They Do It With Mirrors - Christie Agatha - Страница 19

He is a man of great wisdom and experience and would be of infinite help and comfort to my wife if - if it was necessary to tell her of our suspicions. We meant to rely on his advice as to whether or not to consult the police.' 'Quite extraordinary,' said Curry.

'Gulbrandsen left us after dinner to write to Dr Galbraith. He was actually in the act of typing a letter to him when he was shot.'

'How do you know?' Lewis said calmly: 'Because I took the letter out of the typewriter. I have it here.' From his breast pocket, he drew out a folded typewritten sheet of paper and handed it to Curry.

The latter said sharply: 'You shouldn't have taken this, or touched anything in the room.' 'I touched nothing else. I know that I committed an unpardonable offence in your eyes in moving this, but I had a very strong reason. I felt certain that my wife would insist on coming into the room and I was afraid that she might read something of what is written here. I admit myself in the wrong, but I am afraid I would do the same again. I would do anything - anything - to save my wife unhappiness.' Inspector Curry said no more for the moment. He read the typewritten sheet.

Dear Dr Galbraith. If it is at all possible, I beg that you will come to Stonygates as soon as you receive this.,4 crisis of extraordinary gravity has arisen and I am at a loss how to deal with it. I know how deep your affection is for our dear Carrie Louise, and how grave your concern will be for anything that affects her. How much has she got to know?

How much can we keep from her? Those are the questions that I find difficult to answer.

Not to beat about the bush, I have reason to believe that that sweet and innocent lady is being slowly poisoned. I first suspected this when Here the letter broke off abruptly.

Curry said: 'And when he had reached this point Christian

Gulbrandsen was shot?'

'Yes.'

'But why on earth was this letter in the typewriter?' 'I can only conceive of two reasons - one, that the murderer had no idea to whom Gulbrandsen was writing and what was the subject of the letter. Secondly - he may not have had time. He may have heard someone coming and only had just time to escape unobserved.'

'And Gulbrandsen gave you no hint as to whom he suspected - if he did suspect anyone?'

There was, perhaps, a very slight pause before Lewis answered.

'None whatever.'

He added, rather obscurely:

'Christian was a very fair man.'

'How do you think this poison, arsenic or whatever it may be - was or is being administered?'

'I thought over that whilst I was changing for dinner and it seemed to me that the most likely vehicle was some medicine, a tonic, that my wife was taking. As regards food, we all partake of the same dishes and my wife has nothing specially prepared for her. But anyone could add arsenic to the medicine bottle.'

'We must take the medicine and have it analysed.' Lewis said quietly:

'I already have a sample of it. I took it this evening before dinner.'

From a drawer {n the desk he took out a small corked bottle with a red fluid in it.

Inspector Curry said with a curious glance:

'You think of everything, Mr Serrocold.'

'I believe in acting promptly. Tonight, I stopped my wife from taking her usual dose. It is still in a glass on the oak dresser in the Hall - the bottle of tonic itself is in the dining-room.' Curry leaned forward across the desk. He lowered his voice and spoke confidentially and without officialdom.

'You'll excuse me, Mr Serrocold, but just why are you so anxious to keep this from your wife? Are you afraid she'd panic? Surely, for her own sake, it would be as well if she were warned.' 'Yes - yes, that may well be so. But I don't think you quite understand. Without knowing my wife Caroline, it would be difficult. My wife, Inspector Curry, is an idealist, a completely trustful person. Of her it may truly be said that she sees no evil, hears no evil, and speaks no evil. It would be inconceivable to her that anyone could wish to kill her. But we have to go farther than that. It is not just "anyone." It is a case - surely you see that - of someone possibly very near and dear to her…' 'So that's what you think?' 'We have got to face facts. Close at hand we have a couple of hundred warped and stunted personalities who have expressed themselves often enough by crude and senseless violence. But by the very nature of things, none of them can be suspect in this case. A slow poisoner is someone living in the intimacy of family life. Think of the people who are here in this house; her husband, her daughter, her granddaughter, her granddaughter's husband, her stepson whom she regards as her own son, Miss Believer her devoted companion and friend of many years. All very near and dear to her - and yet the suspicion must arise - is it one of them?' Curry said slowly: 'There are outsiders '

'Yes, in a sense. There is Dr Maverick, one or two of the staff are often with us, there are the servants - but frankly, what possible motive could they have?' Inspector Curry said:

'And there's young - what is his name again - Edgar Lawson?.'

'Yes. But he has only been down here as a casual visitor just lately. He has no possible motive. Besides, he is deeply attached to Caroline - just as everyone is.'

'But he's unbalanced. What about this attack on you tonight?'

Serrocold waved it aside impatiently.

'Sheer childishness. He had no intention of harming me.'

'Not with these two bullet holes in the wall? He shot at you, didn't he?'

'He didn't mean to hit me. It was play-acting, no more.'

'Rather a dangerous form of play-acting, Mr Serrocold.'

'You don't understand. You must talk to our psychia-trist, Dr Maverick. Edgar is an illegitimate child. He has consoled himself for his lack of a father and a humble origin by pretending to himself that he is the son of a celebrated man. It's a well-known phenomenon, I assure you. He was improving, improving very much. Then, for some reason, he had a set-back. He identified me as his "father" and made a melodramatic attack, waving a revolver and uttering threats. I was not in the least alarmed. When he had actually fired the revolver, he broke down and sobbed and Dr Maverick took him away and gave him a sedative. He'll probably be quite normal tomorrow morning.' 'You don't wish to bring a charge against him?' 'That would be the worst thing possible - for him, I mean.' 'Frankly, Mr Serrocold, it seems to me he ought to be under restraint. People who go about firing off revolvers to bolster up their egos -I One has to think of the community, you know.' 'Talk to Dr Maverick on the subject,' urged Lewis.

'He'll give you the professional point of view. In any case,' he added, 'poor Edgar certainly did not shoot Gulbrandsen. He was in here threatening to shoot me.' 'That's the point I was coming to, Mr Serrocold.

We've covered the outside. Anyone, it seems, could have come in from outside, and shot Mr Gulbrandsen, since the terrace door was unlocked. But there is a narrower field inside the house, and in view of what you have been telling me, it seems to me that very close attention must be paid to that. It seems possible that, with the exception of old Miss - er - yes, Marple, who happened to be looking out of her bedroom window, no one was aware that you and Christian Gulbrandsen had already had a private interview. If so, Gulbrandsen may have been shot to prevent him communicating his suspicions to you. Of course it is too early to say as yet what other motives may exist. Mr Gulbrandsen was a wealthy man, I presume?' 'Yes, he was a very wealthy man. He has sons and daughters and grandchildren - all of them will probably benefit by his death. But I do not think that any of his family are in this country, and they are all solid and highly respectable people. As far as I know, there are no black sheep amongst them.' 'Had he any enemies?'