And Then There Were None - Agatha Christie [66]
“The Claythorne girl, I find, was governess in a family where a death occurred by drowning. However, she doesn’t seem to have had anything to do with it, and as a matter of fact she behaved very well, swam out to the rescue and was actually carried out to sea and only just rescued in time.”
“Go on,” said the AC with a sigh.
Maine took a deep breath.
“Dr. Armstrong now. Well-known man. Had a consulting-room in Harley Street. Absolutely straight and aboveboard in his profession. Haven’t been able to trace any record of an illegal operation or anything of that kind. It’s true that there was a woman called Clees who was operated on by him way back in 1925 at Leithmore, when he was attached to the hospital there. Peritonitis and she died on the operating table. Maybe he wasn’t very skilful over the op—after all he hadn’t much experience—but after all clumsiness isn’t a criminal offence. There was certainly no motive.
“Then there’s Miss Emily Brent. Girl, Beatrice Taylor, was in service with her. Got pregnant, was turned out by her mistress and went and drowned herself. Not a nice business—but again not criminal.”
“That,” said the AC, “seems to be the point. U. N. Owen dealt with cases that the law couldn’t touch.”
Maine went stolidly on with his list.
“Young Marston was a fairly reckless car driver—had his licence endorsed twice and he ought to have been prohibited from driving in my opinion. That’s all there is to him. The two names John and Lucy Combes were those of two kids he knocked down and killed near Cambridge. Some friends of his gave evidence for him and he was let off with a fine.
“Can’t find anything definite about General Macarthur. Fine record—war service—all the rest of it. Arthur Richmond was serving under him in France and was killed in action. No friction of any kind between him and the General. They were close friends as a matter of fact. There were some blunders made about that time—commanding officers sacrificed men unnecessarily—possibly this was a blunder of that kind.”
“Possibly,” said the AC.
“Now, Philip Lombard. Lombard has been mixed up in some very curious shows abroad. He’s sailed very near the law once or twice. Got a reputation for daring and for not being overscrupulous. Sort of fellow who might do several murders in some quiet out of the way spot.
“Then we come to Blore.” Maine hesitated. “He of course was one of our lot.”
The other man stirred.
“Blore,” said the Assistant Commissioner forcibly, “was a bad hat!”
“You think so, sir?”
The AC said:
“I always thought so. But he was clever enough to get away with it. It’s my opinion that he committed black perjury in the Landor case. I wasn’t happy about it at the time. But I couldn’t find anything. I put Harris on to it and he couldn’t find anything but I’m still of the opinion that there was something to find if we’d known how to set about it. The man wasn’t straight.”
There was a pause, then Sir Thomas Legge said:
“And Isaac Morris is dead, you say? When did he die?”
“I thought you’d soon come to that, sir. Isaac Morris died on the night of August 8th. Took an overdose of sleeping stuff—one of the barbiturates, I understand. There wasn’t anything to show whether it was accident or suicide.”
Legge said slowly:
“Care to know what I think, Maine?”
“Perhaps I can guess, sir.”
Legge said heavily:
“That death of Morris’s is a damned sight too opportune!”
Inspector Maine nodded. He said:
“I thought you’d say that, sir.”
The Assistant Commissioner brought down his fist with a bang on the table. He cried out:
“The whole thing’s fantastic—impossible. Ten people killed on a bare rock of an island—and we don’t know who did it, or why, or how.”
Maine coughed. He said:
“Well, it’s not quite like that, sir. We do know why, more or less. Some fanatic with a bee in his bonnet about justice. He was out to get people who were beyond the reach of the law. He picked ten people—whether they were really guilty or not doesn’t matter—”
The Commissioner stirred. He said sharply:
“Doesn’t it? It seems to me—”
He stopped. Inspector Maine