, to catch the connection with the express for the north which comes in at 10.19 and leaves at 10.23. The whole place is in a bustle, and the chances of one particular person being noticed telephoning or getting into the express are very small indeed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBut why telephone at all?\u201d demanded Melrose. \u201cThat is what I find so extraordinary. There seems no rhyme or reason in the thing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Poirot carefully straightened a china ornament on one of the bookcases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBe sure there was a reason,\u201d he said over his shoulder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBut what reason could it be?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhen we know that, we shall know everything. This case is very curious and very interesting.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n 93<\/p>\n\n\n\n There was something almost indescribable in the way he said those last words. I felt that he was looking at the case from some peculiar angle of his own, and what he saw I could not tell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He went to the window and stood there, looking out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou say it was nine o\u2019clock, Dr. Sheppard, when you met this stranger outside the gate?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n He asked the question without turning round.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYes,\u201d I replied. \u201cI heard the church clock chime the hour.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHow long would it take him to reach the house\u2014to reach this window, for instance?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cFive minutes at the outside. Two or three minutes only if he took the path at the right of the drive and came straight here.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBut to do that he would have to know the way. How can I explain myself?\u2014it would mean that he had been here before\u2014that he knew his surroundings.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThat is true,\u201d replied Colonel Melrose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe could find out, doubtless, if Mr. Ackroyd had received any strangers during the past week?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYoung Raymond could tell us that,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOr Parker,\u201d suggested Colonel Melrose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOu tous les deux<\/em>,\u201d suggested Poirot, smiling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Colonel Melrose went in search of Raymond, and I rang the bell once more for Parker.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Colonel Melrose returned almost immediately, accompanied by the young secretary, whom he introduced to Poirot. Geoffrey Raymond was fresh and debonair as94 ever. He seemed surprised and delighted to make Poirot\u2019s acquaintance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNo idea you\u2019d been living among us incognito, M. Poirot,\u201d he said. \u201cIt will be a great privilege to watch you at work\u2014\u2014Hallo, what\u2019s this?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Poirot had been standing just to the left of the door. Now he moved aside suddenly, and I saw that while my back was turned he must have swiftly drawn out the arm-chair till it stood in the position Parker had indicated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWant me to sit in the chair whilst you take a blood test?\u201d asked Raymond good-humoredly. \u201cWhat\u2019s the idea?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cM. Raymond, this chair was pulled out\u2014so\u2014last night when Mr. Ackroyd was found killed. Some one moved it back again into place. Did you do so?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The secretary\u2019s reply came without a second\u2019s hesitation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNo, indeed I didn\u2019t. I don\u2019t even remember that it was in that position, but it must have been if you say so. Anyway, somebody else must have moved it back to its proper place. Have they destroyed a clew in doing so? Too bad!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt is of no consequence,\u201d said the detective. \u201cOf no consequence whatever. What I really want to ask you is this, M. Raymond: Did any stranger come to see Mr. Ackroyd during this past week?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The secretary reflected for a minute or two, knitting his brows, and during the pause Parker appeared in answer to the bell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 95<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNo,\u201d said Raymond at last. \u201cI can\u2019t remember any one. Can you, Parker?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI beg your pardon, sir?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAny stranger coming to see Mr. Ackroyd this week?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The butler reflected for a minute or two.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThere was the young man who came on Wednesday, sir,\u201d he said at last. \u201cFrom Curtis and Troute, I understood he was.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Raymond moved this aside with an impatient hand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOh! yes, I remember, but that is not the kind of stranger this gentleman means.\u201d He turned to Poirot. \u201cMr. Ackroyd had some idea of purchasing a dictaphone,\u201d he explained. \u201cIt would have enabled us to get through a lot more work in a limited time. The firm in question sent down their representative, but nothing came of it. Mr. Ackroyd did not make up his mind to purchase.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Poirot turned to the butler.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cCan you describe this young man to me, my good Parker?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHe was fair-haired, sir, and short. Very neatly dressed in a blue serge suit. A very presentable young man, sir, for his station in life.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Poirot turned to me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe man you met outside the gate, doctor, was tall, was he not?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYes,\u201d I said. \u201cSomewhere about six feet, I should say.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThere is nothing in that, then,\u201d declared the Belgian. \u201cI thank you, Parker.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n 96<\/p>\n\n\n\n The butler spoke to Raymond.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMr. Hammond has just arrived, sir,\u201d he said. \u201cHe is anxious to know if he can be of any service, and he would be glad to have a word with you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019ll come at once,\u201d said the young man. He hurried out. Poirot looked inquiringly at the chief constable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe family solicitor, M. Poirot,\u201d said the latter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt is a busy time for this young M. Raymond,\u201d murmured M. Poirot. \u201cHe has the air efficient, that one.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI believe Mr. Ackroyd considered him a most able secretary.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHe has been here\u2014how long?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cJust on two years, I fancy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHis duties he fulfills punctiliously. Of that I am sure. In what manner does he amuse himself? Does he go in for le sport<\/em>?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cPrivate secretaries haven\u2019t much time for that sort of thing,\u201d said Colonel Melrose, smiling. \u201cRaymond plays golf, I believe. And tennis in the summer time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHe does not attend the courses\u2014I should say the running of the horses?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cRace meetings? No, I don\u2019t think he\u2019s interested in racing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Poirot nodded and seemed to lose interest. He glanced slowly round the study.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI have seen, I think, all that there is to be seen here.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I, too, looked round.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIf those walls could speak,\u201d I murmured.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Poirot shook his head.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cA tongue is not enough,\u201d he said. \u201cThey would have97 to have also eyes and ears. But do not be too sure that these dead things\u201d\u2014he touched the top of the bookcase as he spoke\u2014\u201care always dumb. To me they speak sometimes\u2014chairs, tables\u2014they have their message!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n He turned away towards the door.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhat message?\u201d I cried. \u201cWhat have they said to you to-day?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n He looked over his shoulder and raised one eyebrow quizzically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAn opened window,\u201d he said. \u201cA locked door. A chair that apparently moved itself. To all three I say, \u2018Why?\u2019 and I find no answer.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n He shook his head, puffed out his chest, and stood blinking at us. He looked ridiculously full of his own importance. It crossed my mind to wonder whether he was really any good as a detective. Had his big reputation been built up on a series of lucky chances?<\/p>\n\n\n\n I think the same thought must have occurred to Colonel Melrose, for he frowned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAnything more you want to see, M. Poirot?\u201d he inquired brusquely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou would perhaps be so kind as to show me the silver table from which the weapon was taken? After that, I will trespass on your kindness no longer.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n We went to the drawing-room, but on the way the constable waylaid the colonel, and after a muttered conversation the latter excused himself and left us together. I showed Poirot the silver table, and after raising the lid once or twice and letting it fall, he pushed open the window and stepped out on the terrace. I followed him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 98<\/p>\n\n\n\n Inspector Raglan had just turned the corner of the house, and was coming towards us. His face looked grim and satisfied.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSo there you are, M. Poirot,\u201d he said. \u201cWell, this isn\u2019t going to be much of a case. I\u2019m sorry, too. A nice enough young fellow gone wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Poirot\u2019s face fell, and he spoke very mildly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019m afraid I shall not be able to be of much aid to you, then?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNext time, perhaps,\u201d said the inspector soothingly. \u201cThough we don\u2019t have murders every day in this quiet little corner of the world.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Poirot\u2019s gaze took on an admiring quality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou have been of a marvelous promptness,\u201d he observed. \u201cHow exactly did you go to work, if I may ask?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cCertainly,\u201d said the inspector. \u201cTo begin with\u2014method. That\u2019s what I always say\u2014method!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAh!\u201d cried the other. \u201cThat, too, is my watchword. Method, order, and the little gray cells.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe cells?\u201d said the inspector, staring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe little gray cells of the brain,\u201d explained the Belgian.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOh, of course; well, we all use them, I suppose.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIn a greater or lesser degree,\u201d murmured Poirot. \u201cAnd there are, too, differences in quality. Then there is the psychology of a crime. One must study that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAh!\u201d said the inspector, \u201cyou\u2019ve been bitten with all this psychoanalysis stuff? Now, I\u2019m a plain man\u2014\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n 99<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMrs. Raglan would not agree, I am sure, to that,\u201d said Poirot, making him a little bow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Inspector Raglan, a little taken aback, bowed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou don\u2019t understand,\u201d he said, grinning broadly. \u201cLord, what a lot of difference language makes. I\u2019m telling you how I set to work. First of all, method. Mr. Ackroyd was last seen alive at a quarter to ten by his niece, Miss Flora Ackroyd. That\u2019s fact number one, isn\u2019t it?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIf you say so.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWell, it is. At half-past ten, the doctor here says that Mr. Ackroyd has been dead at least half an hour. You stick to that, doctor?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cCertainly,\u201d I said. \u201cHalf an hour or longer.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cVery good. That gives us exactly a quarter of an hour in which the crime must have been committed. I make a list of every one in the house, and work through it, setting down opposite their names where they were and what they were doing between the hour of 9.45 and 10 p.m.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n He handed a sheet of paper to Poirot. I read it over his shoulder. It ran as follows, written in a neat script:\u2014<\/p>\n\n\n\n Major Blunt.\u2014In billiard room with Mr. Raymond. (Latter confirms.)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Mr. Raymond.\u2014Billiard room. (See above.)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Mrs. Ackroyd.\u20149.45 watching billiard match. Went up to bed 9.55. (Raymond and Blunt watched her up staircase.)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n 100<\/p>\n\n\n\n Miss Ackroyd.\u2014Went straight from her uncle\u2019s room upstairs. (Confirmed by Parker, also housemaid, Elsie Dale.)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Servants<\/em>:\u2014<\/p>\n\n\n\n Parker.\u2014Went straight to butler\u2019s pantry. (Confirmed by housekeeper, Miss Russell, who came down to speak to him about something at 9.47, and remained at least ten minutes.)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Miss Russell.\u2014As above. Spoke to housemaid, Elsie Dale, upstairs at 9.45.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Ursula Bourne (parlormaid).\u2014In her own room until 9.55. Then in Servants\u2019 Hall.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Mrs. Cooper (cook).\u2014In Servants\u2019 Hall.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Gladys Jones (second housemaid).\u2014In Servants\u2019 Hall.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Elsie Dale.\u2014Upstairs in bedroom. Seen there by Miss Russell and Miss Flora Ackroyd.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Mary Thripp (kitchenmaid).\u2014Servants\u2019 Hall.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe cook has been here seven years, the parlormaid eighteen months, and Parker just over a year. The others are new. Except for something fishy about Parker, they all seem quite all right.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cA very complete list,\u201d said Poirot, handing it back to him. \u201cI am quite sure that Parker did not do the murder,\u201d he added gravely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSo is my sister,\u201d I struck in. \u201cAnd she\u2019s usually right.\u201d Nobody paid any attention to my interpolation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThat disposes pretty effectually of the household,\u201d continued the inspector. \u201cNow we come to a very grave point. The woman at the lodge\u2014Mary Black\u2014was101 pulling the curtains last night when she saw Ralph Paton turn in at the gate and go up towards the house.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cShe is sure of that?\u201d I asked sharply.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cQuite sure. She knows him well by sight. He went past very quickly and turned off by the path to the right, which is a short cut to the terrace.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAnd what time was that?\u201d asked Poirot, who had sat with an immovable face.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cExactly twenty-five minutes past nine,\u201d said the inspector gravely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There was a silence. Then the inspector spoke again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt\u2019s all clear enough. It fits in without a flaw. At twenty-five minutes past nine, Captain Paton is seen passing the lodge; at nine-thirty or thereabouts, Mr. Geoffrey Raymond hears some one in here asking for money and Mr. Ackroyd refusing. What happens next? Captain Paton leaves the same way\u2014through the window. He walks along the terrace, angry and baffled. He comes to the open drawing-room window. Say it\u2019s now a quarter to ten. Miss Flora Ackroyd is saying good-night to her uncle. Major Blunt, Mr. Raymond, and Mrs. Ackroyd are in the billiard room. The drawing-room is empty. He steals in, takes the dagger from the silver table, and returns to the study window. He slips off his shoes, climbs in, and\u2014well, I don\u2019t need to go into details. Then he slips out again and goes off. Hadn\u2019t the nerve to go back to the inn. He makes for the station, rings up from there\u2014\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhy?\u201d said Poirot softly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I jumped at the interruption. The little man was102 leaning forward. His eyes shone with a queer green light.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For a moment Inspector Raglan was taken aback by the question.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt\u2019s difficult to say exactly why he did that,\u201d he said at last. \u201cBut murderers do funny things. You\u2019d know that if you were in the police force. The cleverest of them make stupid mistakes sometimes. But come along and I\u2019ll show you those footprints.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n We followed him round the corner of the terrace to the study window. At a word from Raglan a police constable produced the shoes which had been obtained from the local inn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The inspector laid them over the marks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThey\u2019re the same,\u201d he said confidently. \u201cThat is to say, they\u2019re not the same pair that actually made these prints. He went away in those. This is a pair just like them, but older\u2014see how the studs are worn down.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSurely a great many people wear shoes with rubber studs in them?\u201d asked Poirot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThat\u2019s so, of course,\u201d said the inspector. \u201cI shouldn\u2019t put so much stress on the footmarks if it wasn\u2019t for everything else.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cA very foolish young man, Captain Ralph Paton,\u201d said Poirot thoughtfully. \u201cTo leave so much evidence of his presence.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAh! well,\u201d said the inspector, \u201cit was a dry, fine night, you know. He left no prints on the terrace or on the graveled path. But, unluckily for him, a spring103 must have welled up just lately at the end of the path from the drive. See here.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n A small graveled path joined the terrace a few feet away. In one spot, a few yards from its termination, the ground was wet and boggy. Crossing this wet place there were again the marks of footsteps, and amongst them the shoes with rubber studs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Poirot followed the path on a little way, the inspector by his side.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou noticed the women\u2019s footprints?\u201d he said suddenly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The inspector laughed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNaturally. But several different women have walked this way\u2014and men as well. It\u2019s a regular short cut to the house, you see. It would be impossible to sort out all the footsteps. After all, it\u2019s the ones on the window-sill that are really important.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Poirot nodded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt\u2019s no good going farther,\u201d said the inspector, as we came in view of the drive. \u201cIt\u2019s all graveled again here, and hard as it can be.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Again Poirot nodded, but his eyes were fixed on a small garden house\u2014a kind of superior summer-house. It was a little to the left of the path ahead of us, and a graveled walk ran up to it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Poirot lingered about until the inspector had gone back towards the house. Then he looked at me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou must have indeed been sent from the good God to replace my friend Hastings,\u201d he said, with a twinkle. \u201cI observe that you do not quit my side. How say104 you, Dr. Sheppard, shall we investigate that summer-house? It interests me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n He went up to the door and opened it. Inside, the place was almost dark. There were one or two rustic seats, a croquet set, and some folded deck-chairs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I was startled to observe my new friend. He had dropped to his hands and knees and was crawling about the floor. Every now and then he shook his head as though not satisfied. Finally, he sat back on his heels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNothing,\u201d he murmured. \u201cWell, perhaps it was not to be expected. But it would have meant so much\u2014\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n He broke off, stiffening all over. Then he stretched out his hand to one of the rustic chairs. He detached something from one side of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhat is it?\u201d I cried. \u201cWhat have you found?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n He smiled, unclosing his hand so that I should see what lay in the palm of it. A scrap of stiff white cambric.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I took it from him, looked at it curiously, and then handed it back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhat do you make of it, eh, my friend?\u201d he asked, eyeing me keenly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cA scrap torn from a handkerchief,\u201d I suggested, shrugging my shoulders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He made another dart and picked up a small quill\u2014a goose quill by the look of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAnd that?\u201d he cried triumphantly. \u201cWhat do you make of that?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I only stared.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He slipped the quill into his pocket, and looked again at the scrap of white stuff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 105<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cA fragment of a handkerchief?\u201d he mused. \u201cPerhaps you are right. But remember this\u2014a good laundry does not starch a handkerchief<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n He nodded at me triumphantly, then he put away the scrap carefully in his pocket-book.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 106<\/p>\n\n\n\n THE GOLDFISH POND<\/p>\n\n\n\n We walked back to the house together. There was no sign of the inspector. Poirot paused on the terrace and stood with his back to the house, slowly turning his head from side to side.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cUne belle propri\u00e9t\u00e9<\/em>,\u201d he said at last appreciatively. \u201cWho inherits it?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n His words gave me almost a shock. It is an odd thing, but until that moment the question of inheritance had never come into my head. Poirot watched me keenly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt is a new idea to you, that,\u201d he said at last. \u201cYou had not thought of it before\u2014eh?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNo,\u201d I said truthfully. \u201cI wish I had.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n He looked at me again curiously.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI wonder just what you mean by that,\u201d he said thoughtfully. \u201cAh! no,\u201d as I was about to speak. \u201cInutile!<\/em> You would not tell me your real thought.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cEvery one has something to hide,\u201d I quoted, smiling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cExactly.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou still believe that?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMore than ever, my friend. But it is not easy to hide things from Hercule Poirot. He has a knack of finding out.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n He descended the steps of the Dutch garden as he spoke.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 107<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cLet us walk a little,\u201d he said over his shoulder. \u201cThe air is pleasant to-day.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I followed him. He led me down a path to the left enclosed in yew hedges. A walk led down the middle, bordered each side with formal flower beds, and at the end was a round paved recess with a seat and a pond of goldfish. Instead of pursuing the path to the end, Poirot took another which wound up the side of a wooded slope. In one spot the trees had been cleared away, and a seat had been put. Sitting there one had a splendid view over the countryside, and one looked right down on the paved recess and the goldfish pond.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cEngland is very beautiful,\u201d said Poirot, his eyes straying over the prospect. Then he smiled. \u201cAnd so are English girls,\u201d he said in a lower tone. \u201cHush, my friend, and look at the pretty picture below us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n It was then that I saw Flora. She was moving along the path we had just left and she was humming a little snatch of song. Her step was more dancing than walking, and in spite of her black dress, there was nothing but joy in her whole attitude. She gave a sudden pirouette on her toes, and her black draperies swung out. At the same time she flung her head back and laughed outright.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As she did so a man stepped out from the trees. It was Hector Blunt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The girl started. Her expression changed a little.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHow you startled me\u2014I didn\u2019t see you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Blunt said nothing, but stood looking at her for a minute or two in silence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 108<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhat I like about you,\u201d said Flora, with a touch of malice, \u201cis your cheery conversation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I fancy that at that Blunt reddened under his tan. His voice, when he spoke, sounded different\u2014it had a curious sort of humility in it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNever was much of a fellow for talking. Not even when I was young.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThat was a very long time ago, I suppose,\u201d said Flora gravely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I caught the undercurrent of laughter in her voice, but I don\u2019t think Blunt did.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYes,\u201d he said simply, \u201cit was.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHow does it feel to be Methuselah?\u201d asked Flora.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This time the laughter was more apparent, but Blunt was following out an idea of his own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cRemember the Johnny who sold his soul to the devil? In return for being made young again? There\u2019s an opera about it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cFaust, you mean?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThat\u2019s the beggar. Rum story. Some of us would do it if we could.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAny one would think you were creaking at the joints to hear you talk,\u201d cried Flora, half vexed, half amused.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Blunt said nothing for a minute or two. Then he looked away from Flora into the middle distance and observed to an adjacent tree trunk that it was about time he got back to Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAre you going on another expedition\u2014shooting things?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n 109<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cExpect so. Usually do, you know\u2014shoot things, I mean.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou shot that head in the hall, didn\u2019t you?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Blunt nodded. Then he jerked out, going rather red, as he did so:\u2014<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cCare for some decent skins any time? If so, I could get \u2019em for you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOh! please do,\u201d cried Flora. \u201cWill you really? You won\u2019t forget?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI shan\u2019t forget,\u201d said Hector Blunt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He added, in a sudden burst of communicativeness:\u2014<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cTime I went. I\u2019m no good in this sort of life. Haven\u2019t got the manners for it. I\u2019m a rough fellow, no use in society. Never remember the things one\u2019s expected to say. Yes, time I went.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBut you\u2019re not going at once,\u201d cried Flora. \u201cNot\u2014not while we\u2019re in all this trouble. Oh! please. If you go\u2014\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n She turned away a little.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou want me to stay?\u201d asked Blunt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He spoke deliberately but quite simply.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe all\u2014\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI meant you personally,\u201d said Blunt, with directness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Flora turned slowly back again and met his eyes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI want you to stay,\u201d she said, \u201cif\u2014if that makes any difference.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt makes all the difference,\u201d said Blunt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There was a moment\u2019s silence. They sat down on the stone seat by the goldfish pond. It seemed as though neither of them knew quite what to say next.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 110<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt\u2014it\u2019s such a lovely morning,\u201d said Flora at last. \u201cYou know, I can\u2019t help feeling happy, in spite\u2014in spite of everything. That\u2019s awful, I suppose?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cQuite natural,\u201d said Blunt. \u201cNever saw your uncle until two years ago, did you? Can\u2019t be expected to grieve very much. Much better to have no humbug about it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThere\u2019s something awfully consoling about you,\u201d said Flora. \u201cYou make things so simple.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThings are simple as a rule,\u201d said the big game hunter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNot always,\u201d said Flora.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Her voice had lowered itself, and I saw Blunt turn and look at her, bringing his eyes back from (apparently) the coast of Africa to do so. He evidently put his own construction on her change of tone, for he said, after a minute or two, in rather an abrupt manner:\u2014<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI say, you know, you mustn\u2019t worry. About that young chap, I mean. Inspector\u2019s an ass. Everybody knows\u2014utterly absurd to think he could have done it. Man from outside. Burglar chap. That\u2019s the only possible solution.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Flora turned to look at him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou really think so?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cDon\u2019t you?\u201d said Blunt quickly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2014oh, yes, of course.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Another silence, and then Flora burst out:\u2014<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019m\u2014I\u2019ll tell you why I felt so happy this morning. However heartless you think me, I\u2019d rather tell you. It\u2019s because the lawyer has been\u2014Mr. Hammond. He told us about the will. Uncle Roger has left me twenty thousand111 pounds. Think of it\u2014twenty thousand beautiful pounds.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Blunt looked surprised.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cDoes it mean so much to you?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMean much to me? Why, it\u2019s everything. Freedom\u2014life\u2014no more scheming and scraping and lying\u2014\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cLying?\u201d said Blunt, sharply interrupting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Flora seemed taken aback for a minute.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou know what I mean,\u201d she said uncertainly. \u201cPretending to be thankful for all the nasty castoff things rich relations give you. Last year\u2019s coats and skirts and hats.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cDon\u2019t know much about ladies\u2019 clothes; should have said you were always very well turned out.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt\u2019s cost me something, though,\u201d said Flora in a low voice. \u201cDon\u2019t let\u2019s talk of horrid things. I\u2019m so happy. I\u2019m free. Free to do what I like. Free not to\u2014\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n She stopped suddenly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNot to what?\u201d asked Blunt quickly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI forget now. Nothing important.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Blunt had a stick in his hand, and he thrust it into the pond, poking at something.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhat are you doing, Major Blunt?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThere\u2019s something bright down there. Wondered what it was\u2014looks like a gold brooch. Now I\u2019ve stirred up the mud and it\u2019s gone.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cPerhaps it\u2019s a crown,\u201d suggested Flora. \u201cLike the one M\u00e9lisande saw in the water.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cM\u00e9lisande,\u201d said Blunt reflectively\u2014\u201cshe\u2019s in an opera, isn\u2019t she?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n 112<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYes, you seem to know a lot about operas.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cPeople take me sometimes,\u201d said Blunt sadly. \u201cFunny idea of pleasure\u2014worse racket than the natives make with their tom-toms.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Flora laughed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI remember M\u00e9lisande,\u201d continued Blunt, \u201cmarried an old chap old enough to be her father.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n He threw a small piece of flint into the goldfish pond. Then, with a change of manner, he turned to Flora.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMiss Ackroyd, can I do anything? About Paton, I mean. I know how dreadfully anxious you must be.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThank you,\u201d said Flora in a cold voice. \u201cThere is really nothing to be done. Ralph will be all right. I\u2019ve got hold of the most wonderful detective in the world, and he\u2019s going to find out all about it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n For some time I had felt uneasy as to our position. We were not exactly eavesdropping, since the two in the garden below had only to lift their heads to see us. Nevertheless, I should have drawn attention to our presence before now, had not my companion put a warning pressure on my arm. Clearly he wished me to remain silent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But now he rose briskly to his feet, clearing his throat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI demand pardon,\u201d he cried. \u201cI cannot allow mademoiselle thus extravagantly to compliment me, and not draw attention to my presence. They say the listener hears no good of himself, but that is not the case this time. To spare my blushes, I must join you and apologize.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n 113<\/p>\n\n\n\n He hurried down the path with me close behind him, and joined the others by the pond.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis is M. Hercule Poirot,\u201d said Flora. \u201cI expect you\u2019ve heard of him.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Poirot bowed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI know Major Blunt by reputation,\u201d he said politely. \u201cI am glad to have encountered you, monsieur. I am in need of some information that you can give me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Blunt looked at him inquiringly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhen did you last see M. Ackroyd alive?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAt dinner.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAnd you neither saw nor heard anything of him after that?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cDidn\u2019t see him. Heard his voice.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHow was that?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI strolled out on the terrace\u2014\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cPardon me, what time was this?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAbout half-past nine. I was walking up and down smoking in front of the drawing-room window. I heard Ackroyd talking in his study\u2014\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Poirot stooped and removed a microscopic weed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSurely you couldn\u2019t hear voices in the study from that part of the terrace,\u201d he murmured.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He was not looking at Blunt, but I was, and to my intense surprise, I saw the latter flush.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWent as far as the corner,\u201d he explained unwillingly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAh! indeed?\u201d said Poirot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the mildest manner he conveyed an impression that more was wanted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 114<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThought I saw\u2014a woman disappearing into the bushes. Just a gleam of white, you know. Must have been mistaken. It was while I was standing at the corner of the terrace that I heard Ackroyd\u2019s voice speaking to that secretary of his.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSpeaking to Mr. Geoffrey Raymond?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYes\u2014that\u2019s what I supposed at the time. Seems I was wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMr. Ackroyd didn\u2019t address him by name?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOh, no.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThen, if I may ask, why did you think\u2014\u2014?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Blunt explained laboriously.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cTook it for granted that it would<\/em> be Raymond, because he had said just before I came out that he was taking some papers to Ackroyd. Never thought of it being anybody else.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cCan you remember what the words you heard were?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAfraid I can\u2019t. Something quite ordinary and unimportant. Only caught a scrap of it. I was thinking of something else at the time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt is of no importance,\u201d murmured Poirot. \u201cDid you move a chair back against the wall when you went into the study after the body was discovered?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cChair? No\u2014why should I?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Poirot shrugged his shoulders but did not answer. He turned to Flora.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThere is one thing I should like to know from you, mademoiselle. When you were examining the things in the silver table with Dr. Sheppard, was the dagger in its place, or was it not?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n 115<\/p>\n\n\n\n Flora\u2019s chin shot up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cInspector Raglan has been asking me that,\u201d she said resentfully. \u201cI\u2019ve told him, and I\u2019ll tell you. I\u2019m perfectly certain the dagger was not<\/em> there. He thinks it was and that Ralph sneaked it later in the evening. And\u2014and he doesn\u2019t believe me. He thinks I\u2019m saying it to\u2014to shield Ralph.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAnd aren\u2019t you?\u201d I asked gravely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Flora stamped her foot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou, too, Dr. Sheppard! Oh! it\u2019s too bad.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Poirot tactfully made a diversion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt is true what I heard you say, Major Blunt. There is something that glitters in this pond. Let us see if I can reach it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n He knelt down by the pond, baring his arm to the elbow, and lowered it in very slowly, so as not to disturb the bottom of the pond. But in spite of all his precautions the mud eddied and swirled, and he was forced to draw his arm out again empty-handed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He gazed ruefully at the mud upon his arm. I offered him my handkerchief, which he accepted with fervent protestations of thanks. Blunt looked at his watch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNearly lunch time,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019d better be getting back to the house.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou will lunch with us, M. Poirot?\u201d asked Flora. \u201cI should like you to meet my mother. She is\u2014very fond of Ralph.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The little man bowed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI shall be delighted, mademoiselle.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n 116<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAnd you will stay, too, won\u2019t you, Dr. Sheppard?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I hesitated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOh, do!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I wanted to, so I accepted the invitation without further ceremony.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We set out towards the house, Flora and Blunt walking ahead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhat hair,\u201d said Poirot to me in a low tone, nodding towards Flora. \u201cThe real gold! They will make a pretty couple. She and the dark, handsome Captain Paton. Will they not?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I looked at him inquiringly, but he began to fuss about a few microscopic drops of water on his coat sleeve. The man reminded me in some ways of a cat. His green eyes and his finicking habits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAnd all for nothing, too,\u201d I said sympathetically. \u201cI wonder what it was in the pond?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWould you like to see?\u201d asked Poirot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I stared at him. He nodded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMy good friend,\u201d he said gently and reproachfully, \u201cHercule Poirot does not run the risk of disarranging his costume without being sure of attaining his object. To do so would be ridiculous and absurd. I am never ridiculous.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBut you brought your hand out empty,\u201d I objected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThere are times when it is necessary to have discretion. Do you tell your patients everything\u2014everything, doctor? I think not. Nor do you tell your excellent sister everything either, is it not so? Before showing117 my empty hand, I dropped what it contained into my other hand. You shall see what that was.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n He held out his left hand, palm open. On it lay a little circlet of gold. A woman\u2019s wedding ring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I took it from him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cLook inside,\u201d commanded Poirot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I did so. Inside was an inscription in fine writing:\u2014<\/p>\n\n\n\n From R., March 13th.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n I looked at Poirot, but he was busy inspecting his appearance in a tiny pocket glass. He paid particular attention to his mustaches, and none at all to me. I saw that he did not intend to be communicative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 118<\/p>\n\n\n\n THE PARLORMAID<\/p>\n\n\n\n We found Mrs. Ackroyd in the hall. With her was a small dried-up little man, with an aggressive chin and sharp gray eyes, and \u201clawyer\u201d written all over him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMr. Hammond is staying to lunch with us,\u201d said Mrs. Ackroyd. \u201cYou know Major Blunt, Mr. Hammond? And dear Dr. Sheppard\u2014also a close friend of poor Roger\u2019s. And, let me see\u2014\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n She paused, surveying Hercule Poirot in some perplexity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis is M. Poirot, mother,\u201d said Flora. \u201cI told you about him this morning.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOh! yes,\u201d said Mrs. Ackroyd vaguely. \u201cOf course, my dear, of course. He is to find Ralph, is he not?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHe is to find out who killed uncle,\u201d said Flora.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOh! my dear,\u201d cried her mother. \u201cPlease! My poor nerves. I am a wreck this morning, a positive wreck. Such a dreadful thing to happen. I can\u2019t help feeling that it must have been an accident of some kind. Roger was so fond of handling queer curios. His hand must have slipped, or something.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n This theory was received in polite silence. I saw Poirot edge up to the lawyer, and speak to him in a confidential undertone. They moved aside into the embrasure of the window. I joined them\u2014then hesitated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 119<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cPerhaps I\u2019m intruding,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNot at all,\u201d cried Poirot heartily. \u201cYou and I, M. le docteur, we investigate this affair side by side. Without you I should be lost. I desire a little information from the good Mr. Hammond.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou are acting on behalf of Captain Ralph Paton, I understand,\u201d said the lawyer cautiously.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Poirot shook his head.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNot so. I am acting in the interests of justice. Miss Ackroyd has asked me to investigate the death of her uncle.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mr. Hammond seemed slightly taken aback.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI cannot seriously believe that Captain Paton can be concerned in this crime,\u201d he said, \u201chowever strong the circumstantial evidence against him may be. The mere fact that he was hard pressed for money\u2014\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWas he hard pressed for money?\u201d interpolated Poirot quickly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The lawyer shrugged his shoulders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt was a chronic condition with Ralph Paton,\u201d he said dryly. \u201cMoney went through his hands like water. He was always applying to his stepfather.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHad he done so of late? During the last year, for instance?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI cannot say. Mr. Ackroyd did not mention the fact to me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI comprehend. Mr. Hammond, I take it that you are acquainted with the provisions of Mr. Ackroyd\u2019s will?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cCertainly. That is my principal business here to-day.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n 120<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThen, seeing that I am acting for Miss Ackroyd, you will not object to telling me the terms of that will?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThey are quite simple. Shorn of legal phraseology, and after paying certain legacies and bequests\u2014\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSuch as\u2014\u2014?\u201d interrupted Poirot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mr. Hammond seemed a little surprised.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cA thousand pounds to his housekeeper, Miss Russell; fifty pounds to the cook, Emma Cooper; five hundred pounds to his secretary, Mr. Geoffrey Raymond. Then to various hospitals\u2014\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Poirot held up his hand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAh! the charitable bequests, they interest me not.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cQuite so. The income on ten thousand pounds\u2019 worth of shares to be paid to Mrs. Cecil Ackroyd during her lifetime. Miss Flora Ackroyd inherits twenty thousand pounds outright. The residue\u2014including this property, and the shares in Ackroyd and Son\u2014to his adopted son, Ralph Paton.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMr. Ackroyd possessed a large fortune?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cA very large fortune. Captain Paton will be an exceedingly wealthy young man.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n There was a silence. Poirot and the lawyer looked at each other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMr. Hammond,\u201d came Mrs. Ackroyd\u2019s voice plaintively from the fireplace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The lawyer answered the summons. Poirot took my arm and drew me right into the window.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cRegard the irises,\u201d he remarked in rather a loud voice. \u201cMagnificent, are they not? A straight and pleasing effect.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n 121<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the same time I felt the pressure of his hand on my arm, and he added in a low tone:\u2014<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cDo you really wish to aid me? To take part in this investigation?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYes, indeed,\u201d I said eagerly. \u201cThere\u2019s nothing I should like better. You don\u2019t know what a dull old fogey\u2019s life I lead. Never anything out of the ordinary.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cGood, we will be colleagues then. In a minute or two I fancy Major Blunt will join us. He is not happy with the good mamma. Now there are some things I want to know\u2014but I do not wish to seem to want to know them. You comprehend? So it will be your part to ask the questions.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhat questions do you want me to ask?\u201d I asked apprehensively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI want you to introduce the name of Mrs. Ferrars.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYes?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSpeak of her in a natural fashion. Ask him if he was down here when her husband died. You understand the kind of thing I mean. And while he replies, watch his face without seeming to watch it. C\u2019est compris?<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n There was no time for more, for at that minute, as Poirot had prophesied, Blunt left the others in his abrupt fashion and came over to us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I suggested strolling on the terrace, and he acquiesced. Poirot stayed behind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I stopped to examine a late rose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHow things change in the course of a day or so,\u201d I observed. \u201cI was up here last Wednesday, I remember, walking up and down this same terrace. Ackroyd was122 with me\u2014full of spirits. And now\u2014three days later\u2014Ackroyd\u2019s dead, poor fellow, Mrs. Ferrars\u2019s dead\u2014you knew her, didn\u2019t you? But of course you did.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Blunt nodded his head.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHad you seen her since you\u2019d been down this time?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWent with Ackroyd to call. Last Tuesday, think it was. Fascinating woman\u2014but something queer about her. Deep\u2014one would never know what she was up to.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I looked into his steady gray eyes. Nothing there surely. I went on:\u2014<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI suppose you\u2019d met her before.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cLast time I was here\u2014she and her husband had just come here to live.\u201d He paused a minute and then added: \u201cRum thing, she had changed a lot between then and now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHow\u2014changed?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cLooked ten years older.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWere you down here when her husband died?\u201d I asked, trying to make the question sound as casual as possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNo. From all I heard it would be a good riddance. Uncharitable, perhaps, but the truth.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I agreed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAshley Ferrars was by no means a pattern husband,\u201d I said cautiously.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBlackguard, I thought,\u201d said Blunt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNo,\u201d I said, \u201conly a man with more money than was good for him.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOh! money! All the troubles in the world can be put down to money\u2014or the lack of it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n 123<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhich has been your particular trouble?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019ve enough for what I want. I\u2019m one of the lucky ones.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIndeed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019m not too flush just now, as a matter of fact. Came into a legacy a year ago, and like a fool let myself be persuaded into putting it into some wild-cat scheme.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I sympathized, and narrated my own similar trouble.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Then the gong pealed out, and we all went in to lunch. Poirot drew me back a little.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cEh! bien?<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHe\u2019s all right,\u201d I said. \u201cI\u2019m sure of it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNothing\u2014disturbing?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHe had a legacy just a year ago,\u201d I said. \u201cBut why not? Why shouldn\u2019t he? I\u2019ll swear the man is perfectly square and aboveboard.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWithout doubt, without doubt,\u201d said Poirot soothingly. \u201cDo not upset yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n He spoke as though to a fractious child.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We all trooped into the dining-room. It seemed incredible that less than twenty-four hours had passed since I last sat at that table.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Afterwards, Mrs. Ackroyd took me aside and sat down with me on a sofa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI can\u2019t help feeling a little hurt,\u201d she murmured, producing a handkerchief of the kind obviously not meant to be cried into. \u201cHurt, I mean, by Roger\u2019s lack of confidence in me. That twenty thousand pounds ought to have been left to me<\/em>\u2014not to Flora. A mother could be124 trusted to safeguard the interests of her child. A lack of trust, I call it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou forget, Mrs. Ackroyd,\u201d I said, \u201cFlora was Ackroyd\u2019s own niece, a blood relation. It would have been different had you been his sister instead of his sister-in-law.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAs poor Cecil\u2019s widow, I think my feelings ought to have been considered,\u201d said the lady, touching her eye-lashes gingerly with the handkerchief. \u201cBut Roger was always most peculiar\u2014not to say mean<\/em>\u2014about money matters. It has been a most difficult position for both Flora and myself. He did not even give the poor child an allowance. He would pay her bills, you know, and even that with a good deal of reluctance and asking what she wanted all those fal-lals for\u2014so like a man\u2014but\u2014now I\u2019ve forgotten what it was I was going to say! Oh, yes, not a penny we could call our own, you know. Flora resented it\u2014yes, I must say she resented it\u2014very strongly. Though devoted to her uncle, of course. But any girl would have resented it. Yes, I must say Roger had very strange ideas about money. He wouldn\u2019t even buy new face towels, though I told him the old ones were in holes. And then,\u201d proceeded Mrs. Ackroyd, with a sudden leap highly characteristic of her conversation, \u201cto leave all that money\u2014a thousand pounds\u2014fancy, a thousand pounds!\u2014to that woman.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhat woman?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThat Russell woman. Something very queer about her, and so I\u2019ve always said. But Roger wouldn\u2019t hear a word against her. Said she was a woman of great force of125 character, and that he admired and respected her. He was always going on about her rectitude and independence and moral worth. I<\/em> think there\u2019s something fishy about her. She was certainly doing her best to marry Roger. But I soon put a stop to that. She\u2019s always hated me. Naturally. I<\/em> saw through her.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I began to wonder if there was any chance of stemming Mrs. Ackroyd\u2019s eloquence, and getting away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mr. Hammond provided the necessary diversion by coming up to say good-by. I seized my chance and rose also.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAbout the inquest,\u201d I said. \u201cWhere would you prefer it to be held. Here, or at the Three Boars?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mrs. Ackroyd stared at me with a dropped jaw.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe inquest?\u201d she asked, the picture of consternation. \u201cBut surely there won\u2019t have to be an inquest?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mr. Hammond gave a dry little cough and murmured, \u201cInevitable. Under the circumstances,\u201d in two short little barks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBut surely Dr. Sheppard can arrange\u2014\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThere are limits to my powers of arrangement,\u201d I said dryly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIf his death was an accident\u2014\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHe was murdered, Mrs. Ackroyd,\u201d I said brutally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n She gave a little cry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNo theory of accident will hold water for a minute.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mrs. Ackroyd looked at me in distress. I had no patience with what I thought was her silly fear of unpleasantness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 126<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIf there\u2019s an inquest, I\u2014I shan\u2019t have to answer questions and all that, shall I?\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI don\u2019t know what will be necessary,\u201d I answered. \u201cI imagine Mr. Raymond will take the brunt of it off you. He knows all the circumstances, and can give formal evidence of identification.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The lawyer assented with a little bow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI really don\u2019t think there is anything to dread, Mrs. Ackroyd,\u201d he said. \u201cYou will be spared all unpleasantness. Now, as to the question of money, have you all you need for the present? I mean,\u201d he added, as she looked at him inquiringly, \u201cready money. Cash, you know. If not, I can arrange to let you have whatever you require.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThat ought to be all right,\u201d said Raymond, who was standing by. \u201cMr. Ackroyd cashed a cheque for a hundred pounds yesterday.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cA hundred pounds?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYes. For wages and other expenses due to-day. At the moment it is still intact.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhere is this money? In his desk?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNo, he always kept his cash in his bedroom. In an old collar-box, to be accurate. Funny idea, wasn\u2019t it?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI think,\u201d said the lawyer, \u201cwe ought to make sure the money is there before I leave.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cCertainly,\u201d agreed the secretary. \u201cI\u2019ll take you up now…. Oh! I forgot. The door\u2019s locked.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Inquiry from Parker elicited the information that Inspector Raglan was in the housekeeper\u2019s room asking a few supplementary questions. A few minutes later the inspector joined the party in the hall, bringing the key with127 him. He unlocked the door and we passed into the lobby and up the small staircase. At the top of the stairs the door into Ackroyd\u2019s bedroom stood open. Inside the room it was dark, the curtains were drawn, and the bed was turned down just as it had been last night. The inspector drew the curtains, letting in the sunlight, and Geoffrey Raymond went to the top drawer of a rosewood bureau.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHe kept his money like that, in an unlocked drawer. Just fancy,\u201d commented the inspector.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The secretary flushed a little.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMr. Ackroyd had perfect faith in the honesty of all the servants,\u201d he said hotly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOh! quite so,\u201d said the inspector hastily.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Raymond opened the drawer, took out a round leather collar-box from the back of it, and opening it, drew out a thick wallet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHere is the money,\u201d he said, taking out a fat roll of notes. \u201cYou will find the hundred intact, I know, for Mr. Ackroyd put it in the collar-box in my presence last night when he was dressing for dinner, and of course it has not been touched since.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mr. Hammond took the roll from him and counted it. He looked up sharply.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cA hundred pounds, you said. But there is only sixty here.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Raymond stared at him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cImpossible,\u201d he cried, springing forward. Taking the notes from the other\u2019s hand, he counted them aloud.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mr. Hammond had been right. The total amounted to sixty pounds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 128<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBut\u2014I can\u2019t understand it,\u201d cried the secretary, bewildered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Poirot asked a question.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou saw Mr. Ackroyd put this money away last night when he was dressing for dinner? You are sure he had not paid away any of it already?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019m sure he hadn\u2019t. He even said, \u2018I don\u2019t want to take a hundred pounds down to dinner with me. Too bulgy.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThen the affair is very simple,\u201d remarked Poirot. \u201cEither he paid out that forty pounds sometime last evening, or else it has been stolen.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThat\u2019s the matter in a nutshell,\u201d agreed the inspector. He turned to Mrs. Ackroyd. \u201cWhich of the servants would come in here yesterday evening?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI suppose the housemaid would turn down the bed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWho is she? What do you know about her?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cShe\u2019s not been here very long,\u201d said Mrs. Ackroyd. \u201cBut she\u2019s a nice ordinary country girl.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI think we ought to clear this matter up,\u201d said the inspector. \u201cIf Mr. Ackroyd paid that money away himself, it may have a bearing on the mystery of the crime. The other servants all right, as far as you know?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOh, I think so.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNot missed anything before?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNone of them leaving, or anything like that?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe parlormaid is leaving.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cShe gave notice yesterday, I believe.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n 129<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cTo you?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOh, no. I<\/em> have nothing to do with the servants. Miss Russell attends to the household matters.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The inspector remained lost in thought for a minute or two. Then he nodded his head and remarked, \u201cI think I\u2019d better have a word with Miss Russell, and I\u2019ll see the girl Dale as well.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Poirot and I accompanied him to the housekeeper\u2019s room. Miss Russell received us with her usual sang-froid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Elsie Dale had been at Fernly five months. A nice girl, quick at her duties, and most respectable. Good references. The last girl in the world to take anything not belonging to her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What about the parlormaid?<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cShe, too, was a most superior girl. Very quiet and ladylike. An excellent worker.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThen why is she leaving?\u201d asked the inspector.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Miss Russell pursed up her lips.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt was none of my doing. I understand Mr. Ackroyd found fault with her yesterday afternoon. It was her duty to do the study, and she disarranged some of the papers on his desk, I believe. He was very annoyed about it, and she gave notice. At least, that is what I understood from her, but perhaps you\u2019d like to see her yourselves?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The inspector assented. I had already noticed the girl when she was waiting on us at lunch. A tall girl, with a lot of brown hair rolled tightly away at the back of her neck, and very steady gray eyes. She came in answer to130 the housekeeper\u2019s summons, and stood very straight with those same gray eyes fixed on us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou are Ursula Bourne?\u201d asked the inspector.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYes, sir.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI understand you are leaving?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYes, sir.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhy is that?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI disarranged some papers on Mr. Ackroyd\u2019s desk. He was very angry about it, and I said I had better leave. He told me to go as soon as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWere you in Mr. Ackroyd\u2019s bedroom at all last night? Tidying up or anything?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNo, sir. That is Elsie\u2019s work. I never went near that part of the house.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI must tell you, my girl, that a large sum of money is missing from Mr. Ackroyd\u2019s room.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n At last I saw her roused. A wave of color swept over her face.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI know nothing about any money. If you think I took it, and that that is why Mr. Ackroyd dismissed me, you are wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019m not accusing you of taking it, my girl,\u201d said the inspector. \u201cDon\u2019t flare up so.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The girl looked at him coldly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou can search my things if you like,\u201d she said disdainfully. \u201cBut you won\u2019t find anything.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Poirot suddenly interposed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt was yesterday afternoon that Mr. Ackroyd dismissed you\u2014or you dismissed yourself, was it not?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 131<\/p>\n\n\n\n The girl nodded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHow long did the interview last?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe interview?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYes, the interview between you and Mr. Ackroyd in the study?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2014I don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cTwenty minutes? Half an hour?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSomething like that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNot longer?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNot longer than half an hour, certainly.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThank you, mademoiselle.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I looked curiously at him. He was rearranging a few objects on the table, setting them straight with precise fingers. His eyes were shining.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThat\u2019ll do,\u201d said the inspector.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ursula Bourne disappeared. The inspector turned to Miss Russell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHow long has she been here? Have you got a copy of the reference you had with her?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Without answering the first question, Miss Russell moved to an adjacent bureau, opened one of the drawers, and took out a handful of letters clipped together with a patent fastener. She selected one and handed it to the inspector.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cH\u2019m,\u201d said he. \u201cReads all right. Mrs. Richard Folliott, Marby Grange, Marby. Who\u2019s this woman?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cQuite good county people,\u201d said Miss Russell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWell,\u201d said the inspector, handing it back, \u201clet\u2019s have a look at the other one, Elsie Dale.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Elsie Dale was a big fair girl, with a pleasant but132 slightly stupid face. She answered our questions readily enough, and showed much distress and concern at the loss of the money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI don\u2019t think there\u2019s anything wrong with her,\u201d observed the inspector, after he had dismissed her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhat about Parker?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Miss Russell pursed her lips together and made no reply.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019ve a feeling there\u2019s something wrong about that man,\u201d the inspector continued thoughtfully. \u201cThe trouble is that I don\u2019t quite see when he got his opportunity. He\u2019d be busy with his duties immediately after dinner, and he\u2019s got a pretty good alibi all through the evening. I know, for I\u2019ve been devoting particular attention to it. Well, thank you very much, Miss Russell. We\u2019ll leave things as they are for the present. It\u2019s highly probable Mr. Ackroyd paid that money away himself.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The housekeeper bade us a dry good-afternoon, and we took our leave.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I left the house with Poirot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI wonder,\u201d I said, breaking the silence, \u201cwhat the papers the girl disarranged could have been for Ackroyd to have got into such a state about them? I wonder if there is any clew there to the mystery.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe secretary said there were no papers of particular importance on the desk,\u201d said Poirot quietly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYes, but\u2014\u2014\u201d I paused.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt strikes you as odd that Ackroyd should have flown into a rage about so trivial a matter?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYes, it does rather.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n 133<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBut was it a trivial matter?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOf course,\u201d I admitted, \u201cwe don\u2019t know what those papers may have been. But Raymond certainly said\u2014\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cLeave M. Raymond out of it for a minute. What did you think of that girl?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhich girl? The parlormaid?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYes, the parlormaid. Ursula Bourne.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cShe seemed a nice girl,\u201d I said hesitatingly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Poirot repeated my words, but whereas I had laid a slight stress on the fourth word, he put it on the second.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cShe seemed<\/em> a nice girl\u2014yes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Then, after a minute\u2019s silence, he took something from his pocket and handed it to me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSee, my friend, I will show you something. Look there.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The paper he had handed me was that compiled by the inspector and given by him to Poirot that morning. Following the pointing finger, I saw a small cross marked in pencil opposite the name Ursula Bourne.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou may not have noticed it at the time, my good friend, but there was one person on this list whose alibi had no kind of confirmation. Ursula Bourne.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou don\u2019t think\u2014\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cDr. Sheppard, I dare to think anything. Ursula Bourne may have killed Mr. Ackroyd, but I confess I can see no motive for her doing so. Can you?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n He looked at me very hard\u2014so hard that I felt uncomfortable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cCan you?\u201d he repeated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 134<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNo motive whatsoever,\u201d I said firmly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n His gaze relaxed. He frowned and murmured to himself:\u2014<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSince the blackmailer was a man, it follows that she cannot be the blackmailer, then\u2014\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I coughed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAs far as that goes\u2014\u2014\u201d I began doubtfully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He spun round on me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhat? What are you going to say?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNothing. Nothing. Only that, strictly speaking, Mrs. Ferrars in her letter mentioned a person<\/em>\u2014she didn\u2019t actually specify a man. But we took it for granted, Ackroyd and I, that it was<\/em> a man.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Poirot did not seem to be listening to me. He was muttering to himself again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBut then it is possible after all\u2014yes, certainly it is possible\u2014but then\u2014ah! I must rearrange my ideas. Method, order; never have I needed them more. Everything must fit in\u2014in its appointed place\u2014otherwise I am on the wrong tack.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n He broke off, and whirled round upon me again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhere is Marby?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt\u2019s on the other side of Cranchester.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHow far away?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOh!\u2014fourteen miles, perhaps.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWould it be possible for you to go there? To-morrow, say?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cTo-morrow? Let me see, that\u2019s Sunday. Yes, I could arrange it. What do you want me to do there?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n 135<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSee this Mrs. Folliott. Find out all you can about Ursula Bourne.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cVery well. But\u2014I don\u2019t much care for the job.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt is not the time to make difficulties. A man\u2019s life may hang on this.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cPoor Ralph,\u201d I said with a sigh. \u201cYou believe him to be innocent, though?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Poirot looked at me very gravely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cDo you want to know the truth?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOf course.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThen you shall have it. My friend, everything points to the assumption that he is guilty.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhat!\u201d I exclaimed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Poirot nodded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYes, that stupid inspector\u2014for he is stupid\u2014has everything pointing his way. I seek for the truth\u2014and the truth leads me every time to Ralph Paton. Motive, opportunity, means. But I will leave no stone unturned. I promised Mademoiselle Flora. And she was very sure, that little one. But very sure indeed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n 136<\/p>\n\n\n\n POIROT PAYS A CALL<\/p>\n\n\n\n I was slightly nervous when I rang the bell at Marby Grange the following afternoon. I wondered very much what Poirot expected to find out. He had entrusted the job to me. Why? Was it because, as in the case of questioning Major Blunt, he wished to remain in the background? The wish, intelligible in the first case, seemed to me quite meaningless here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n My meditations were interrupted by the advent of a smart parlormaid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yes, Mrs. Folliott was at home. I was ushered into a big drawing-room, and looked round me curiously as I waited for the mistress of the house. A large bare room, some good bits of old china, and some beautiful etchings, shabby covers and curtains. A lady\u2019s room in every sense of the term.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I turned from the inspection of a Bartolozzi on the wall as Mrs. Folliott came into the room. She was a tall woman, with untidy brown hair, and a very winning smile.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cDr. Sheppard,\u201d she said hesitatingly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThat is my name,\u201d I replied. \u201cI must apologize for calling upon you like this, but I wanted some information about a parlormaid previously employed by you, Ursula Bourne.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n 137<\/p>\n\n\n\n With the utterance of the name the smile vanished from her face, and all the cordiality froze out of her manner. She looked uncomfortable and ill at ease.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cUrsula Bourne?\u201d she said hesitatingly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYes,\u201d I said. \u201cPerhaps you don\u2019t remember the name?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOh, yes, of course. I\u2014I remember perfectly.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cShe left you just over a year ago, I understand?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYes. Yes, she did. That is quite right.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAnd you were satisfied with her whilst she was with you? How long was she with you, by the way?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOh! a year or two\u2014I can\u2019t remember exactly how long. She\u2014she is very capable. I\u2019m sure you will find her quite satisfactory. I didn\u2019t know she was leaving Fernly. I hadn\u2019t the least idea of it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cCan you tell me anything about her?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAnything about her?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYes, where she comes from, who her people are\u2014that sort of thing?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mrs. Folliott\u2019s face wore more than ever its frozen look.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI don\u2019t know at all.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWho was she with before she came to you?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019m afraid I don\u2019t remember.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n There was a spark of anger now underlying her nervousness. She flung up her head in a gesture that was vaguely familiar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIs it really necessary to ask all these questions?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNot at all,\u201d I said, with an air of surprise and a138 tinge of apology in my manner. \u201cI had no idea you would mind answering them. I am very sorry.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Her anger left her and she became confused again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOh! I don\u2019t mind answering them. I assure you I don\u2019t. Why should I? It\u2014it just seemed a little odd, you know. That\u2019s all. A little odd.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n One advantage of being a medical practitioner is that you can usually tell when people are lying to you. I should have known from Mrs. Folliott\u2019s manner, if from nothing else, that she did mind answering my questions\u2014minded intensely. She was thoroughly uncomfortable and upset, and there was plainly some mystery in the background. I judged her to be a woman quite unused to deception of any kind, and consequently rendered acutely uneasy when forced to practice it. A child could have seen through her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But it was also clear that she had no intention of telling me anything further. Whatever the mystery centering around Ursula Bourne might be, I was not going to learn it through Mrs. Folliott.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Defeated, I apologized once more for disturbing her, took my hat and departed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I went to see a couple of patients and arrived home about six o\u2019clock. Caroline was sitting beside the wreck of tea things. She had that look of suppressed exultation on her face which I know only too well. It is a sure sign with her, of either the getting or the giving of information. I wondered which it had been.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019ve had a very interesting afternoon,\u201d began Caroline as I dropped into my own particular easy chair, and139 stretched out my feet to the inviting blaze in the fireplace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHave you?\u201d I asked. \u201cMiss Ganett drop in to tea?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Miss Ganett is one of the chief of our newsmongers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cGuess again,\u201d said Caroline with intense complacency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I guessed several times, working slowly through all the members of Caroline\u2019s Intelligence Corps. My sister received each guess with a triumphant shake of the head. In the end she volunteered the information herself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cM. Poirot!\u201d she said. \u201cNow what do you think of that?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I thought a good many things of it, but I was careful not to say them to Caroline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhy did he come?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cTo see me, of course. He said that knowing my brother so well, he hoped he might be permitted to make the acquaintance of his charming sister\u2014your charming sister, I\u2019ve got mixed up, but you know what I mean.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhat did he talk about?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHe told me a lot about himself and his cases. You know that Prince Paul of Mauretania\u2014the one who\u2019s just married a dancer?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYes?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI saw a most intriguing paragraph about her in Society Snippets the other day, hinting that she was really a Russian Grand Duchess\u2014one of the Czar\u2019s daughters who managed to escape from the Bolsheviks. Well, it seems that M. Poirot solved a baffling murder mystery that threatened to involve them both. Prince Paul was beside himself with gratitude.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n 140<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cDid he give him an emerald tie pin the size of a plover\u2019s egg?\u201d I inquired sarcastically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHe didn\u2019t mention it. Why?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNothing,\u201d I said. \u201cI thought it was always done. It is in detective fiction anyway. The super detective always has his rooms littered with rubies and pearls and emeralds from grateful Royal clients.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt\u2019s very interesting to hear about these things from the inside,\u201d said my sister complacently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It would be\u2014to Caroline. I could not but admire the ingenuity of M. Hercule Poirot, who had selected unerringly the case of all others that would most appeal to an elderly maiden lady living in a small village.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cDid he tell you if the dancer was really a Grand Duchess?\u201d I inquired.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHe was not at liberty to speak,\u201d said Caroline importantly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I wondered how far Poirot had strained the truth in talking to Caroline\u2014probably not at all. He had conveyed his innuendoes by means of his eyebrows and his shoulders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAnd after all this,\u201d I remarked, \u201cI suppose you were ready to eat out of his hand.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cDon\u2019t be coarse, James. I don\u2019t know where you get these vulgar expressions from.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cProbably from my only link with the outside world\u2014my patients. Unfortunately my practice does not lie amongst Royal princes and interesting Russian \u00e9migr\u00e9s.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Caroline pushed her spectacles up and looked at me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou seem very grumpy, James. It must be your liver. A blue pill, I think, to-night.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n 141<\/p>\n\n\n\n To see me in my own home, you would never imagine that I was a doctor of medicine. Caroline does the home prescribing both for herself and me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cDamn my liver,\u201d I said irritably. \u201cDid you talk about the murder at all?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWell, naturally, James. What else is there to talk about locally? I was able to set M. Poirot right upon several points. He was very grateful to me. He said I had the makings of a born detective in me\u2014and a wonderful psychological insight into human nature.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Caroline was exactly like a cat that is full to overflowing with rich cream. She was positively purring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHe talked a lot about the little gray cells of the brain, and of their functions. His own, he says, are of the first quality.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHe would say so,\u201d I remarked bitterly. \u201cModesty is certainly not his middle name.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI wish you would not be so horribly American, James. He thought it very important that Ralph should be found as soon as possible, and induced to come forward and give an account of himself. He says that his disappearance will produce a very unfortunate impression at the inquest.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAnd what did you say to that?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI agreed with him,\u201d said Caroline importantly. \u201cAnd I was able to tell him the way people were already talking about it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cCaroline,\u201d I said sharply, \u201cdid you tell M. Poirot what you overheard in the wood that day?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI did,\u201d said Caroline complacently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I got up and began to walk about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 142<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou realize what you\u2019re doing, I hope,\u201d I jerked out. \u201cYou\u2019re putting a halter round Ralph Paton\u2019s neck as surely as you\u2019re sitting in that chair.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNot at all,\u201d said Caroline, quite unruffled. \u201cI was surprised you<\/em> hadn\u2019t told him.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI took very good care not to,\u201d I said. \u201cI\u2019m fond of that boy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSo am I. That\u2019s why I say you\u2019re talking nonsense. I don\u2019t believe Ralph did it, and so the truth can\u2019t hurt him, and we ought to give M. Poirot all the help we can. Why, think, very likely Ralph was out with that identical girl on the night of the murder, and if so, he\u2019s got a perfect alibi.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIf he\u2019s got a perfect alibi,\u201d I retorted, \u201cwhy doesn\u2019t he come forward and say so?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMight get the girl into trouble,\u201d said Caroline sapiently. \u201cBut if M. Poirot gets hold of her, and puts it to her as her duty, she\u2019ll come forward of her own accord and clear Ralph.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou seem to have invented a romantic fairy story of your own,\u201d I said. \u201cYou read too many trashy novels, Caroline. I\u2019ve always told you so.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I dropped into my chair again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cDid Poirot ask you any more questions?\u201d I inquired.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOnly about the patients you had that morning.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe patients?\u201d I demanded, unbelievingly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYes, your surgery patients. How many and who they were?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cDo you mean to say you were able to tell him that?\u201d I demanded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 143<\/p>\n\n\n\n Caroline is really amazing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhy not?\u201d asked my sister triumphantly. \u201cI can see the path up to the surgery door perfectly from this window. And I\u2019ve got an excellent memory, James. Much better than yours, let me tell you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019m sure you have,\u201d I murmured mechanically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n My sister went on, checking the names on her fingers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThere was old Mrs. Bennett, and that boy from the farm with the bad finger, Dolly Grice to have a needle out of her finger; that American steward off the liner. Let me see\u2014that\u2019s four. Yes, and old George Evans with his ulcer. And lastly\u2014\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n She paused significantly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWell?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Caroline brought out her climax triumphantly. She hissed in the most approved style\u2014aided by the fortunate number of s\u2019s at her disposal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMiss Russell!<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n She sat back in her chair and looked at me meaningly, and when Caroline looks at you meaningly, it is impossible to miss it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI don\u2019t know what you mean,\u201d I said, quite untruthfully. \u201cWhy shouldn\u2019t Miss Russell consult me about her bad knee?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBad knee,\u201d said Caroline. \u201cFiddlesticks! No more bad knee than you and I. She was after something else.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhat?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Caroline had to admit that she didn\u2019t know.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBut depend upon it, that was what he was trying to144 get at, M. Poirot, I mean. There\u2019s something fishy about that woman, and he knows it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cPrecisely the remark Mrs. Ackroyd made to me yesterday,\u201d I said. \u201cThat there was something fishy about Miss Russell.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAh!\u201d said Caroline darkly, \u201cMrs. Ackroyd! There\u2019s another!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAnother what?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Caroline refused to explain her remarks. She merely nodded her head several times, rolled up her knitting, and went upstairs to don the high mauve silk blouse and the gold locket which she calls dressing for dinner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I stayed there staring into the fire and thinking over Caroline\u2019s words. Had Poirot really come to gain information about Miss Russell, or was it only Caroline\u2019s tortuous mind that interpreted everything according to her own ideas?<\/p>\n\n\n\n There had certainly been nothing in Miss Russell\u2019s manner that morning to arouse suspicion. At least\u2014\u2014<\/p>\n\n\n\n I remembered her persistent conversation on the subject of drug-taking and from that she had led the conversation to poisons and poisoning. But there was nothing in that. Ackroyd had not been poisoned. Still, it was odd….<\/p>\n\n\n\n I heard Caroline\u2019s voice, rather acid in note, calling from the top of the stairs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cJames, you will be late for dinner.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I put some coal on the fire and went upstairs obediently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It is well at any price to have peace in the home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 145<\/p>\n\n\n\n ROUND THE TABLE<\/p>\n\n\n\n A joint inquest was held on Monday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I do not propose to give the proceedings in detail. To do so would only be to go over the same ground again and again. By arrangement with the police, very little was allowed to come out. I gave evidence as to the cause of Ackroyd\u2019s death and the probable time. The absence of Ralph Paton was commented on by the coroner, but not unduly stressed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Afterwards, Poirot and I had a few words with Inspector Raglan. The inspector was very grave.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt looks bad, Mr. Poirot,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m trying to judge the thing fair and square. I\u2019m a local man, and I\u2019ve seen Captain Paton many times in Cranchester. I\u2019m not wanting him to be the guilty one\u2014but it\u2019s bad whichever way you look at it. If he\u2019s innocent, why doesn\u2019t he come forward? We\u2019ve got evidence against him, but it\u2019s just possible that that evidence could be explained away. Then why doesn\u2019t he give an explanation?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n A lot more lay behind the inspector\u2019s words than I knew at the time. Ralph\u2019s description had been wired to every port and railway station in England. The police everywhere were on the alert. His rooms in town were watched, and any houses he had been known to be in146 the habit of frequenting. With such a cordon<\/em> it seemed impossible that Ralph should be able to evade detection. He had no luggage, and, as far as any one knew, no money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI can\u2019t find any one who saw him at the station that night,\u201d continued the inspector. \u201cAnd yet he\u2019s well known down here, and you\u2019d think somebody would have noticed him. There\u2019s no news from Liverpool either.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou think he went to Liverpool?\u201d queried Poirot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWell, it\u2019s on the cards. That telephone message from the station, just three minutes before the Liverpool express left\u2014there ought to be something in that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cUnless it was deliberately intended to throw you off the scent. That might just possibly be the point of the telephone message.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThat\u2019s an idea,\u201d said the inspector eagerly. \u201cDo you really think that\u2019s the explanation of the telephone call?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMy friend,\u201d said Poirot gravely, \u201cI do not know. But I will tell you this: I believe that when we find the explanation of that telephone call we shall find the explanation of the murder.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou said something like that before, I remember,\u201d I observed, looking at him curiously.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Poirot nodded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI always come back to it,\u201d he said seriously.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt seems to me utterly irrelevant,\u201d I declared.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI wouldn\u2019t say that,\u201d demurred the inspector. \u201cBut I must confess I think Mr. Poirot here harps on it a little too much. We\u2019ve better clews than that. The fingerprints on the dagger, for instance.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n 147<\/p>\n\n\n\n Poirot became suddenly very foreign in manner, as he often did when excited over anything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cM. l\u2019Inspecteur,\u201d he said, \u201cbeware of the blind\u2014the blind\u2014comment dire?<\/em>\u2014the little street that has no end to it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Inspector Raglan stared, but I was quicker.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou mean a blind alley?\u201d I said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThat is it\u2014the blind street that leads nowhere. So it may be with those fingerprints\u2014they may lead you nowhere.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI don\u2019t see how that can well be,\u201d said the police officer. \u201cI suppose you\u2019re hinting that they\u2019re faked? I\u2019ve read of such things being done, though I can\u2019t say I\u2019ve ever come across it in my experience. But fake or true\u2014they\u2019re bound to lead somewhere<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Poirot merely shrugged his shoulders, flinging out his arms wide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The inspector then showed us various enlarged photographs of the fingerprints, and proceeded to become technical on the subject of loops and whorls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cCome now,\u201d he said at last, annoyed by Poirot\u2019s detached manner, \u201cyou\u2019ve got to admit that those prints were made by some one who was in the house that night?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBien entendu<\/em>,\u201d said Poirot, nodding his head.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWell, I\u2019ve taken the prints of every member of the household, every one, mind you, from the old lady down to the kitchenmaid.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I don\u2019t think Mrs. Ackroyd would enjoy being referred to as the old lady. She must spend a considerable amount on cosmetics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 148<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cEvery one\u2019s,\u201d repeated the inspector fussily.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIncluding mine,\u201d I said dryly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cVery well. None of them correspond. That leaves us two alternatives. Ralph Paton, or the mysterious stranger the doctor here tells us about. When we get hold of those two\u2014\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMuch valuable time may have been lost,\u201d broke in Poirot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI don\u2019t quite get you, Mr. Poirot?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou have taken the prints of every one in the house, you say,\u201d murmured Poirot. \u201cIs that the exact truth you are telling me there, M. l\u2019Inspecteur?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cCertainly.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWithout overlooking any one?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWithout overlooking any one.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe quick or the dead?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n For a moment the inspector looked bewildered at what he took to be a religious observation. Then he reacted slowly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou mean\u2014\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe dead, M. l\u2019Inspecteur.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The inspector still took a minute or two to understand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI am suggesting,\u201d said Poirot placidly, \u201cthat the fingerprints on the dagger handle are those of Mr. Ackroyd himself. It is an easy matter to verify. His body is still available.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBut why? What would be the point of it? You\u2019re surely not suggesting suicide, Mr. Poirot?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAh! no. My theory is that the murderer wore gloves149 or wrapped something round his hand. After the blow was struck, he picked up the victim\u2019s hand and closed it round the dagger handle.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBut why?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Poirot shrugged his shoulders again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cTo make a confusing case even more confusing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWell,\u201d said the inspector, \u201cI\u2019ll look into it. What gave you the idea in the first place?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhen you were so kind as to show me the dagger and draw attention to the fingerprints. I know very little of loops and whorls\u2014see, I confess my ignorance frankly. But it did occur to me that the position of the prints was somewhat awkward. Not so would I have held a dagger in order to strike. Naturally, with the right hand brought up over the shoulder backwards, it would have been difficult to put it in exactly the right position.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Inspector Raglan stared at the little man. Poirot, with an air of great unconcern, flecked a speck of dust from his coat sleeve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWell,\u201d said the inspector, \u201cit\u2019s an idea. I\u2019ll look into it all right, but don\u2019t you be disappointed if nothing comes of it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n He endeavored to make his tone kindly and patronizing. Poirot watched him go off. Then he turned to me with twinkling eyes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAnother time,\u201d he observed, \u201cI must be more careful of his amour propre<\/em>. And now that we are left to our own devices, what do you think, my good friend, of a little reunion of the family?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The \u201clittle reunion,\u201d as Poirot called it, took place150 about half an hour later. We sat round the table in the dining-room at Fernly\u2014Poirot at the head of the table, like the chairman of some ghastly board meeting. The servants were not present, so we were six in all. Mrs. Ackroyd, Flora, Major Blunt, young Raymond, Poirot, and myself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When every one was assembled, Poirot rose and bowed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMessieurs, mesdames, I have called you together for a certain purpose.\u201d He paused. \u201cTo begin with, I want to make a very special plea to mademoiselle.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cTo me?\u201d said Flora.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMademoiselle, you are engaged to Captain Ralph Paton. If any one is in his confidence, you are. I beg you, most earnestly, if you know of his whereabouts, to persuade him to come forward. One little minute\u201d\u2014as Flora raised her head to speak\u2014\u201csay nothing till you have well reflected. Mademoiselle, his position grows daily more dangerous. If he had come forward at once, no matter how damning the facts, he might have had a chance of explaining them away. But this silence\u2014this flight\u2014what can it mean? Surely only one thing, knowledge of guilt. Mademoiselle, if you really believe in his innocence, persuade him to come forward before it is too late.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Flora\u2019s face had gone very white.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cToo late!\u201d she repeated, very low.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Poirot leant forward, looking at her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSee now, mademoiselle,\u201d he said very gently, \u201cit is Papa Poirot who asks you this. The old Papa Poirot who has much knowledge and much experience. I would not151 seek to entrap you, mademoiselle. Will you not trust me\u2014and tell me where Ralph Paton is hiding?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The girl rose, and stood facing him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cM. Poirot,\u201d she said in a clear voice, \u201cI swear to you\u2014swear solemnly\u2014that I have no idea where Ralph is, and that I have neither seen him nor heard from him either on the day of\u2014of the murder, or since.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n She sat down again. Poirot gazed at her in silence for a minute or two, then he brought his hand down on the table with a sharp rap.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBien!<\/em> That is that,\u201d he said. His face hardened. \u201cNow I appeal to these others who sit round this table, Mrs. Ackroyd, Major Blunt, Dr. Sheppard, Mr. Raymond. You are all friends and intimates of the missing man. If you know where Ralph Paton is hiding, speak out.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n There was a long silence. Poirot looked to each in turn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI beg of you,\u201d he said in a low voice, \u201cspeak out.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n But still there was silence, broken at last by Mrs. Ackroyd.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI must say,\u201d she observed in a plaintive voice, \u201cthat Ralph\u2019s absence is most peculiar\u2014most peculiar indeed. Not to come forward at such a time. It looks, you know, as though there were something behind<\/em> it. I can\u2019t help thinking, Flora dear, that it was a very fortunate thing your engagement was never formally announced.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMother!\u201d cried Flora angrily.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cProvidence,\u201d declared Mrs. Ackroyd. \u201cI have a devout152 belief in Providence\u2014a divinity that shapes our ends, as Shakespeare\u2019s beautiful line runs.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSurely you don\u2019t make the Almighty directly responsible for thick ankles, Mrs. Ackroyd, do you?\u201d asked Geoffrey Raymond, his irresponsible laugh ringing out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n His idea was, I think, to loosen the tension, but Mrs. Ackroyd threw him a glance of reproach and took out her handkerchief.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cFlora has been saved a terrible amount of notoriety and unpleasantness. Not for a moment that I think dear Ralph had anything to do with poor Roger\u2019s death. I don\u2019t<\/em> think so. But then I have a trusting heart\u2014I always have had, ever since a child. I am loath to believe the worst of any one. But, of course, one must remember that Ralph was in several air raids as a young boy. The results are apparent long after, sometimes, they say. People are not responsible for their actions in the least. They lose control, you know, without being able to help it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMother,\u201d cried Flora, \u201cyou don\u2019t think Ralph did it?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cCome, Mrs. Ackroyd,\u201d said Blunt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI don\u2019t know what to think,\u201d said Mrs. Ackroyd tearfully. \u201cIt\u2019s all very upsetting. What would happen to the estate, I wonder, if Ralph were found guilty?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Raymond pushed his chair away from the table violently. Major Blunt remained very quiet, looking thoughtfully at her. \u201cLike shell-shock, you know,\u201d said Mrs. Ackroyd obstinately, \u201cand I dare say Roger kept him very short of money\u2014with the best intentions, of course. I can see you are all against me, but I do think153 it is very odd that Ralph has not come forward, and I must say I am thankful Flora\u2019s engagement was never announced formally.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt will be to-morrow,\u201d said Flora in a clear voice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cFlora!\u201d cried her mother, aghast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Flora had turned to the secretary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWill you send the announcement to the Morning Post and the Times, please, Mr. Raymond.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIf you are sure that it is wise, Miss Ackroyd,\u201d he replied gravely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n She turned impulsively to Blunt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou understand,\u201d she said. \u201cWhat else can I do? As things are, I must stand by Ralph. Don\u2019t you see that I must?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n She looked very searchingly at him, and after a long pause he nodded abruptly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mrs. Ackroyd burst out into shrill protests. Flora remained unmoved. Then Raymond spoke.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI appreciate your motives, Miss Ackroyd. But don\u2019t you think you\u2019re being rather precipitate? Wait a day or two.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cTo-morrow,\u201d said Flora, in a clear voice. \u201cIt\u2019s no good, mother, going on like this. Whatever else I am, I\u2019m not disloyal to my friends.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cM. Poirot,\u201d Mrs. Ackroyd appealed tearfully, \u201ccan\u2019t you say anything at all?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNothing to be said,\u201d interpolated Blunt. \u201cShe\u2019s doing the right thing. I\u2019ll stand by her through thick and thin.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Flora held out her hand to him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 154<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThank you, Major Blunt,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMademoiselle,\u201d said Poirot, \u201cwill you let an old man congratulate you on your courage and your loyalty? And will you not misunderstand me if I ask you\u2014ask you most solemnly\u2014to postpone the announcement you speak of for at least two days more?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Flora hesitated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI ask it in Ralph Paton\u2019s interests as much as in yours, mademoiselle. You frown. You do not see how that can be. But I assure you that it is so. Pas de blagues<\/em>. You put the case into my hands\u2014you must not hamper me now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Flora paused a few minutes before replying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI do not like it,\u201d she said at last, \u201cbut I will do what you say.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n She sat down again at the table.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAnd now, messieurs et mesdames,\u201d said Poirot rapidly, \u201cI will continue with what I was about to say. Understand this, I mean to arrive at the truth. The truth, however ugly in itself, is always curious and beautiful to the seeker after it. I am much aged, my powers may not be what they were.\u201d Here he clearly expected a contradiction. \u201cIn all probability this is the last case I shall ever investigate. But Hercule Poirot does not end with a failure. Messieurs et mesdames, I tell you, I mean to know<\/em>. And I shall know\u2014in spite of you all.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n He brought out the last words provocatively, hurling them in our face as it were. I think we all flinched back a little, excepting Geoffrey Raymond, who remained good humored and imperturbable as usual.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 155<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHow do you mean\u2014in spite of us all?\u201d he asked, with slightly raised eyebrows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBut\u2014just that, monsieur. Every one of you in this room is concealing something from me.\u201d He raised his hand as a faint murmur of protest arose. \u201cYes, yes, I know what I am saying. It may be something unimportant\u2014trivial\u2014which is supposed to have no bearing on the case, but there it is. Each one of you has something to hide.<\/em> Come, now, am I right?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n His glance, challenging and accusing, swept round the table. And every pair of eyes dropped before his. Yes, mine as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI am answered,\u201d said Poirot, with a curious laugh. He got up from his seat. \u201cI appeal to you all. Tell me the truth\u2014the whole truth.\u201d There was a silence. \u201cWill no one speak?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n He gave the same short laugh again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cC\u2019est dommage<\/em>,\u201d he said, and went out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 156<\/p>\n\n\n\n THE GOOSE QUILL<\/p>\n\n\n\n That evening, at Poirot\u2019s request, I went over to his house after dinner. Caroline saw me depart with visible reluctance. I think she would have liked to have accompanied me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Poirot greeted me hospitably. He had placed a bottle of Irish whisky (which I detest) on a small table, with a soda water siphon and a glass. He himself was engaged in brewing hot chocolate. It was a favorite beverage of his, I discovered later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He inquired politely after my sister, whom he declared to be a most interesting woman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019m afraid you\u2019ve been giving her a swelled head,\u201d I said dryly. \u201cWhat about Sunday afternoon?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n He laughed and twinkled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI always like to employ the expert,\u201d he remarked obscurely, but he refused to explain the remark.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou got all the local gossip anyway,\u201d I remarked. \u201cTrue, and untrue.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAnd a great deal of valuable information,\u201d he added quietly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSuch as\u2014\u2014?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n He shook his head.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhy not have told me the truth?\u201d he countered.157 \u201cIn a place like this, all Ralph Paton\u2019s doings were bound to be known. If your sister had not happened to pass through the wood that day somebody else would have done so.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI suppose they would,\u201d I said grumpily. \u201cWhat about this interest of yours in my patients?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Again he twinkled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOnly one of them, doctor. Only one of them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe last?\u201d I hazarded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI find Miss Russell a study of the most interesting,\u201d he said evasively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cDo you agree with my sister and Mrs. Ackroyd that there is something fishy about her?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cEh? What do you say\u2014fishy?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I explained to the best of my ability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAnd they say that, do they?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cDidn\u2019t my sister convey as much to you yesterday afternoon?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cC\u2019est possible.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cFor no reason whatever,\u201d I declared.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cLes femmes<\/em>,\u201d generalized Poirot. \u201cThey are marvelous! They invent haphazard\u2014and by miracle they are right. Not that it is that, really. Women observe subconsciously a thousand little details, without knowing that they are doing so. Their subconscious mind adds these little things together\u2014and they call the result intuition. Me, I am very skilled in psychology. I know these things.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n He swelled his chest out importantly, looking so ridiculous, that I found it difficult not to burst out laughing.158 Then he took a small sip of his chocolate, and carefully wiped his mustache.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI wish you\u2019d tell me,\u201d I burst out, \u201cwhat you really think of it all?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n He put down his cup.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou wish that?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI do.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou have seen what I have seen. Should not our ideas be the same?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019m afraid you\u2019re laughing at me,\u201d I said stiffly. \u201cOf course, I\u2019ve no experience of matters of this kind.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Poirot smiled at me indulgently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou are like the little child who wants to know the way the engine works. You wish to see the affair, not as the family doctor sees it, but with the eye of a detective who knows and cares for no one\u2014to whom they are all strangers and all equally liable to suspicion.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou put it very well,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSo I give you then, a little lecture. The first thing is to get a clear history of what happened that evening\u2014always bearing in mind that the person who speaks may be lying.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I raised my eyebrows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cRather a suspicious attitude.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBut necessary\u2014I assure you, necessary. Now first\u2014Dr. Sheppard leaves the house at ten minutes to nine. How do I know that?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBecause I told you so.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBut you might not be speaking the truth\u2014or the watch you went by might be wrong. But Parker also says159 that you left the house at ten minutes to nine. So we accept that statement and pass on. At nine o\u2019clock you run into a man\u2014and here we come to what we will call the Romance of the Mysterious Stranger\u2014just outside the Park gates. How do I know that that is so?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI told you so,\u201d I began again, but Poirot interrupted me with a gesture of impatience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAh! but it is that you are a little stupid to-night, my friend. You<\/em> know that it is so\u2014but how am I<\/em> to know? Eh bien<\/em>, I am able to tell you that the Mysterious Stranger was not a hallucination on your part, because the maid of a Miss Ganett met him a few minutes before you did, and of her too he inquired the way to Fernly Park. We accept his presence, therefore, and we can be fairly sure of two things about him\u2014that he was a stranger to the neighborhood, and that whatever his object in going to Fernly, there was no great secrecy about it, since he twice asked the way there.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYes,\u201d I said, \u201cI see that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNow I have made it my business to find out more about this man. He had a drink at the Three Boars, I learn, and the barmaid there says that he spoke with an American accent and mentioned having just come over from the States. Did it strike you that he had an American accent?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYes, I think he had,\u201d I said, after a minute or two, during which I cast my mind back; \u201cbut a very slight one.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cPr\u00e9cis\u00e9ment.<\/em> There is also this which, you will remember, I picked up in the summer-house?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n 160<\/p>\n\n\n\n He held out to me the little quill. I looked at it curiously. Then a memory of something I had read stirred in me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Poirot, who had been watching my face, nodded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYes, heroin \u2018snow.\u2019 Drug-takers carry it like this, and sniff it up the nose.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cDiamorphine hydrochloride,\u201d I murmured mechanically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis method of taking the drug is very common on the other side. Another proof, if we wanted one, that the man came from Canada or the States.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhat first attracted your attention to that summer-house?\u201d I asked curiously.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMy friend the inspector took it for granted that any one using that path did so as a short cut to the house, but as soon as I saw the summer-house, I realized that the same path would be taken by any one using the summer-house as a rendezvous. Now it seems fairly certain that the stranger came neither to the front nor to the back door. Then did some one from the house go out and meet him? If so, what could be a more convenient place than that little summer-house? I searched it with the hope that I might find some clew inside. I found two, the scrap of cambric and the quill.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAnd the scrap of cambric?\u201d I asked curiously. \u201cWhat about that?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Poirot raised his eyebrows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou do not use your little gray cells,\u201d he remarked dryly. \u201cThe scrap of starched cambric should be obvious.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n 161<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNot very obvious to me.\u201d I changed the subject. \u201cAnyway,\u201d I said, \u201cthis man went to the summer-house to meet somebody. Who was that somebody?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cExactly the question,\u201d said Poirot. \u201cYou will remember that Mrs. Ackroyd and her daughter came over from Canada to live here?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIs that what you meant to-day when you accused them of hiding the truth?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cPerhaps. Now another point. What did you think of the parlormaid\u2019s story?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhat story?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe story of her dismissal. Does it take half an hour to dismiss a servant? Was the story of those important papers a likely one? And remember, though she says she was in her bedroom from nine-thirty until ten o\u2019clock, there is no one to confirm her statement.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou bewilder me,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cTo me it grows clearer. But tell me now your own ideas and theories.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I drew a piece of paper from my pocket.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI just scribbled down a few suggestions,\u201d I said apologetically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBut excellent\u2014you have method. Let us hear them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I read out in a somewhat embarrassed voice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cTo begin with, one must look at the thing logically\u2014\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cJust what my poor Hastings used to say,\u201d interrupted Poirot, \u201cbut alas! he never did so.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cPoint No.<\/abbr> 1.<\/em>\u2014Mr. Ackroyd was heard talking to some one at half-past nine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 162<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cPoint No.<\/abbr> 2.<\/em>\u2014At some time during the evening Ralph Paton must have come in through the window, as evidenced by the prints of his shoes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cPoint No.<\/abbr> 3.<\/em>\u2014Mr. Ackroyd was nervous that evening, and would only have admitted some one he knew.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cPoint No.<\/abbr> 4.<\/em>\u2014The person with Mr. Ackroyd at nine-thirty was asking for money. We know Ralph Paton was in a scrape.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThese four points go to show that the person with Mr. Ackroyd at nine-thirty was Ralph Paton. But we know that Mr. Ackroyd was alive at a quarter to ten, therefore it was not Ralph who killed him. Ralph left the window open. Afterwards the murderer came in that way.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAnd who was the murderer?\u201d inquired Poirot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe American stranger. He may have been in league with Parker, and possibly in Parker we have the man who blackmailed Mrs. Ferrars. If so, Parker may have heard enough to realize the game was up, have told his accomplice so, and the latter did the crime with the dagger which Parker gave him.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt is a theory that,\u201d admitted Poirot. \u201cDecidedly you have cells of a kind. But it leaves a good deal unaccounted for.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSuch as\u2014\u2014?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe telephone call, the pushed-out chair\u2014\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cDo you really think the latter important?\u201d I interrupted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cPerhaps not,\u201d admitted my friend. \u201cIt may have been pulled out by accident, and Raymond or Blunt may have shoved it into place unconsciously under the stress163 of emotion. Then there is the missing forty pounds.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cGiven by Ackroyd to Ralph,\u201d I suggested. \u201cHe may have reconsidered his first refusal.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThat still leaves one thing unexplained?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhy was Blunt so certain in his own mind that it was Raymond with Mr. Ackroyd at nine-thirty?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHe explained that,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou think so? I will not press the point. Tell me instead, what were Ralph Paton\u2019s reasons for disappearing?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThat\u2019s rather more difficult,\u201d I said slowly. \u201cI shall have to speak as a medical man. Ralph\u2019s nerves must have gone phut! If he suddenly found out that his uncle had been murdered within a few minutes of his leaving him\u2014after, perhaps, a rather stormy interview\u2014well, he might get the wind up and clear right out. Men have been known to do that\u2014act guiltily when they\u2019re perfectly innocent.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYes, that is true,\u201d said Poirot. \u201cBut we must not lose sight of one thing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI know what you\u2019re going to say,\u201d I remarked: \u201cmotive. Ralph Paton inherits a great fortune by his uncle\u2019s death.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThat is one motive,\u201d agreed Poirot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOne?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMais oui.<\/em> Do you realize that there are three separate motives staring us in the face. Somebody certainly stole the blue envelope and its contents. That is one motive. Blackmail! Ralph Paton may have been the164 man who blackmailed Mrs. Ferrars. Remember, as far as Hammond knew, Ralph Paton had not applied to his uncle for help of late. That looks as though he were being supplied with money elsewhere. Then there is the fact that he was in some\u2014how do you say\u2014scrape?\u2014which he feared might get to his uncle\u2019s ears. And finally there is the one you have just mentioned.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cDear me,\u201d I said, rather taken aback. \u201cThe case does seem black against him.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cDoes it?\u201d said Poirot. \u201cThat is where we disagree, you and I. Three motives\u2014it is almost too much. I am inclined to believe that, after all, Ralph Paton is innocent.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n 165<\/p>\n\n\n\n MRS. ACKROYD<\/p>\n\n\n\n After the evening talk I have just chronicled, the affair seemed to me to enter on a different phase. The whole thing can be divided into two parts, each clear and distinct from the other. Part I. ranges from Ackroyd\u2019s death on the Friday evening to the following Monday night. It is the straight-forward narrative of what occurred, as presented to Hercule Poirot. I was at Poirot\u2019s elbow the whole time. I saw what he saw. I tried my best to read his mind. As I know now, I failed in this latter task. Though Poirot showed me all his discoveries\u2014as, for instance, the gold wedding-ring\u2014he held back the vital and yet logical impressions that he formed. As I came to know later, this secrecy was characteristic of him. He would throw out hints and suggestions, but beyond that he would not go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As I say, up till the Monday evening, my narrative might have been that of Poirot himself. I played Watson to his Sherlock. But after Monday our ways diverged. Poirot was busy on his own account. I got to hear of what he was doing, because, in King\u2019s Abbot, you get to hear of everything, but he did not take me into his confidence beforehand. And I, too, had my own preoccupations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 166<\/p>\n\n\n\n On looking back, the thing that strikes me most is the piecemeal character of this period. Every one had a hand in the elucidation of the mystery. It was rather like a jig-saw puzzle to which every one contributed their own little piece of knowledge or discovery. But their task ended there. To Poirot alone belongs the renown of fitting those pieces into their correct place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Some of the incidents seemed at the time irrelevant and unmeaning. There was, for instance, the question of the black boots. But that comes later…. To take things strictly in chronological order, I must begin with the summons from Mrs. Ackroyd.<\/p>\n\n\n\n She sent for me early on Tuesday morning, and since the summons sounded an urgent one, I hastened there, expecting to find her in extremis<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The lady was in bed. So much did she concede to the etiquette of the situation. She gave me her bony hand, and indicated a chair drawn up to the bedside.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWell, Mrs. Ackroyd,\u201d I said, \u201cand what\u2019s the matter with you?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I spoke with that kind of spurious geniality which seems to be expected of general practitioners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019m prostrated,\u201d said Mrs. Ackroyd in a faint voice. \u201cAbsolutely prostrated. It\u2019s the shock of poor Roger\u2019s death. They say these things often aren\u2019t felt at the time<\/em>, you know. It\u2019s the reaction afterwards.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n It is a pity that a doctor is precluded by his profession from being able sometimes to say what he really thinks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I would have given anything to be able to answer \u201cBunkum!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n 167<\/p>\n\n\n\n Instead, I suggested a tonic. Mrs. Ackroyd accepted the tonic. One move in the game seemed now to be concluded. Not for a moment did I imagine that I had been sent for because of the shock occasioned by Ackroyd\u2019s death. But Mrs. Ackroyd is totally incapable of pursuing a straight-forward course on any subject. She always approaches her object by tortuous means. I wondered very much why it was she had sent for me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAnd then that scene\u2014yesterday,\u201d continued my patient.<\/p>\n\n\n\n She paused as though expecting me to take up a cue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhat scene?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cDoctor, how can you? Have you forgotten? That dreadful little Frenchman\u2014or Belgian\u2014or whatever he is. Bullying us all like he did. It has quite upset me. Coming on top of Roger\u2019s death.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019m very sorry, Mrs. Ackroyd,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI don\u2019t know what he meant\u2014shouting at us like he did. I should hope I know my duty too well to dream<\/em> of concealing anything. I have given the police every<\/em> assistance in my power.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mrs. Ackroyd paused, and I said, \u201cQuite so.\u201d I was beginning to have a glimmering of what all the trouble was about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNo one can say that I have failed in my duty,\u201d continued Mrs. Ackroyd. \u201cI am sure Inspector Raglan is perfectly satisfied. Why should this little upstart of a foreigner make a fuss? A most ridiculous-looking creature he is too\u2014just like a comic Frenchman in a revue. I can\u2019t think why Flora insisted on bringing him into the168 case. She never said a word to me about it. Just went off and did it on her own. Flora is too independent. I am a woman of the world and her mother. She should have come to me for advice first.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I listened to all this in silence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhat does he think? That\u2019s what I want to know. Does he actually imagine I\u2019m hiding something? He\u2014he\u2014positively accused<\/em> me yesterday.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I shrugged my shoulders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt is surely of no consequence, Mrs. Ackroyd,\u201d I said. \u201cSince you are not concealing anything, any remarks he may have made do not apply to you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mrs. Ackroyd went off at a tangent, after her usual fashion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cServants are so tiresome,\u201d she said. \u201cThey gossip, and talk amongst themselves. And then it gets round\u2014and all the time there\u2019s probably nothing in it at all.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHave the servants been talking?\u201d I asked. \u201cWhat about?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mrs. Ackroyd cast a very shrewd glance at me. It quite threw me off my balance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI was sure you\u2019d<\/em> know, doctor, if any one did. You were with M. Poirot all the time, weren\u2019t you?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI was.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThen of course you know. It was that girl, Ursula Bourne, wasn\u2019t it? Naturally\u2014she\u2019s leaving. She would<\/em> want to make all the trouble she could. Spiteful, that\u2019s what they are. They\u2019re all alike. Now, you being there, doctor, you must know exactly what she did say? I\u2019m most anxious that no wrong impression should get about.169 After all, you don\u2019t repeat every little detail to the police, do you? There are family matters sometimes\u2014nothing to do with the question of the murder. But if the girl was spiteful, she may have made out all sorts of things.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I was shrewd enough to see that a very real anxiety lay behind these outpourings. Poirot had been justified in his premises. Of the six people round the table yesterday, Mrs. Ackroyd at least had had something to hide. It was for me to discover what that something might be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIf I were you, Mrs. Ackroyd,\u201d I said brusquely, \u201cI should make a clean breast of things.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n She gave a little scream.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOh! doctor, how can you be so abrupt. It sounds as though\u2014as though\u2014\u2014And I can explain everything so simply.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThen why not do so,\u201d I suggested.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mrs. Ackroyd took out a frilled handkerchief, and became tearful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI thought, doctor, that you might put it to M. Poirot\u2014explain it, you know\u2014because it\u2019s so difficult for a foreigner to see our point of view. And you don\u2019t know\u2014nobody could know\u2014what I\u2019ve had to contend with. A martyrdom\u2014a long martyrdom. That\u2019s what my life has been. I don\u2019t like to speak ill of the dead\u2014but there it is. Not the smallest bill, but it had all to be gone over\u2014just as though Roger had had a few miserly hundreds a year instead of being (as Mr. Hammond told me yesterday) one of the wealthiest men in these parts.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mrs. Ackroyd paused to dab her eyes with the frilled handkerchief.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 170<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYes,\u201d I said encouragingly. \u201cYou were talking about bills?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThose dreadful bills. And some I didn\u2019t like to show Roger at all. They were things a man wouldn\u2019t understand. He would have said the things weren\u2019t necessary. And of course they mounted up, you know, and they kept coming in\u2014\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n She looked at me appealingly, as though asking me to condole with her on this striking peculiarity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt\u2019s a habit they have,\u201d I agreed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAnd the tone altered\u2014became quite abusive. I assure you, doctor, I was becoming a nervous wreck. I couldn\u2019t sleep at nights. And a dreadful fluttering round the heart. And then I got a letter from a Scotch gentleman\u2014as a matter of fact there were two letters\u2014both Scotch gentlemen. Mr. Bruce MacPherson was one, and the other were Colin MacDonald. Quite a coincidence.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHardly that,\u201d I said dryly. \u201cThey are usually Scotch gentlemen, but I suspect a Semitic strain in their ancestry.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cTen pounds to ten thousand on note of hand alone,\u201d murmured Mrs. Ackroyd reminiscently. \u201cI wrote to one of them, but it seemed there were difficulties.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n She paused.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I gathered that we were just coming to delicate ground. I have never known any one more difficult to bring to the point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou see,\u201d murmured Mrs. Ackroyd, \u201cit\u2019s all a question of expectations, isn\u2019t it? Testamentary expectations. And though, of course, I expected that Roger171 would provide for me, I didn\u2019t know<\/em>. I thought that if only I could glance over a copy of his will\u2014not in any sense of vulgar prying\u2014but just so that I could make my own arrangements.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n She glanced sideways at me. The position was now very delicate indeed. Fortunately words, ingeniously used, will serve to mask the ugliness of naked facts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI could only tell this to you, dear Dr. Sheppard,\u201d said Mrs. Ackroyd rapidly. \u201cI can trust you not to misjudge me, and to represent the matter in the right light to M. Poirot. It was on Friday afternoon\u2014\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n She came to a stop and swallowed uncertainly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYes,\u201d I repeated encouragingly. \u201cOn Friday afternoon. Well?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cEvery one was out, or so I thought. And I went into Roger\u2019s study\u2014I had some real reason for going there\u2014I mean, there was nothing underhand about it. And as I saw all the papers heaped on the desk, it just came to me, like a flash: \u2018I wonder if Roger keeps his will in one of the drawers of the desk.\u2019 I\u2019m so impulsive, always was, from a child. I do things on the spur of the moment. He\u2019d left his keys\u2014very careless of him\u2014in the lock of the top drawer.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI see,\u201d I said helpfully. \u201cSo you searched the desk. Did you find the will?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mrs. Ackroyd gave a little scream, and I realized that I had not been sufficiently diplomatic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHow dreadful it sounds. But it wasn\u2019t at all like that really.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n 172<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOf course it wasn\u2019t,\u201d I said hastily. \u201cYou must forgive my unfortunate way of putting things.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou see, men are so peculiar. In dear Roger\u2019s place, I should not have objected to revealing the provisions of my will. But men are so secretive. One is forced to adopt little subterfuges in self-defence.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAnd the result of the little subterfuge?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThat\u2019s just what I\u2019m telling you. As I got to the bottom drawer, Bourne came in. Most awkward. Of course I shut the drawer and stood up, and I called her attention to a few specks of dust on the surface. But I didn\u2019t like the way she looked\u2014quite respectful in manner, but a very nasty light in her eyes. Almost contemptuous, if you know what I mean. I never have liked that girl very much. She\u2019s a good servant, and she says Ma\u2019am, and doesn\u2019t object to wearing caps and aprons (which I declare to you a lot of them do nowadays), and she can say \u2018Not at home\u2019 without scruples if she has to answer the door instead of Parker, and she doesn\u2019t have those peculiar gurgling noises inside which so many parlormaids seem to have when they wait at table\u2014\u2014Let me see, where was I?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou were saying, that in spite of several valuable qualities, you never liked Bourne.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNo more I do. She\u2019s\u2014odd. There\u2019s something different about her from the others. Too well educated, that\u2019s my opinion. You can\u2019t tell who are ladies and who aren\u2019t nowadays.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAnd what happened next?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNothing. At least, Roger came in. And I thought173 he was out for a walk. And he said: \u2018What\u2019s all this?\u2019 and I said, \u2018Nothing. I just came in to fetch Punch.\u2019 And I took Punch and went out with it. Bourne stayed behind. I heard her asking Roger if she could speak to him for a minute. I went straight up to my room, to lie down. I was very upset.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n There was a pause.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou will explain to M. Poirot, won\u2019t you? You can see for yourself what a trivial matter the whole thing was. But, of course, when he was so stern about concealing things, I thought of this at once. Bourne may have made some extraordinary story out of it, but you can explain, can\u2019t you?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThat is all?\u201d I said. \u201cYou have told me everything?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYe-es,\u201d said Mrs. Ackroyd. \u201cOh! yes,\u201d she added firmly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But I had noted the momentary hesitation, and I knew that there was still something she was keeping back. It was nothing less than a flash of sheer genius that prompted me to ask the question I did.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMrs. Ackroyd,\u201d I said, \u201cwas it you who left the silver table open?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I had my answer in the blush of guilt that even rouge and powder could not conceal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHow did you know?\u201d she whispered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt was you, then?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYes\u2014I\u2014you see\u2014there were one or two pieces of old silver\u2014very interesting. I had been reading up the subject and there was an illustration of quite a small piece which had fetched an immense sum at Christy\u2019s.174 It looked to me just the same as the one in the silver table. I thought I would take it up to London with me when I went\u2014and\u2014and have it valued. Then if it really was a valuable piece, just think what a charming surprise it would have been for Roger?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I refrained from comments, accepting Mrs. Ackroyd\u2019s story on its merits. I even forbore to ask her why it was necessary to abstract what she wanted in such a surreptitious manner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhy did you leave the lid open?\u201d I asked. \u201cDid you forget?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI was startled,\u201d said Mrs. Ackroyd. \u201cI heard footsteps coming along the terrace outside. I hastened out of the room and just got up the stairs before Parker opened the front door to you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThat must have been Miss Russell,\u201d I said thoughtfully. Mrs. Ackroyd had revealed to me one fact that was extremely interesting. Whether her designs upon Ackroyd\u2019s silver had been strictly honorable I neither knew nor cared. What did interest me was the fact that Miss Russell must have entered the drawing-room by the window, and that I had not been wrong when I judged her to be out of breath with running. Where had she been? I thought of the summer-house and the scrap of cambric.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI wonder if Miss Russell has her handkerchiefs starched!\u201d I exclaimed on the spur of the moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mrs. Ackroyd\u2019s start recalled me to myself, and I rose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 175<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou think you can explain to M. Poirot?\u201d she asked anxiously.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOh, certainly. Absolutely.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I got away at last, after being forced to listen to more justifications of her conduct.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The parlormaid was in the hall, and it was she who helped me on with my overcoat. I observed her more closely than I had done heretofore. It was clear that she had been crying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHow is it,\u201d I asked, \u201cthat you told us that Mr. Ackroyd sent for you on Friday to his study? I hear now that it was you<\/em> who asked to speak to him<\/em>?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n For a minute the girl\u2019s eyes dropped before mine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Then she spoke.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI meant to leave in any case,\u201d she said uncertainly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I said no more. She opened the front door for me. Just as I was passing out, she said suddenly in a low voice:\u2014<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cExcuse me, sir, is there any news of Captain Paton?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I shook my head, looking at her inquiringly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHe ought to come back,\u201d she said. \u201cIndeed\u2014indeed he ought to come back.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n She was looking at me with appealing eyes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cDoes no one know where he is?\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cDo you?\u201d I said sharply.<\/p>\n\n\n\n She shook her head.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNo, indeed. I know nothing. But any one who was a friend to him would tell him this: he ought to come back.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n 176<\/p>\n\n\n\n I lingered, thinking that perhaps the girl would say more. Her next question surprised me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhen do they think the murder was done? Just before ten o\u2019clock?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThat is the idea,\u201d I said. \u201cBetween a quarter to ten and the hour.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNot earlier? Not before a quarter to ten?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I looked at her attentively. She was so clearly eager for a reply in the affirmative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThat\u2019s out of the question,\u201d I said. \u201cMiss Ackroyd saw her uncle alive at a quarter to ten.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n She turned away, and her whole figure seemed to droop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cA handsome girl,\u201d I said to myself as I drove off. \u201cAn exceedingly handsome girl.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Caroline was at home. She had had a visit from Poirot and was very pleased and important about it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI am helping him with the case,\u201d she explained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I felt rather uneasy. Caroline is bad enough as it is. What will she be like with her detective instincts encouraged?<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAre you going round the neighborhood looking for Ralph Paton\u2019s mysterious girl?\u201d I inquired.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI might do that on my own account,\u201d said Caroline. \u201cNo, this is a special thing M. Poirot wants me to find out for him.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhat is it?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHe wants to know whether Ralph Paton\u2019s boots were black or brown,\u201d said Caroline with tremendous solemnity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 177<\/p>\n\n\n\n I stared at her. I see now that I was unbelievably stupid about these boots. I failed altogether to grasp the point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThey were brown shoes,\u201d I said. \u201cI saw them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNot shoes, James, boots. M. Poirot wants to know whether a pair of boots Ralph had with him at the hotel were brown or black. A lot hangs on it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Call me dense if you like. I didn\u2019t see.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAnd how are you going to find out?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Caroline said there would be no difficulty about that. Our Annie\u2019s dearest friend was Miss Ganett\u2019s maid, Clara. And Clara was walking out with the boots at the Three Boars. The whole thing was simplicity itself, and by the aid of Miss Ganett, who co\u00f6perated loyally, at once giving Clara leave of absence, the matter was rushed through at express speed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It was when we were sitting down to lunch that Caroline remarked, with would-be unconcern:\u2014<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAbout those boots of Ralph Paton\u2019s.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWell,\u201d I said, \u201cwhat about them?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cM. Poirot thought they were probably brown. He was wrong. They\u2019re black.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n And Caroline nodded her head several times. She evidently felt that she had scored a point over Poirot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I did not answer. I was puzzling over what the color of a pair of Ralph Paton\u2019s boots had to do with the case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 178<\/p>\n\n\n\n GEOFFREY RAYMOND<\/p>\n\n\n\n I was to have a further proof that day of the success of Poirot\u2019s tactics. That challenge of his had been a subtle touch born of his knowledge of human nature. A mixture of fear and guilt had wrung the truth from Mrs. Ackroyd. She was the first to react.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That afternoon when I returned from seeing my patients, Caroline told me that Geoffrey Raymond had just left.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cDid he want to see me?\u201d I asked, as I hung up my coat in the hall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Caroline was hovering by my elbow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt was M. Poirot he wanted to see,\u201d she said. \u201cHe\u2019d just come from The Larches. M. Poirot was out. Mr. Raymond thought that he might be here, or that you might know where he was.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI haven\u2019t the least idea.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI tried to make him wait,\u201d said Caroline, \u201cbut he said he would call back at The Larches in half an hour, and went away down the village. A great pity, because M. Poirot came in practically the minute after he left.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cCame in here?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNo, to his own house.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHow do you know?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe side window,\u201d said Caroline briefly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 179<\/p>\n\n\n\n It seemed to me that we had now exhausted the topic. Caroline thought otherwise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAren\u2019t you going across?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAcross where?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cTo The Larches, of course.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMy dear Caroline,\u201d I said, \u201cwhat for?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMr. Raymond wanted to see him very particularly,\u201d said Caroline. \u201cYou might hear what it\u2019s all about.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I raised my eyebrows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cCuriosity is not my besetting sin,\u201d I remarked coldly. \u201cI can exist comfortably without knowing exactly what my neighbors are doing and thinking.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cStuff and nonsense, James,\u201d said my sister. \u201cYou want to know just as much as I do. You\u2019re not so honest, that\u2019s all. You always have to pretend.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cReally, Caroline,\u201d I said, and retired into my surgery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ten minutes later Caroline tapped at the door and entered. In her hand she held what seemed to be a pot of jam.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI wonder, James,\u201d she said, \u201cif you would mind taking this pot of medlar jelly across to M. Poirot? I promised it to him. He has never tasted any home-made medlar jelly.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhy can\u2019t Annie go?\u201d I asked coldly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cShe\u2019s doing some mending. I can\u2019t spare her.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Caroline and I looked at each other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cVery well,\u201d I said, rising. \u201cBut if I take the beastly thing, I shall just leave it at the door. You understand that?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n 180<\/p>\n\n\n\n My sister raised her eyebrows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNaturally,\u201d she said. \u201cWho suggested you should do anything else?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The honors were with Caroline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIf you do<\/em> happen to see M. Poirot,\u201d she said, as I opened the front door, \u201cyou might tell him about the boots.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n It was a most subtle parting shot. I wanted dreadfully to understand the enigma of the boots. When the old lady with the Breton cap opened the door to me, I found myself asking if M. Poirot was in, quite automatically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Poirot sprang up to meet me, with every appearance of pleasure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSit down, my good friend,\u201d he said. \u201cThe big chair? This small one? The room is not too hot, no?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I thought it was stifling, but refrained from saying so. The windows were closed, and a large fire burned in the grate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe English people, they have a mania for the fresh air,\u201d declared Poirot. \u201cThe big air, it is all very well outside, where it belongs. Why admit it to the house? But let us not discuss such banalities. You have something for me, yes?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cTwo things,\u201d I said. \u201cFirst\u2014this\u2014from my sister.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I handed over the pot of medlar jelly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHow kind of Mademoiselle Caroline. She has remembered her promise. And the second thing?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cInformation\u2014of a kind.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n 181<\/p>\n\n\n\n And I told him of my interview with Mrs. Ackroyd. He listened with interest, but not much excitement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt clears the ground,\u201d he said thoughtfully. \u201cAnd it has a certain value as confirming the evidence of the housekeeper. She said, you remember, that she found the silver table lid open and closed it down in passing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhat about her statement that she went into the drawing-room to see if the flowers were fresh?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAh! we never took that very seriously, did we, my friend? It was patently an excuse, trumped up in a hurry, by a woman who felt it urgent to explain her presence\u2014which, by the way, you would probably never have thought of questioning. I considered it possible that her agitation might arise from the fact that she had been tampering with the silver table, but I think now that we must look for another cause.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYes,\u201d I said. \u201cWhom did she go out to meet? And why?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou think she went to meet some one?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI do.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Poirot nodded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSo do I,\u201d he said thoughtfully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There was a pause.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBy the way,\u201d I said, \u201cI\u2019ve got a message for you from my sister. Ralph Paton\u2019s boots were black, not brown.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I was watching him closely as I gave the message, and I fancied that I saw a momentary flicker of discomposure. If so, it passed almost immediately.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cShe is absolutely positive they are not brown?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAbsolutely.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n 182<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAh!\u201d said Poirot regretfully. \u201cThat is a pity.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n And he seemed quite crestfallen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He entered into no explanations, but at once started a new subject of conversation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe housekeeper, Miss Russell, who came to consult you on that Friday morning\u2014is it indiscreet to ask what passed at the interview\u2014apart from the medical details, I mean?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNot at all,\u201d I said. \u201cWhen the professional part of the conversation was over, we talked for a few minutes about poisons, and the ease or difficulty of detecting them, and about drug-taking and drug-takers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWith special reference to cocaine?\u201d asked Poirot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHow did you know?\u201d I asked, somewhat surprised.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For answer, the little man rose and crossed the room to where newspapers were filed. He brought me a copy of the Daily Budget, dated Friday, 16th September, and showed me an article dealing with the smuggling of cocaine. It was a somewhat lurid article, written with an eye to picturesque effect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThat is what put cocaine into her head, my friend,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I would have catechized him further, for I did not quite understand his meaning, but at that moment the door opened and Geoffrey Raymond was announced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He came in fresh and debonair as ever, and greeted us both.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHow are you, doctor? M. Poirot, this is the second time I\u2019ve been here this morning. I was anxious to catch you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n 183<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cPerhaps I\u2019d better be off,\u201d I suggested rather awkwardly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNot on my account, doctor. No, it\u2019s just this,\u201d he went on, seating himself at a wave of invitation from Poirot, \u201cI\u2019ve got a confession to make.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cEn verit\u00e9<\/em>?\u201d said Poirot, with an air of polite interest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOh, it\u2019s of no consequence, really. But, as a matter of fact, my conscience has been pricking me ever since yesterday afternoon. You accused us all of keeping back something, M. Poirot. I plead guilty. I\u2019ve had something up my sleeve.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAnd what is that, M. Raymond?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAs I say, it\u2019s nothing of consequence\u2014just this. I was in debt\u2014badly, and that legacy came in the nick of time. Five hundred pounds puts me on my feet again with a little to spare.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n He smiled at us both with that engaging frankness that made him such a likable youngster.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou know how it is. Suspicious looking policeman\u2014don\u2019t like to admit you were hard up for money\u2014think it will look bad to them. But I was a fool, really, because Blunt and I were in the billiard room from a quarter to ten onwards, so I\u2019ve got a watertight alibi and nothing to fear. Still, when you thundered out that stuff about concealing things, I felt a nasty prick of conscience, and I thought I\u2019d like to get it off my mind.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n He got up again and stood smiling at us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou are a very wise young man,\u201d said Poirot, nodding at him with approval. \u201cSee you, when I know that184 any one is hiding things from me, I suspect that the thing hidden may be something very bad indeed. You have done well.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019m glad I\u2019m cleared from suspicion,\u201d laughed Raymond. \u201cI\u2019ll be off now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSo that is that,\u201d I remarked, as the door closed behind the young secretary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYes,\u201d agreed Poirot. \u201cA mere bagatelle\u2014but if he had not been in the billiard room\u2014who knows? After all, many crimes have been committed for the sake of less than five hundred pounds. It all depends on what sum is sufficient to break a man. A question of the relativity, is it not so? Have you reflected, my friend, that many people in that house stood to benefit by Mr. Ackroyd\u2019s death? Mrs. Ackroyd, Miss Flora, young Mr. Raymond, the housekeeper, Miss Russell. Only one, in fact, does not, Major Blunt.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n His tone in uttering that name was so peculiar that I looked up, puzzled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI don\u2019t quite understand you?\u201d I said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cTwo of the people I accused have given me the truth.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou think Major Blunt has something to conceal also?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAs for that,\u201d remarked Poirot nonchalantly, \u201cthere is a saying, is there not, that Englishmen conceal only one thing\u2014their love? And Major Blunt, I should say, is not good at concealments.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSometimes,\u201d I said, \u201cI wonder if we haven\u2019t rather jumped to conclusions on one point.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhat is that?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n 185<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe\u2019ve assumed that the blackmailer of Mrs. Ferrars is necessarily the murderer of Mr. Ackroyd. Mightn\u2019t we be mistaken?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Poirot nodded energetically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cVery good. Very good indeed. I wondered if that idea would come to you. Of course it is possible. But we must remember one point. The letter disappeared. Still, that, as you say, may not necessarily mean that the murderer took it. When you first found the body, Parker may have abstracted the letter unnoticed by you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cParker?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYes, Parker. I always come back to Parker\u2014not as the murderer\u2014no, he did not commit the murder; but who is more suitable than he as the mysterious scoundrel who terrorized Mrs. Ferrars? He may have got his information about Mr. Ferrars\u2019s death from one of the King\u2019s Paddock servants. At any rate, he is more likely to have come upon it than a casual guest such as Blunt, for instance.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cParker might have taken the letter,\u201d I admitted. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t till later that I noticed it was gone.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHow much later? After Blunt and Raymond were in the room, or before?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI can\u2019t remember,\u201d I said slowly. \u201cI think it was before\u2014no, afterwards. Yes, I\u2019m almost sure it was afterwards.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThat widens the field to three,\u201d said Poirot thoughtfully. \u201cBut Parker is the most likely. It is in my mind to try a little experiment with Parker. How say you, my friend, will you accompany me to Fernly?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n 186<\/p>\n\n\n\n I acquiesced, and we set out at once. Poirot asked to see Miss Ackroyd, and presently Flora came to us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMademoiselle Flora,\u201d said Poirot, \u201cI have to confide in you a little secret. I am not yet satisfied of the innocence of Parker. I propose to make a little experiment with your assistance. I want to reconstruct some of his actions on that night. But we must think of something to tell him\u2014ah! I have it. I wish to satisfy myself as to whether voices in the little lobby could have been heard outside on the terrace. Now, ring for Parker, if you will be so good.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I did so, and presently the butler appeared, suave as ever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou rang, sir?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYes, my good Parker. I have in mind a little experiment. I have placed Major Blunt on the terrace outside the study window. I want to see if any one there could have heard the voices of Miss Ackroyd and yourself in the lobby that night. I want to enact that little scene over again. Perhaps you would fetch the tray or whatever it was you were carrying?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Parker vanished, and we repaired to the lobby outside the study door. Presently we heard a chink in the outer hall, and Parker appeared in the doorway carrying a tray with a siphon, a decanter of whisky, and two glasses on it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOne moment,\u201d cried Poirot, raising his hand and seemingly very excited. \u201cWe must have everything in order. Just as it occurred. It is a little method of mine.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n 187<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cA foreign custom, sir,\u201d said Parker. \u201cReconstruction of the crime they call it, do they not?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n He was quite imperturbable as he stood there politely waiting on Poirot\u2019s orders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAh! he knows something, the good Parker,\u201d cried Poirot. \u201cHe has read of these things. Now, I beg you, let us have everything of the most exact. You came from the outer hall\u2014so. Mademoiselle was\u2014where?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHere,\u201d said Flora, taking up her stand just outside the study door.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cQuite right, sir,\u201d said Parker.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI had just closed the door,\u201d continued Flora.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYes, miss,\u201d agreed Parker. \u201cYour hand was still on the handle as it is now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThen allez<\/em>,\u201d said Poirot. \u201cPlay me the little comedy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Flora stood with her hand on the door handle, and Parker came stepping through the door from the hall, bearing the tray.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He stopped just inside the door. Flora spoke.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOh! Parker. Mr. Ackroyd doesn\u2019t want to be disturbed again to-night.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIs that right?\u201d she added in an undertone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cTo the best of my recollection, Miss Flora,\u201d said Parker, \u201cbut I fancy you used the word evening instead of night.\u201d Then, raising his voice in a somewhat theatrical fashion: \u201cVery good, miss. Shall I lock up as usual?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYes, please.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n 188<\/p>\n\n\n\n Parker retired through the door, Flora followed him, and started to ascend the main staircase.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIs that enough?\u201d she asked over her shoulder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAdmirable,\u201d declared the little man, rubbing his hands. \u201cBy the way, Parker, are you sure there were two glasses on the tray that evening? Who was the second one for?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI always bring two glasses, sir,\u201d said Parker. \u201cIs there anything further?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNothing. I thank you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Parker withdrew, dignified to the last.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Poirot stood in the middle of the hall frowning. Flora came down and joined us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHas your experiment been successful?\u201d she asked. \u201cI don\u2019t quite understand, you know\u2014\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Poirot smiled admiringly at her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt is not necessary that you should,\u201d he said. \u201cBut tell me, were there indeed two glasses on Parker\u2019s tray that night?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Flora wrinkled her brows a minute.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI really can\u2019t remember,\u201d she said. \u201cI think there were. Is\u2014is that the object of your experiment?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Poirot took her hand and patted it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cPut it this way,\u201d he said. \u201cI am always interested to see if people will speak the truth.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAnd did Parker speak the truth?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI rather think he did,\u201d said Poirot thoughtfully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A few minutes later saw us retracing our steps to the village.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 189<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhat was the point of that question about the glasses?\u201d I asked curiously.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Poirot shrugged his shoulders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOne must say something,\u201d he remarked. \u201cThat particular question did as well as any other.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I stared at him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAt any rate, my friend,\u201d he said more seriously, \u201cI know now something I wanted to know. Let us leave it at that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n 190<\/p>\n\n\n\n AN EVENING AT MAH JONG<\/p>\n\n\n\n That night we had a little Mah Jong party. This kind of simple entertainment is very popular in King\u2019s Abbot. The guests arrive in goloshes and waterproofs after dinner. They partake of coffee and later of cake, sandwiches, and tea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On this particular night our guests were Miss Ganett, and Colonel Carter, who lives near the church. A good deal of gossip is handed round at these evenings, sometimes seriously interfering with the game in progress. We used to play bridge\u2014chatty bridge of the worst description. We find Mah Jong much more peaceful. The irritated demand as to why on earth your partner did not lead a certain card is entirely done away with, and though we still express criticisms frankly, there is not the same acrimonious spirit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cVery cold evening, eh, Sheppard?\u201d said Colonel Carter, standing with his back to the fire. Caroline had taken Miss Ganett to her own room, and was there assisting her to disentangle herself from her many wraps. \u201cReminds me of the Afghan passes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIndeed?\u201d I said politely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cVery mysterious business this about poor Ackroyd,\u201d continued the colonel, accepting a cup of coffee. \u201cA191 deuce of a lot behind it\u2014that\u2019s what I say. Between you and me, Sheppard, I\u2019ve heard the word blackmail mentioned!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The colonel gave me the look which might be tabulated \u201cone man of the world to another.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cA woman in it, no doubt,\u201d he said. \u201cDepend upon it, a woman in it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Caroline and Miss Ganett joined us at this minute. Miss Ganett drank coffee whilst Caroline got out the Mah Jong box and poured out the tiles upon the table.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWashing the tiles,\u201d said the colonel facetiously. \u201cThat\u2019s right\u2014washing the tiles, as we used to say in the Shanghai Club.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n It is the private opinion of both Caroline and myself that Colonel Carter has never been in the Shanghai Club in his life. More, that he has never been farther east than India, where he juggled with tins of bully beef and plum and apple jam during the Great War. But the colonel is determinedly military, and in King\u2019s Abbot we permit people to indulge their little idiosyncrasies freely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cShall we begin?\u201d said Caroline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We sat round the table. For some five minutes there was complete silence, owing to the fact that there is tremendous secret competition amongst us as to who can build their wall quickest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cGo on, James,\u201d said Caroline at last. \u201cYou\u2019re East Wind.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I discarded a tile. A round or two proceeded, broken by the monotonous remarks of \u201cThree Bamboos,\u201d \u201cTwo Circles,\u201d \u201cPung,\u201d and frequently from Miss Ganett \u201cUnpung,\u201d192 owing to that lady\u2019s habit of too hastily claiming tiles to which she had no right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI saw Flora Ackroyd this morning,\u201d said Miss Ganett. \u201cPung\u2014no\u2014Unpung. I made a mistake.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cFour Circles,\u201d said Caroline. \u201cWhere did you see her?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cShe didn\u2019t see me<\/em>,\u201d said Miss Ganett, with that tremendous significance only to be met with in small villages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAh!\u201d said Caroline interestedly. \u201cChow.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI believe,\u201d said Miss Ganett, temporarily diverted, \u201cthat it\u2019s the right thing nowadays to say \u2018Chee\u2019 not \u2018Chow.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNonsense,\u201d said Caroline. \u201cI have always said \u2018Chow<\/em>.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIn the Shanghai Club,\u201d said Colonel Carter, \u201cthey say \u2018Chow<\/em>.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Miss Ganett retired, crushed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhat were you saying about Flora Ackroyd?\u201d asked Caroline, after a moment or two devoted to the game. \u201cWas she with any one?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cVery much so,\u201d said Miss Ganett.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The eyes of the two ladies met, and seemed to exchange information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cReally,\u201d said Caroline interestedly. \u201cIs that it? Well, it doesn\u2019t surprise me in the least.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe\u2019re waiting for you to discard, Miss Caroline,\u201d said the colonel. He sometimes affects the pose of the bluff male, intent on the game and indifferent to gossip. But nobody is deceived.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 193<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIf you ask me,\u201d said Miss Ganett. (\u201cWas that a Bamboo you discarded, dear? Oh! no, I see now\u2014it was a Circle.) As I was saying, if you ask me, Flora\u2019s been exceedingly lucky. Exceedingly lucky she\u2019s been.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHow\u2019s that, Miss Ganett?\u201d asked the colonel. \u201cI\u2019ll Pung that Green Dragon. How do you make out that Miss Flora\u2019s been lucky? Very charming girl and all that, I know.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI mayn\u2019t know very much about crime,\u201d said Miss Ganett, with the air of one who knows everything there is to know, \u201cbut I can tell you one thing. The first question that\u2019s always asked is \u2018Who last saw the deceased alive?\u2019 And the person who did is regarded with suspicion. Now, Flora Ackroyd last saw her uncle alive. It might have looked very nasty for her\u2014very nasty indeed. It\u2019s my opinion\u2014and I give it for what it\u2019s worth, that Ralph Paton is staying away on her account, to draw suspicion away from her.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cCome, now,\u201d I protested mildly, \u201cyou surely can\u2019t suggest that a young girl like Flora Ackroyd is capable of stabbing her uncle in cold blood?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWell, I don\u2019t know,\u201d said Miss Ganett. \u201cI\u2019ve just been reading a book from the library about the underworld of Paris, and it says that some of the worst women criminals are young girls with the faces of angels.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThat\u2019s in France,\u201d said Caroline instantly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cJust so,\u201d said the colonel. \u201cNow, I\u2019ll tell you a very curious thing\u2014a story that was going round the Bazaars in India….\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The colonel\u2019s story was one of interminable length,194 and of curiously little interest. A thing that happened in India many years ago cannot compare for a moment with an event that took place in King\u2019s Abbot the day before yesterday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It was Caroline who brought the colonel\u2019s story to a close by fortunately going Mah Jong. After the slight unpleasantness always occasioned by my corrections of Caroline\u2019s somewhat faulty arithmetic, we started a new hand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cEast Wind passes,\u201d said Caroline. \u201cI\u2019ve got an idea of my own about Ralph Paton. Three Characters. But I\u2019m keeping it to myself for the present.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAre you, dear?\u201d said Miss Ganett. \u201cChow\u2014I mean Pung.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYes,\u201d said Caroline firmly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWas it all right about the boots?\u201d asked Miss Ganett. \u201cTheir being black, I mean?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cQuite all right,\u201d said Caroline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhat was the point, do you think?\u201d asked Miss Ganett.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Caroline pursed up her lips, and shook her head with an air of knowing all about it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cPung,\u201d said Miss Ganett. \u201cNo\u2014Unpung. I suppose that now the doctor\u2019s in with M. Poirot he knows all the secrets?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cFar from it,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cJames is so modest,\u201d said Caroline. \u201cAh! a concealed Kong.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The colonel gave vent to a whistle. For the moment gossip was forgotten.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 195<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYour own wind, too,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd<\/em> you\u2019ve got two Pungs of Dragons. We must be careful. Miss Caroline\u2019s out for a big hand.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n We played for some minutes with no irrelevant conversation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis M. Poirot now,\u201d said Colonel Carter, \u201cis he really such a great detective?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe greatest the world has ever known,\u201d said Caroline solemnly. \u201cHe had to come here incognito to avoid publicity.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cChow,\u201d said Miss Ganett. \u201cQuite wonderful for our little village, I\u2019m sure. By the way, Clara\u2014my maid, you know\u2014is great friends with Elsie, the housemaid at Fernly, and what do you think Elsie told her? That there\u2019s been a lot of money stolen, and it\u2019s her opinion\u2014Elsie\u2019s\u2014I mean, that the parlormaid had something to do with it. She\u2019s leaving at the month, and she\u2019s crying a good deal at night. If you ask me, the girl is very likely in league with a gang<\/em>. She\u2019s always been a queer girl\u2014she\u2019s not friends with any of the girls round here. She goes off by herself on her days out\u2014very unnatural, I call it, and most suspicious. I asked her once to come to our Girls\u2019 Friendly Evenings, but she refused, and then I asked her a few questions about her home and her family\u2014all that sort of thing, and I\u2019m bound to say I considered her manner most impertinent. Outwardly very respectful\u2014but she shut me up in the most barefaced way.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Miss Ganett stopped for breath, and the colonel, who was totally uninterested in the servant question, remarked196 that in the Shanghai Club brisk play was the invariable rule.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We had a round of brisk play.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThat Miss Russell,\u201d said Caroline. \u201cShe came here pretending to consult James on Friday morning. It\u2019s my opinion she wanted to see where the poisons were kept. Five Characters.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cChow,\u201d said Miss Ganett. \u201cWhat an extraordinary idea? I wonder if you can be right.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cTalking of poisons,\u201d said the colonel. \u201cEh\u2014what? Haven\u2019t I discarded? Oh! Eight Bamboos.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMah Jong!\u201d said Miss Ganett.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Caroline was very much annoyed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOne Red Dragon,\u201d she said regretfully, \u201cand I should have had a hand of three doubles.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019ve had two Red Dragons all the time,\u201d I mentioned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSo exactly like you, James,\u201d said Caroline reproachfully. \u201cYou\u2019ve no conception of the spirit of the game.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I myself thought I had played rather cleverly. I should have had to pay Caroline an enormous amount if she had gone Mah Jong. Miss Ganett\u2019s Mah Jong was of the poorest variety possible, as Caroline did not fail to point out to her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n East Wind passed, and we started a new hand in silence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhat I was going to tell you just now was this,\u201d said Caroline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYes?\u201d said Miss Ganett encouragingly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMy idea about Ralph Paton, I mean.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n 197<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYes, dear,\u201d said Miss Ganett, still more encouragingly. \u201cChow!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt\u2019s a sign of weakness to Chow so early,\u201d said Caroline severely. \u201cYou should go for a big hand.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI know,\u201d said Miss Ganett. \u201cYou were saying\u2014about Ralph Paton, you know?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYes. Well, I\u2019ve a pretty shrewd idea where he is.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n We all stopped to stare at her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis is very interesting, Miss Caroline,\u201d said Colonel Carter. \u201cAll your own idea, eh?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWell, not exactly. I\u2019ll tell you about it. You know that big map of the county we have in the hall?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n We all said Yes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAs M. Poirot was going out the other day, he stopped and looked at it, and he made some remark\u2014I can\u2019t remember exactly what it was. Something about Cranchester being the only big town anywhere near us\u2014which is true, of course. But after he had gone\u2014it came to me suddenly.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhat came to you?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHis meaning. Of course Ralph is in Cranchester.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n It was at that moment that I knocked down the rack that held my pieces. My sister immediately reproved me for clumsiness, but half-heartedly. She was intent on her theory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cCranchester, Miss Caroline?\u201d said Colonel Carter. \u201cSurely not Cranchester! It\u2019s so near.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThat\u2019s exactly it,\u201d cried Caroline triumphantly. \u201cIt seems quite clear by now that he didn\u2019t get away from198 here by train. He must simply have walked into Cranchester. And I believe he\u2019s there still. No one would dream of his being so near at hand.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I pointed out several objections to the theory, but when once Caroline has got something firmly into her head, nothing dislodges it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAnd you think M. Poirot has the same idea,\u201d said Miss Ganett thoughtfully. \u201cIt\u2019s a curious coincidence, but I was out for a walk this afternoon on the Cranchester road, and he passed me in a car coming from that direction.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n We all looked at each other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhy, dear me,\u201d said Miss Ganett suddenly, \u201cI\u2019m Mah Jong all the time, and I never noticed it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Caroline\u2019s attention was distracted from her own inventive exercises. She pointed out to Miss Ganett that a hand consisting of mixed suits and too many Chows was hardly worth going Mah Jong on. Miss Ganett listened imperturbably and collected her counters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYes, dear, I know what you mean,\u201d she said. \u201cBut it rather depends on what kind of a hand you have to start with, doesn\u2019t it?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou\u2019ll never get the big hands if you don\u2019t go for them,\u201d urged Caroline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWell, we must all play our own way, mustn\u2019t we?\u201d said Miss Ganett. She looked down at her counters. \u201cAfter all, I\u2019m up, so far.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Caroline, who was considerably down, said nothing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n East Wind passed, and we set to once more. Annie brought in the tea things. Caroline and Miss Ganett199 were both slightly ruffled as is often the case during one of these festive evenings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIf you would only play a leetle quicker, dear,\u201d said Caroline, as Miss Ganett hesitated over her discard. \u201cThe Chinese put down the tiles so quickly it sounds like little birds pattering.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n For some few minutes we played like the Chinese.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou haven\u2019t contributed much to the sum of information, Sheppard,\u201d said Colonel Carter genially. \u201cYou\u2019re a sly dog. Hand in glove with the great detective, and not a hint as to the way things are going.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cJames is an extraordinary creature,\u201d said Caroline. \u201cHe can not<\/em> bring himself to part with information.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n She looked at me with some disfavor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI assure you,\u201d I said, \u201cthat I don\u2019t know anything. Poirot keeps his own counsel.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWise man,\u201d said the colonel with a chuckle. \u201cHe doesn\u2019t give himself away. But they\u2019re wonderful fellows, these foreign detectives. Up to all sorts of dodges, I believe.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cPung,\u201d said Miss Ganett, in a tone of quiet triumph. \u201cAnd Mah Jong.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The situation became more strained. It was annoyance at Miss Ganett\u2019s going Mah Jong for the third time running which prompted Caroline to say to me as we built a fresh wall:\u2014<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou are too tiresome, James. You sit there like a dead head, and say nothing at all!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBut, my dear,\u201d I protested, \u201cI have really nothing to say\u2014that is, of the kind you mean.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n 200<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNonsense,\u201d said Caroline, as she sorted her hand. \u201cYou must<\/em> know something interesting.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I did not answer for a moment. I was overwhelmed and intoxicated. I had read of there being such a thing as the Perfect Winning\u2014going Mah Jong on one\u2019s original hand. I had never hoped to hold the hand myself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With suppressed triumph I laid my hand face upwards on the table.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAs they say in the Shanghai Club,\u201d I remarked, \u201cTin-ho\u2014the Perfect Winning!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The colonel\u2019s eyes nearly bulged out of his head.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cUpon my soul,\u201d he said. \u201cWhat an extraordinary thing. I never saw that happen before!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n It was then that I went on, goaded by Caroline\u2019s gibes, and rendered reckless by my triumph.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAnd as to anything interesting,\u201d I said. \u201cWhat about a gold wedding ring with a date and \u2018From R.\u2019 inside.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I pass over the scene that followed. I was made to say exactly where this treasure was found. I was made to reveal the date.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMarch 13th,\u201d said Caroline. \u201cJust six months ago. Ah!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Out of the babel of excited suggestions and suppositions three theories were evolved:\u2014<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1. That of Colonel Carter: that Ralph was secretly married to Flora. The first or most simple solution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 2. That of Miss Ganett: that Roger Ackroyd had been secretly married to Mrs. Ferrars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 3. That of my sister: that Roger Ackroyd had married his housekeeper, Miss Russell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 201<\/p>\n\n\n\n A fourth or super-theory was propounded by Caroline later as we went up to bed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMark my words,\u201d she said suddenly, \u201cI shouldn\u2019t be at all surprised if Geoffrey Raymond and Flora weren\u2019t married.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSurely it would be \u2018From G,\u2019 not \u2018From R\u2019 then,\u201d I suggested.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou never know. Some girls call men by their surnames. And you heard what Miss Ganett said this evening\u2014about Flora\u2019s carryings on.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Strictly speaking, I had not heard Miss Ganett say anything of the kind, but I respected Caroline\u2019s knowledge of innuendoes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHow about Hector Blunt,\u201d I hinted. \u201cIf it\u2019s anybody\u2014\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNonsense,\u201d said Caroline. \u201cI dare say he admires her\u2014may even be in love with her. But depend upon it a girl isn\u2019t going to fall in love with a man old enough to be her father when there\u2019s a good-looking young secretary about. She may encourage Major Blunt just as a blind. Girls are very artful. But there\u2019s one thing I do<\/em> tell you, James Sheppard. Flora Ackroyd does not care a penny piece for Ralph Paton, and never has. You can take it from me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I took it from her meekly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 202<\/p>\n\n\n\n PARKER<\/p>\n\n\n\n It occurred to me the next morning that under the exhilaration produced by Tin-ho, or the Perfect Winning, I might have been slightly indiscreet. True, Poirot had not asked me to keep the discovery of the ring to myself. On the other hand, he had said nothing about it whilst at Fernly, and as far as I knew, I was the only person aware that it had been found. I felt distinctly guilty. The fact was by now spreading through King\u2019s Abbot like wildfire. I was expecting wholesale reproaches from Poirot any minute.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The joint funeral of Mrs. Ferrars and Roger Ackroyd was fixed for eleven o\u2019clock. It was a melancholy and impressive ceremony. All the party from Fernly were there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After it was over, Poirot, who had also been present, took me by the arm, and invited me to accompany him back to The Larches. He was looking very grave, and I feared that my indiscretion of the night before had got round to his ears. But it soon transpired that his thoughts were occupied by something of a totally different nature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSee you,\u201d he said. \u201cWe must act. With your help I propose to examine a witness. We will question him, we203 will put such fear into him that the truth is bound to come out.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhat witness are you talking of?\u201d I asked, very much surprised.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cParker!\u201d said Poirot. \u201cI asked him to be at my house this morning at twelve o\u2019clock. He should await us there at this very minute.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhat do you think,\u201d I ventured, glancing sideways at his face.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI know this\u2014that I am not satisfied.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou think that it was he who blackmailed Mrs. Ferrars?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cEither that, or\u2014\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWell?\u201d I said, after waiting a minute or two.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMy friend, I will say this to you\u2014I hope it was he.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The gravity of his manner, and something indefinable that tinged it, reduced me to silence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On arrival at The Larches, we were informed that Parker was already there awaiting our return. As we entered the room, the butler rose respectfully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cGood morning, Parker,\u201d said Poirot pleasantly. \u201cOne instant, I pray of you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n He removed his overcoat and gloves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAllow me, sir,\u201d said Parker, and sprang forward to assist him. He deposited the articles neatly on a chair by the door. Poirot watched him with approval.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThank you, my good Parker,\u201d he said. \u201cTake a seat, will you not? What I have to say may take some time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n 204<\/p>\n\n\n\n Parker seated himself with an apologetic bend of the head.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNow what do you think I asked you to come here for this morning\u2014eh?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Parker coughed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI understood, sir, that you wished to ask me a few questions about my late master\u2014private like.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cPr\u00e9cis\u00e9ment<\/em>,\u201d said Poirot, beaming. \u201cHave you made many experiments in blackmail?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSir!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The butler sprang to his feet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cDo not excite yourself,\u201d said Poirot placidly. \u201cDo not play the farce of the honest, injured man. You know all there is to know about the blackmail, is it not so?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSir, I\u2014I\u2019ve never\u2014never been\u2014\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cInsulted,\u201d suggested Poirot, \u201cin such a way before. Then why, my excellent Parker, were you so anxious to overhear the conversation in Mr. Ackroyd\u2019s study the other evening, after you had caught the word blackmail?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI wasn\u2019t\u2014I\u2014\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWho was your last master?\u201d rapped out Poirot suddenly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMy last master?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYes, the master you were with before you came to Mr. Ackroyd.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cA Major Ellerby, sir\u2014\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Poirot took the words out of his mouth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cJust so, Major Ellerby. Major Ellerby was addicted to drugs, was he not? You traveled about with him. When he was in Bermuda there was some trouble\u2014a man205 was killed. Major Ellerby was partly responsible. It was hushed up. But you knew about it. How much did Major Ellerby pay you to keep your mouth shut?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Parker was staring at him open-mouthed. The man had gone to pieces, his cheeks shook flabbily.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou see, me, I have made inquiries,\u201d said Poirot pleasantly. \u201cIt is as I say. You got a good sum then as blackmail, and Major Ellerby went on paying you until he died. Now I want to hear about your latest experiment.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Parker still stared.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt is useless to deny. Hercule Poirot knows<\/em>. It is so, what I have said about Major Ellerby, is it not?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n As though against his will, Parker nodded reluctantly once. His face was ashen pale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBut I never hurt a hair of Mr. Ackroyd\u2019s head,\u201d he moaned. \u201cHonest to God, sir, I didn\u2019t. I\u2019ve been afraid of this coming all the time. And I tell you I didn\u2019t\u2014I didn\u2019t kill him.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n His voice rose almost to a scream.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI am inclined to believe you, my friend,\u201d said Poirot. \u201cYou have not the nerve\u2014the courage. But I must have the truth.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019ll tell you anything, sir, anything you want to know. It\u2019s true that I tried to listen that night. A word or two I heard made me curious. And Mr. Ackroyd\u2019s wanting not to be disturbed, and shutting himself up with the doctor the way he did. It\u2019s God\u2019s own truth what I told the police. I heard the word blackmail, sir, and well\u2014\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n 206<\/p>\n\n\n\n He paused.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou thought there might be something in it for you?\u201d suggested Poirot smoothly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWell\u2014well, yes, I did, sir. I thought that if Mr. Ackroyd was being blackmailed, why shouldn\u2019t I have a share of the pickings?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n A very curious expression passed over Poirot\u2019s face. He leaned forward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHad you any reason to suppose before that night that Mr. Ackroyd was being blackmailed?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNo, indeed, sir. It was a great surprise to me. Such a regular gentleman in all his habits.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHow much did you overhear?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNot very much, sir. There seemed what I might call a spite against me. Of course I had to attend to my duties in the pantry. And when I did creep along once or twice to the study it was no use. The first time Dr. Sheppard came out and almost caught me in the act, and another time Mr. Raymond passed me in the big hall and went that way, so I knew it was no use; and when I went with the tray, Miss Flora headed me off.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Poirot stared for a long time at the man, as if to test his sincerity. Parker returned his gaze earnestly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI hope you believe me, sir. I\u2019ve been afraid all along the police would rake up that old business with Major Ellerby and be suspicious of me in consequence.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cEh bien<\/em>,\u201d said Poirot at last. \u201cI am disposed to believe you. But there is one thing I must request of you\u2014to show me your bank-book. You have a bank-book, I presume?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n 207<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYes, sir, as a matter of fact, I have it with me now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n With no sign of confusion, he produced it from his pocket. Poirot took the slim, green-covered book and perused the entries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAh! I perceive you have purchased \u00a3500 of National Savings Certificates this year?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYes, sir. I have already over a thousand pounds saved\u2014the result of my connection with\u2014er\u2014my late master, Major Ellerby. And I have had quite a little flutter on some horses this year\u2014very successful. If you remember, sir, a rank outsider won the Jubilee. I was fortunate enough to back it\u2014\u00a320.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Poirot handed him back the book.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI will wish you good-morning. I believe that you have told me the truth. If you have not\u2014so much the worse for you, my friend.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n When Parker had departed, Poirot picked up his overcoat once more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cGoing out again?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYes, we will pay a little visit to the good M. Hammond.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou believe Parker\u2019s story?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt is credible enough on the face of it. It seems clear that\u2014unless he is a very good actor indeed\u2014he genuinely believes it was Ackroyd himself who was the victim of blackmail. If so, he knows nothing at all about the Mrs. Ferrars business.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThen in that case\u2014who\u2014\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cPr\u00e9cis\u00e9ment!<\/em> Who? But our visit to M. Hammond208 will accomplish one purpose. It will either clear Parker completely or else\u2014\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWell?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI fall into the bad habit of leaving my sentences unfinished this morning,\u201d said Poirot apologetically. \u201cYou must bear with me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBy the way,\u201d I said, rather sheepishly, \u201cI\u2019ve got a confession to make. I\u2019m afraid I have inadvertently let out something about that ring.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhat ring?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe ring you found in the goldfish pond.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAh! yes,\u201d said Poirot, smiling broadly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI hope you\u2019re not annoyed? It was very careless of me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBut not at all, my good friend, not at all. I laid no commands upon you. You were at liberty to speak of it if you so wished. She was interested, your sister?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cShe was indeed. It created a sensation. All sorts of theories are flying about.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAh! And yet it is so simple. The true explanation leapt to the eye, did it not?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cDid it?\u201d I said dryly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Poirot laughed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe wise man does not commit himself,\u201d he observed. \u201cIs not that so? But here we are at Mr. Hammond\u2019s.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The lawyer was in his office, and we were ushered in without any delay. He rose and greeted us in his dry, precise manner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Poirot came at once to the point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMonsieur, I desire from you certain information, that209 is, if you will be so good as to give it to me. You acted, I understand, for the late Mrs. Ferrars of King\u2019s Paddock?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I noticed the swift gleam of surprise which showed in the lawyer\u2019s eyes, before his professional reserve came down once more like a mask over his face.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cCertainly. All her affairs passed through our hands.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cVery good. Now, before I ask you to tell me anything, I should like you to listen to the story Dr. Sheppard will relate to you. You have no objection, have you, my friend, to repeating the conversation you had with Mr. Ackroyd last Friday night?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNot in the least,\u201d I said, and straightway began the recital of that strange evening.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hammond listened with close attention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThat is all,\u201d I said, when I had finished.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBlackmail,\u201d said the lawyer thoughtfully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou are surprised?\u201d asked Poirot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The lawyer took off his pince-nez and polished them with his handkerchief.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNo,\u201d he replied, \u201cI can hardly say that I am surprised. I have suspected something of the kind for some time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThat brings us,\u201d said Poirot, \u201cto the information for which I am asking. If any one can give us an idea of the actual sums paid, you are the man, monsieur.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI see no object in withholding the information,\u201d said Hammond, after a moment or two. \u201cDuring the past year, Mrs. Ferrars has sold out certain securities, and the money for them was paid into her account and not reinvested. As her income was a large one, and she lived210 very quietly after her husband\u2019s death, it seems certain that these sums of money were paid away for some special purpose. I once sounded her on the subject, and she said that she was obliged to support several of her husband\u2019s poor relations. I let the matter drop, of course. Until now, I have always imagined that the money was paid to some woman who had had a claim on Ashley Ferrars. I never dreamed that Mrs. Ferrars herself was involved.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAnd the amount?\u201d asked Poirot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIn all, I should say the various sums totaled at least twenty thousand pounds.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cTwenty thousand pounds!\u201d I exclaimed. \u201cIn one year!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMrs. Ferrars was a very wealthy woman,\u201d said Poirot dryly. \u201cAnd the penalty for murder is not a pleasant one.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIs there anything else that I can tell you?\u201d inquired Mr. Hammond.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI thank you, no,\u201d said Poirot, rising. \u201cAll my excuses for having deranged you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNot at all, not at all.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe word derange,\u201d I remarked, when we were outside again, \u201cis applicable to mental disorder only.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAh!\u201d cried Poirot, \u201cnever will my English be quite perfect. A curious language. I should then have said disarranged, n\u2019est-ce pas<\/em>?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cDisturbed is the word you had in mind.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI thank you, my friend. The word exact, you are zealous for it. Eh bien<\/em>, what about our friend Parker211 now? With twenty thousand pounds in hand, would he have continued being a butler? Je ne pense pas.<\/em> It is, of course, possible that he banked the money under another name, but I am disposed to believe he spoke the truth to us. If he is a scoundrel, he is a scoundrel on a mean scale. He has not the big ideas. That leaves us as a possibility, Raymond, or\u2014well\u2014Major Blunt.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSurely not Raymond,\u201d I objected. \u201cSince we know that he was desperately hard up for a matter of five hundred pounds.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThat is what he says, yes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAnd as to Hector Blunt\u2014\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI will tell you something as to the good Major Blunt,\u201d interrupted Poirot. \u201cIt is my business to make inquiries. I make them. Eh bien<\/em>\u2014that legacy of which he speaks, I have discovered that the amount of it was close upon twenty thousand pounds. What do you think of that?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I was so taken aback that I could hardly speak.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt\u2019s impossible,\u201d I said at last. \u201cA well-known man like Hector Blunt.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Poirot shrugged his shoulders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWho knows? At least he is a man with big ideas. I confess that I hardly see him as a blackmailer, but there is another possibility that you have not even considered.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhat is that?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe fire, my friend. Ackroyd himself may have destroyed that letter, blue envelope and all, after you left him.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI hardly think that likely,\u201d I said slowly. \u201cAnd yet\u2014212of course, it may be so. He might have changed his mind.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n We had just arrived at my house, and on the spur of the moment I invited Poirot to come in and take pot luck.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I thought Caroline would be pleased with me, but it is hard to satisfy one\u2019s women folk. It appears that we were eating chops for lunch\u2014the kitchen staff being regaled on tripe and onions. And two chops set before three people are productive of embarrassment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But Caroline is seldom daunted for long. With magnificent mendacity, she explained to Poirot that although James laughed at her for doing so, she adhered strictly to a vegetarian diet. She descanted ecstatically on the delights of nut cutlets (which I am quite sure she has never tasted) and ate a Welsh rarebit with gusto and frequent cutting remarks as to the dangers of \u201cflesh\u201d foods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Afterwards, when we were sitting in front of the fire and smoking, Caroline attacked Poirot directly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNot found Ralph Paton yet?\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhere should I find him, mademoiselle?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI thought, perhaps, you\u2019d found him in Cranchester,\u201d said Caroline, with intense meaning in her tone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Poirot looked merely bewildered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIn Cranchester? But why in Cranchester?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I enlightened him with a touch of malice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOne of our ample staff of private detectives happened to see you in a car on the Cranchester road yesterday,\u201d I explained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Poirot\u2019s bewilderment vanished. He laughed heartily.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 213<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAh, that! A simple visit to the dentist, c\u2019est tout<\/em>. My tooth, it aches. I go there. My tooth, it is at once better. I think to return quickly. The dentist, he says No. Better to have it out. I argue. He insists. He has his way! That particular tooth, it will never ache again.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Caroline collapsed rather like a pricked balloon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We fell to discussing Ralph Paton.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cA weak nature,\u201d I insisted. \u201cBut not a vicious one.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAh!\u201d said Poirot. \u201cBut weakness, where does it end?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cExactly,\u201d said Caroline. \u201cTake James here\u2014weak as water, if I weren\u2019t about to look after him.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMy dear Caroline,\u201d I said irritably, \u201ccan\u2019t you talk without dragging in personalities?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou are<\/em> weak, James,\u201d said Caroline, quite unmoved. \u201cI\u2019m eight years older than you are\u2014oh! I don\u2019t mind M. Poirot knowing that\u2014\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI should never have guessed it, mademoiselle,\u201d said Poirot, with a gallant little bow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cEight years older. But I\u2019ve always considered it my duty to look after you. With a bad bringing up, Heaven knows what mischief you might have got into by now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI might have married a beautiful adventuress,\u201d I murmured, gazing at the ceiling, and blowing smoke rings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAdventuress!\u201d said Caroline, with a snort. \u201cIf we\u2019re talking of adventuresses\u2014\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n She left the sentence unfinished.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 214<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWell?\u201d I said, with some curiosity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNothing. But I can think of some one not a hundred miles away.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Then she turned to Poirot suddenly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cJames sticks to it that you believe some one in the house committed the murder. All I can say is, you\u2019re wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI should not like to be wrong,\u201d said Poirot. \u201cIt is not\u2014how do you say\u2014my m\u00e9tier<\/em>?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019ve got the facts pretty clearly,\u201d continued Caroline, taking no notice of Poirot\u2019s remark, \u201cfrom James and others. As far as I can see, of the people in the house, only two could<\/em> have had the chance of doing it. Ralph Paton and Flora Ackroyd.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMy dear Caroline\u2014\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNow, James, don\u2019t interrupt me. I know what I\u2019m talking about. Parker met her outside<\/em> the door, didn\u2019t he? He didn\u2019t hear her uncle saying good-night to her. She could have killed him then and there.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cCaroline.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019m not saying she did<\/em>, James. I\u2019m saying she could<\/em> have done. As a matter of fact, though Flora is like all these young girls nowadays, with no veneration for their betters and thinking they know best on every subject under the sun, I don\u2019t for a minute believe she\u2019d kill even a chicken. But there it is. Mr. Raymond and Major Blunt have alibis. Mrs. Ackroyd\u2019s got an alibi. Even that Russell woman seems to have one\u2014and a good job for her it is she has. Who is left? Only Ralph and215 Flora! And say what you will, I don\u2019t believe Ralph Paton is a murderer. A boy we\u2019ve known all our lives.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Poirot was silent for a minute, watching the curling smoke rise from his cigarette. When at last he spoke, it was in a gentle far-away voice that produced a curious impression. It was totally unlike his usual manner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cLet us take a man\u2014a very ordinary man. A man with no idea of murder in his heart. There is in him somewhere a strain of weakness\u2014deep down. It has so far never been called into play. Perhaps it never will be\u2014and if so he will go to his grave honored and respected by every one. But let us suppose that something occurs. He is in difficulties\u2014or perhaps not that even. He may stumble by accident on a secret\u2014a secret involving life or death to some one. And his first impulse will be to speak out\u2014to do his duty as an honest citizen. And then the strain of weakness tells. Here is a chance of money\u2014a great amount of money. He wants money\u2014he desires it\u2014and it is so easy. He has to do nothing for it\u2014just keep silence. That is the beginning. The desire for money grows. He must have more\u2014and more! He is intoxicated by the gold mine which has opened at his feet. He becomes greedy. And in his greed he overreaches himself. One can press a man as far as one likes\u2014but with a woman one must not press too far. For a woman has at heart a great desire to speak the truth. How many husbands who have deceived their wives go comfortably to their graves, carrying their secret with them! How many wives who have deceived their216 husbands wreck their lives by throwing the fact in those same husbands\u2019 teeth! They have been pressed too far. In a reckless moment (which they will afterwards regret, bien entendu<\/em>) they fling safety to the winds and turn at bay, proclaiming the truth with great momentary satisfaction to themselves. So it was, I think, in this case. The strain was too great. And so there came your proverb, the death of the goose that laid the golden eggs. But that is not the end. Exposure faced the man of whom we are speaking. And he is not the same man he was\u2014say, a year ago. His moral fiber is blunted. He is desperate. He is fighting a losing battle, and he is prepared to take any means that come to his hand, for exposure means ruin to him. And so\u2014the dagger strikes!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n He was silent for a moment. It was as though he had laid a spell upon the room. I cannot try to describe the impression his words produced. There was something in the merciless analysis, and the ruthless power of vision which struck fear into both of us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAfterwards,\u201d he went on softly, \u201cthe danger removed, he will be himself again, normal, kindly. But if the need again arises, then once more he will strike.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Caroline roused herself at last.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou are speaking of Ralph Paton,\u201d she said. \u201cYou may be right, you may not, but you have no business to condemn a man unheard.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The telephone bell rang sharply. I went out into the hall, and took off the receiver.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhat?\u201d I said. \u201cYes. Dr. Sheppard speaking.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n 217<\/p>\n\n\n\n I listened for a minute or two, then replied briefly. Replacing the receiver, I went back into the drawing-room.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cPoirot,\u201d I said, \u201cthey have detained a man at Liverpool. His name is Charles Kent, and he is believed to be the stranger who visited Fernly that night. They want me to go to Liverpool at once and identify him.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n 218<\/p>\n\n\n\n CHARLES KENT<\/p>\n\n\n\n Half an hour later saw Poirot, myself, and Inspector Raglan in the train on the way to Liverpool. The inspector was clearly very excited.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe may get a line on the blackmailing part of the business, if on nothing else,\u201d he declared jubilantly. \u201cHe\u2019s a rough customer, this fellow, by what I heard over the phone. Takes dope, too. We ought to find it easy to get what we want out of him. If there was the shadow of a motive, nothing\u2019s more likely than that he killed Mr. Ackroyd. But in that case, why is young Paton keeping out of the way? The whole thing\u2019s a muddle\u2014that\u2019s what it is. By the way, M. Poirot, you were quite right about those fingerprints. They were Mr. Ackroyd\u2019s own. I had rather the same idea myself, but I dismissed it as hardly feasible.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I smiled to myself. Inspector Raglan was so very plainly saving his face.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAs regards this man,\u201d said Poirot, \u201che is not yet arrested, eh?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNo, detained under suspicion.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAnd what account does he give of himself?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cPrecious little,\u201d said the inspector, with a grin. \u201cHe\u2019s a wary bird, I gather. A lot of abuse, but very little more.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n 219<\/p>\n\n\n\n On arrival at Liverpool I was surprised to find that Poirot was welcomed with acclamation. Superintendent Hayes, who met us, had worked with Poirot over some case long ago, and had evidently an exaggerated opinion of his powers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNow we\u2019ve got M. Poirot here we shan\u2019t be long,\u201d he said cheerfully. \u201cI thought you\u2019d retired, moosior?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSo I had, my good Hayes, so I had. But how tedious is retirement! You cannot imagine to yourself the monotony with which day comes after day.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cVery likely. So you\u2019ve come to have a look at our own particular find? Is this Dr. Sheppard? Think you\u2019ll be able to identify him, sir?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019m not very sure,\u201d I said doubtfully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHow did you get hold of him?\u201d inquired Poirot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cDescription was circulated, as you know. In the press and privately. Not much to go on, I admit. This fellow has an American accent all right, and he doesn\u2019t deny that he was near King\u2019s Abbot that night. Just asks what the hell it is to do with us, and that he\u2019ll see us in \u2014\u2014 before he answers any questions.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIs it permitted that I, too, see him?\u201d asked Poirot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The superintendent closed one eye knowingly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cVery glad to have you, sir. You\u2019ve got permission to do anything you please. Inspector Japp of Scotland Yard was asking after you the other day. Said he\u2019d heard you were connected unofficially with this case. Where\u2019s Captain Paton hiding, sir, can you tell me that?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI doubt if it would be wise at the present juncture,\u201d220 said Poirot primly, and I bit my lips to prevent a smile.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The little man really did it very well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After some further parley, we were taken to interview the prisoner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He was a young fellow, I should say not more than twenty-two or three. Tall, thin, with slightly shaking hands, and the evidences of considerable physical strength somewhat run to seed. His hair was dark, but his eyes were blue and shifty, seldom meeting a glance squarely. I had all along cherished the illusion that there was something familiar about the figure I had met that night, but if this were indeed he, I was completely mistaken. He did not remind me in the least of any one I knew.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNow then, Kent,\u201d said the superintendent, \u201cstand up. Here are some visitors come to see you. Recognize any of them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Kent glared at us sullenly, but did not reply. I saw his glance waver over the three of us, and come back to rest on me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWell, sir,\u201d said the superintendent to me, \u201cwhat do you say?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe height\u2019s the same,\u201d I said, \u201cand as far as general appearance goes it might well be the man in question. Beyond that, I couldn\u2019t go.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhat the hell\u2019s the meaning of all this?\u201d asked Kent. \u201cWhat have you got against me? Come on, out with it! What am I supposed to have done?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I nodded my head.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt\u2019s the man,\u201d I said. \u201cI recognize the voice.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n 221<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cRecognize my voice, do you? Where do you think you heard it before?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOn Friday evening last, outside the gates of Fernly Park. You asked me the way there.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI did, did I?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cDo you admit it?\u201d asked the inspector.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI don\u2019t admit anything. Not till I know what you\u2019ve got on me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHave you not read the papers in the last few days?\u201d asked Poirot, speaking for the first time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The man\u2019s eyes narrowed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSo that\u2019s it, is it? I saw an old gent had been croaked at Fernly. Trying to make out I did the job, are you?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou were there that night,\u201d said Poirot quietly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHow do you know, mister?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBy this.\u201d Poirot took something from his pocket and held it out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It was the goose quill we had found in the summer-house.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the sight of it the man\u2019s face changed. He half held out his hand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSnow,\u201d said Poirot thoughtfully. \u201cNo, my friend, it is empty. It lay where you dropped it in the summer-house that night.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Charles Kent looked at him uncertainly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou seem to know a hell of a lot about everything, you little foreign cock duck. Perhaps you remember this: the papers say that the old gent was croaked between a quarter to ten and ten o\u2019clock?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n 222<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThat is so,\u201d agreed Poirot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYes, but is it really so? That\u2019s what I\u2019m getting at.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis gentleman will tell you,\u201d said Poirot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He indicated Inspector Raglan. The latter hesitated, glanced at Superintendent Hayes, then at Poirot, and finally, as though receiving sanction, he said:\u2014<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThat\u2019s right. Between a quarter to ten and ten o\u2019clock.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThen you\u2019ve nothing to keep me here for,\u201d said Kent. \u201cI was away from Fernly Park by twenty-five minutes past nine. You can ask at the Dog and Whistle. That\u2019s a saloon about a mile out of Fernly on the road to Cranchester. I kicked up a bit of a row there, I remember. As near as nothing to quarter to ten, it was. How about that?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Inspector Raglan wrote down something in his notebook.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWell?\u201d demanded Kent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cInquiries will be made,\u201d said the inspector. \u201cIf you\u2019ve spoken the truth, you won\u2019t have anything to complain about. What were you doing at Fernly Park anyway?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWent there to meet some one.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWho?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThat\u2019s none of your business.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou\u2019d better keep a civil tongue in your head, my man,\u201d the superintendent warned him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cTo hell with a civil tongue. I went there on my own business, and that\u2019s all there is to it. If I was clear away before the murder was done, that\u2019s all that concerns the cops.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n 223<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYour name, it is Charles Kent,\u201d said Poirot. \u201cWhere were you born?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The man stared at him, then he grinned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019m a full-blown Britisher all right,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYes,\u201d said Poirot meditatively, \u201cI think you are. I fancy you were born in Kent.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The man stared.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhy\u2019s that? Because of my name? What\u2019s that to do with it? Is a man whose name is Kent bound to be born in that particular county?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cUnder certain circumstances, I can imagine he might be,\u201d said Poirot very deliberately. \u201cUnder certain circumstances, you comprehend.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n There was so much meaning in his voice as to surprise the two police officers. As for Charles Kent, he flushed a brick red, and for a moment I thought he was going to spring at Poirot. He thought better of it, however, and turned away with a kind of laugh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Poirot nodded as though satisfied, and made his way out through the door. He was joined presently by the two officers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe\u2019ll verify that statement,\u201d remarked Raglan. \u201cI don\u2019t think he\u2019s lying, though. But he\u2019s got to come clear with a statement as to what he was doing at Fernly. It looks to me as though we\u2019d got our blackmailer all right. On the other hand, granted his story\u2019s correct, he couldn\u2019t have had anything to do with the actual murder. He\u2019d got ten pounds on him when he was arrested\u2014rather a large sum. I fancy that forty pounds went to him\u2014the numbers of the notes didn\u2019t correspond, but of course224 he\u2019d have changed them first thing. Mr. Ackroyd must have given him the money, and he made off with it as fast as possible. What was that about Kent being his birthplace? What\u2019s that got to do with it?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNothing whatever,\u201d said Poirot mildly. \u201cA little idea of mine, that was all. Me, I am famous for my little ideas.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAre you really?\u201d said Raglan, studying him with a puzzled expression.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The superintendent went into a roar of laughter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMany\u2019s the time I\u2019ve heard Inspector Japp say that. M. Poirot and his little ideas! Too fanciful for me, he\u2019d say, but always something in them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou mock yourself at me,\u201d said Poirot, smiling; \u201cbut never mind. The old ones they laugh last sometimes, when the young, clever ones do not laugh at all.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n And nodding his head at them in a sage manner, he walked out into the street.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He and I lunched together at an hotel. I know now that the whole thing lay clearly unravelled before him. He had got the last thread he needed to lead him to the truth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But at the time I had no suspicion of the fact. I overestimated his general self-confidence, and I took it for granted that the things which puzzled me must be equally puzzling to him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n My chief puzzle was what the man Charles Kent could have been doing at Fernly. Again and again I put the question to myself and could get no satisfactory reply.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 225<\/p>\n\n\n\n At last I ventured a tentative query to Poirot. His reply was immediate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMon ami<\/em>, I do not think; I know.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cReally?\u201d I said incredulously.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYes, indeed. I suppose now that to you it would not make sense if I said that he went to Fernly that night because he was born in Kent?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I stared at him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt certainly doesn\u2019t seem to make sense to me,\u201d I said dryly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAh!\u201d said Poirot pityingly. \u201cWell, no matter. I have still my little idea.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n 226<\/p>\n\n\n\n FLORA ACKROYD<\/p>\n\n\n\n As I was returning from my round the following morning, I was hailed by Inspector Raglan. I pulled up, and the inspector mounted on the step.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cGood-morning, Dr. Sheppard,\u201d he said. \u201cWell, that alibi is all right enough.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cCharles Kent\u2019s?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cCharles Kent\u2019s. The barmaid at the Dog and Whistle, Sally Jones, she remembers him perfectly. Picked out his photograph from among five others. It was just a quarter to ten when he came into the bar, and the Dog and Whistle is well over a mile from Fernly Park. The girl mentions that he had a lot of money on him\u2014she saw him take a handful of notes out of his pocket. Rather surprised her, it did, seeing the class of fellow he was, with a pair of boots clean dropping off him. That\u2019s where that forty pounds went right enough.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe man still refuses to give an account of his visit to Fernly?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cObstinate as a mule he is. I had a chat with Hayes at Liverpool over the wire this morning.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHercule Poirot says he knows the reason the man went there that night,\u201d I observed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cDoes he?\u201d cried the inspector eagerly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 227<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYes,\u201d I said maliciously. \u201cHe says he went there because he was born in Kent.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I felt a distinct pleasure in passing on my own discomfiture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Raglan stared at me for a moment or two uncomprehendingly. Then a grin overspread his weaselly countenance and he tapped his forehead significantly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBit gone here,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019ve thought so for some time. Poor old chap, so that\u2019s why he had to give up and come down here. In the family, very likely. He\u2019s got a nephew who\u2019s quite off his crumpet.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cPoirot has?\u201d I said, very surprised.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYes. Hasn\u2019t he ever mentioned him to you? Quite docile, I believe, and all that, but mad as a hatter, poor lad.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWho told you that?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Again a grin showed itself on Inspector Raglan\u2019s face.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYour sister, Miss Sheppard, she told me all about it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Really, Caroline is amazing. She never rests until she knows the last details of everybody\u2019s family secrets. Unfortunately, I have never been able to instill into her the decency of keeping them to herself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cJump in, inspector,\u201d I said, opening the door of the car. \u201cWe\u2019ll go up to The Larches together, and acquaint our Belgian friend with the latest news.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMight as well, I suppose. After all, even if he is a bit balmy, it was a useful tip he gave me about those fingerprints. He\u2019s got a bee in his bonnet about the man Kent, but who knows\u2014there may be something useful behind it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n 228<\/p>\n\n\n\n Poirot received us with his usual smiling courtesy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He listened to the information we had brought him, nodding his head now and then.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSeems quite O.K., doesn\u2019t it?\u201d said the inspector rather gloomily. \u201cA chap can\u2019t be murdering some one in one place when he\u2019s drinking in the bar in another place a mile away.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAre you going to release him?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cDon\u2019t see what else we can do. We can\u2019t very well hold him for obtaining money on false pretences. Can\u2019t prove a ruddy thing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The inspector tossed a match into the grate in a disgruntled fashion. Poirot retrieved it and put it neatly in a little receptacle designed for the purpose. His action was purely mechanical. I could see that his thoughts were on something very different.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIf I were you,\u201d he said at last, \u201cI should not release the man Charles Kent yet.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhat do you mean?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Raglan stared at him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhat I say. I should not release him yet.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou don\u2019t think he can have had anything to do with the murder, do you?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI think probably not\u2014but one cannot be certain yet.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBut haven\u2019t I just told you\u2014\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Poirot raised a hand protestingly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMais oui, mais oui.<\/em> I heard. I am not deaf\u2014nor stupid, thank the good God! But see you, you approach the matter from the wrong\u2014the wrong\u2014premises, is not that the word?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n 229<\/p>\n\n\n\n The inspector stared at him heavily.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI don\u2019t see how you make that out. Look here, we know Mr. Ackroyd was alive at a quarter to ten. You admit that, don\u2019t you?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Poirot looked at him for a moment, then shook his head with a quick smile.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI admit nothing that is not\u2014proved<\/em>!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWell, we\u2019ve got proof enough of that. We\u2019ve got Miss Flora Ackroyd\u2019s evidence.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThat she said good-night to her uncle? But me\u2014I do not always believe what a young lady tells me\u2014no, not even when she is charming and beautiful.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBut hang it all, man, Parker saw her coming out of the door.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNo.\u201d Poirot\u2019s voice rang out with sudden sharpness. \u201cThat is just what he did not see. I satisfied myself of that by a little experiment the other day\u2014you remember, doctor? Parker saw her outside<\/em> the door, with her hand on the handle. He did not see her come out of the room.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBut\u2014where else could she have been?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cPerhaps on the stairs.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe stairs?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThat is my little idea\u2014yes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBut those stairs only lead to Mr. Ackroyd\u2019s bedroom.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cPrecisely.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n And still the inspector stared.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou think she\u2019d been up to her uncle\u2019s bedroom? Well, why not? Why should she lie about it?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n 230<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAh! that is just the question. It depends on what she was doing there, does it not?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou mean\u2014the money? Hang it all, you don\u2019t suggest that it was Miss Ackroyd who took that forty pounds?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI suggest nothing,\u201d said Poirot. \u201cBut I will remind you of this. Life was not very easy for that mother and daughter. There were bills\u2014there was constant trouble over small sums of money. Roger Ackroyd was a peculiar man over money matters. The girl might be at her wit\u2019s end for a comparatively small sum. Figure to yourself then what happens. She has taken the money, she descends the little staircase. When she is half-way down she hears the chink of glass from the hall. She has not a doubt of what it is\u2014Parker coming to the study. At all costs she must not be found on the stairs\u2014Parker will not forget it, he will think it odd. If the money is missed, Parker is sure to remember having seen her come down those stairs. She has just time to rush down to the study door\u2014with her hand on the handle to show that she has just come out, when Parker appears in the doorway. She says the first thing that comes into her head, a repetition of Roger Ackroyd\u2019s orders earlier in the evening, and then goes upstairs to her own room.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYes, but later,\u201d persisted the inspector, \u201cshe must have realized the vital importance of speaking the truth? Why, the whole case hinges on it!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAfterwards,\u201d said Poirot dryly, \u201cit was a little difficult for Mademoiselle Flora. She is told simply that the police are here and that there has been a robbery. Naturally231 she jumps to the conclusion that the theft of the money has been discovered. Her one idea is to stick to her story. When she learns that her uncle is dead she is panic-stricken. Young women do not faint nowadays, monsieur, without considerable provocation. Eh bien!<\/em> there it is. She is bound to stick to her story, or else confess everything. And a young and pretty girl does not like to admit that she is a thief\u2014especially before those whose esteem she is anxious to retain.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Raglan brought his fist down with a thump on the table.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019ll not believe it,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s\u2014it\u2019s not credible. And you\u2014you\u2019ve known this all along?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe possibility has been in my mind from the first,\u201d admitted Poirot. \u201cI was always convinced that Mademoiselle Flora was hiding something from us. To satisfy myself, I made the little experiment I told you of. Dr. Sheppard accompanied me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cA test for Parker, you said it was,\u201d I remarked bitterly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMon ami<\/em>,\u201d said Poirot apologetically, \u201cas I told you at the time, one must say something.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The inspector rose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThere\u2019s only one thing for it,\u201d he declared. \u201cWe must tackle the young lady right away. You\u2019ll come up to Fernly with me, M. Poirot?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cCertainly. Dr. Sheppard will drive us up in his car.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I acquiesced willingly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On inquiry for Miss Ackroyd, we were shown into the232 billiard room. Flora and Major Hector Blunt were sitting on the long window seat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cGood-morning, Miss Ackroyd,\u201d said the inspector. \u201cCan we have a word or two alone with you?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Blunt got up at once and moved to the door.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhat is it?\u201d asked Flora nervously. \u201cDon\u2019t go, Major Blunt. He can stay, can\u2019t he?\u201d she asked, turning to the inspector.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThat\u2019s as you like,\u201d said the inspector dryly. \u201cThere\u2019s a question or two it\u2019s my duty to put to you, miss, but I\u2019d prefer to do so privately, and I dare say you\u2019d prefer it also.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Flora looked keenly at him. I saw her face grow whiter. Then she turned and spoke to Blunt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI want you to stay\u2014please\u2014yes, I mean it. Whatever the inspector has to say to me, I\u2019d rather you heard it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Raglan shrugged his shoulders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWell, if you will have it so, that\u2019s all there is to it. Now, Miss Ackroyd, M. Poirot here has made a certain suggestion to me. He suggests that you weren\u2019t in the study at all last Friday night, that you never saw Mr. Ackroyd to say good-night to him, that instead of being in the study you were on the stairs leading down from your uncle\u2019s bedroom when you heard Parker coming across the hall.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Flora\u2019s gaze shifted to Poirot. He nodded back at her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMademoiselle, the other day, when we sat round the table, I implored you to be frank with me. What one does not tell to Papa Poirot he finds out. It was233 that, was it not? See, I will make it easy for you. You took the money, did you not?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe money,\u201d said Blunt sharply.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There was a silence which lasted for at least a minute.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Then Flora drew herself up and spoke.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cM. Poirot is right. I took that money. I stole. I am a thief\u2014yes, a common, vulgar little thief. Now you know! I am glad it has come out. It\u2019s been a nightmare, these last few days!\u201d She sat down suddenly and buried her face in her hands. She spoke huskily through her fingers. \u201cYou don\u2019t know what my life has been since I came here. Wanting things, scheming for them, lying, cheating, running up bills, promising to pay\u2014oh! I hate myself when I think of it all! That\u2019s what brought us together, Ralph and I. We were both weak! I understood him, and I was sorry\u2014because I\u2019m the same underneath. We\u2019re not strong enough to stand alone, either of us. We\u2019re weak, miserable, despicable things.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n She looked at Blunt and suddenly stamped her foot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhy do you look at me like that\u2014as though you couldn\u2019t believe? I may be a thief\u2014but at any rate I\u2019m real now. I\u2019m not lying any more. I\u2019m not pretending to be the kind of girl you like, young and innocent and simple. I don\u2019t care if you never want to see me again. I hate myself, despise myself\u2014but you\u2019ve got to believe one thing, if speaking the truth would have made things better for Ralph, I would have spoken out. But I\u2019ve seen all along that it wouldn\u2019t be better for Ralph\u2014it makes the case against him blacker than ever. I was not doing him any harm by sticking to my lie.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n 234<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cRalph,\u201d said Blunt. \u201cI see\u2014always Ralph.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou don\u2019t understand,\u201d said Flora hopelessly. \u201cYou never will.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n She turned to the inspector.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI admit everything; I was at my wit\u2019s end for money. I never saw my uncle that evening after he left the dinner-table. As to the money, you can take what steps you please. Nothing could be worse than it is now!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Suddenly she broke down again, hid her face in her hands, and rushed from the room.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWell,\u201d said the inspector in a flat tone, \u201cso that\u2019s that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n He seemed rather at a loss what to do next.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Blunt came forward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cInspector Raglan,\u201d he said quietly, \u201cthat money was given to me by Mr. Ackroyd for a special purpose. Miss Ackroyd never touched it. When she says she did, she is lying with the idea of shielding Captain Paton. The truth is as I said, and I am prepared to go into the witness box and swear to it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n He made a kind of jerky bow, then turning abruptly, he left the room.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Poirot was after him in a flash. He caught the other up in the hall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMonsieur\u2014a moment, I beg of you, if you will be so good.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWell, sir?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Blunt was obviously impatient. He stood frowning down on Poirot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt is this,\u201d said Poirot rapidly: \u201cI am not deceived by235 your little fantasy. No, indeed. It was truly Miss Flora who took the money. All the same it is well imagined what you say\u2014it pleases me. It is very good what you have done there. You are a man quick to think and to act.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019m not in the least anxious for your opinion, thank you,\u201d said Blunt coldly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He made once more as though to pass on, but Poirot, not at all offended, laid a detaining hand on his arm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAh! but you are to listen to me. I have more to say. The other day I spoke of concealments. Very well, all along have I seen what you are concealing. Mademoiselle Flora, you love her with all your heart. From the first moment you saw her, is it not so? Oh! let us not mind saying these things\u2014why must one in England think it necessary to mention love as though it were some disgraceful secret? You love Mademoiselle Flora. You seek to conceal that fact from all the world. That is very good\u2014that is as it should be. But take the advice of Hercule Poirot\u2014do not conceal it from mademoiselle herself.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Blunt had shown several signs of restlessness whilst Poirot was speaking, but the closing words seemed to rivet his attention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhat d\u2019you mean by that?\u201d he said sharply.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou think that she loves the Capitaine Ralph Paton\u2014but I, Hercule Poirot, tell you that that is not so. Mademoiselle Flora accepted Captain Paton to please her uncle, and because she saw in the marriage a way of escape from her life here which was becoming frankly insupportable236 to her. She liked him, and there was much sympathy and understanding between them. But love\u2014no! It is not Captain Paton Mademoiselle Flora loves.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhat the devil do you mean?\u201d asked Blunt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I saw the dark flush under his tan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou have been blind, monsieur. Blind! She is loyal, the little one. Ralph Paton is under a cloud, she is bound in honor to stick by him.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I felt it was time I put in a word to help on the good work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMy sister told me the other night,\u201d I said encouragingly, \u201cthat Flora had never cared a penny piece for Ralph Paton, and never would. My sister is always right about these things.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Blunt ignored my well-meant efforts. He spoke to Poirot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cD\u2019you really think\u2014\u2014\u201d he began, and stopped.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He is one of those inarticulate men who find it hard to put things into words.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Poirot knows no such disability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIf you doubt me, ask her yourself, monsieur. But perhaps you no longer care to\u2014the affair of the money\u2014\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Blunt gave a sound like an angry laugh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThink I\u2019d hold that against her? Roger was always a queer chap about money. She got in a mess and didn\u2019t dare tell him. Poor kid. Poor lonely kid.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Poirot looked thoughtfully at the side door.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMademoiselle Flora went into the garden, I think,\u201d he murmured.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 237<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019ve been every kind of a fool,\u201d said Blunt abruptly. \u201cRum conversation we\u2019ve been having. Like one of those Danish plays. But you\u2019re a sound fellow, M. Poirot. Thank you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n He took Poirot\u2019s hand and gave it a grip which caused the other to wince in anguish. Then he strode to the side door and passed out into the garden.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNot every kind of a fool,\u201d murmured Poirot, tenderly nursing the injured member. \u201cOnly one kind\u2014the fool in love.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n 238<\/p>\n\n\n\n MISS RUSSELL<\/p>\n\n\n\n Inspector Raglan had received a bad jolt. He was not deceived by Blunt\u2019s valiant lie any more than we had been. Our way back to the village was punctuated by his complaints.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis alters everything, this does. I don\u2019t know whether you\u2019ve realized it, Monsieur Poirot?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI think so, yes, I think so,\u201d said Poirot. \u201cYou see, me, I have been familiar with the idea for some time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Inspector Raglan, who had only had the idea presented to him a short half-hour ago, looked at Poirot unhappily, and went on with his discoveries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThose alibis now. Worthless! Absolutely worthless. Got to start again. Find out what every one was doing from nine-thirty onwards. Nine-thirty\u2014that\u2019s the time we\u2019ve got to hang on to. You were quite right about the man Kent\u2014we don\u2019t release him<\/em> yet awhile. Let me see now\u2014nine-forty-five at the Dog and Whistle. He might have got there in a quarter of an hour if he ran. It\u2019s just possible that it was his<\/em> voice Mr. Raymond heard talking to Mr. Ackroyd\u2014asking for money which Mr. Ackroyd refused. But one thing\u2019s clear\u2014it wasn\u2019t he who sent the telephone message. The station is half a mile in the other direction\u2014over a mile and a half from239 the Dog and Whistle, and he was at the Dog and Whistle until about ten minutes past ten. Dang that telephone call! We always come up against it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe do indeed,\u201d agreed Poirot. \u201cIt is curious.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt\u2019s just possible that if Captain Paton climbed into his uncle\u2019s room and found him there murdered, he<\/em> may have sent it. Got the wind up, thought he\u2019d be accused, and cleared out. That\u2019s possible, isn\u2019t it?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhy should he have telephoned?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMay have had doubts if the old man was really dead. Thought he\u2019d get the doctor up there as soon as possible, but didn\u2019t want to give himself away. Yes, I say now, how\u2019s that for a theory? Something in that, I should say.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The inspector swelled his chest out importantly. He was so plainly delighted with himself that any words of ours would have been quite superfluous.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We arrived back at my house at this minute, and I hurried in to my surgery patients, who had all been waiting a considerable time, leaving Poirot to walk to the police station with the inspector.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Having dismissed the last patient, I strolled into the little room at the back of the house which I call my workshop\u2014I am rather proud of the home-made wireless set I turned out. Caroline hates my workroom. I keep my tools there, and Annie is not allowed to wreak havoc with a dustpan and brush. I was just adjusting the interior of an alarm clock which had been denounced as wholly unreliable by the household, when the door opened and Caroline put her head in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 240<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOh! there you are, James,\u201d she said, with deep disapproval. \u201cM. Poirot wants to see you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWell,\u201d I said, rather irritably, for her sudden entrance had startled me and I had let go of a piece of delicate mechanism, \u201cif he wants to see me, he can come in here.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIn here?\u201d said Caroline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThat\u2019s what I said\u2014in here.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Caroline gave a sniff of disapproval and retired. She returned in a moment or two, ushering in Poirot, and then retired again, shutting the door with a bang.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAha! my friend,\u201d said Poirot, coming forward and rubbing his hands. \u201cYou have not got rid of me so easily, you see!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cFinished with the inspector?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cFor the moment, yes. And you, you have seen all the patients?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Poirot sat down and looked at me, tilting his egg-shaped head on one side, with the air of one who savors a very delicious joke.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou are in error,\u201d he said at last. \u201cYou have still one patient to see.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNot you?\u201d I exclaimed in surprise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAh, not me, bien entendu<\/em>. Me, I have the health magnificent. No, to tell you the truth, it is a little
\n\n\n\nCHAPTER II<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nCHAPTER III<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IV<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n
\n\n\n\nCHAPTER V<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/www.gutenberg.org\/files\/69087\/69087-h\/images\/i061.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VI<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VII<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/www.gutenberg.org\/files\/69087\/69087-h\/images\/i089.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VIII<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IX<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nCHAPTER X<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XI<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XII<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIII<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIV<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XV<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVI<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVII<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVIII<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIX<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XX<\/h2>\n\n\n\n