At Bertram's Hotel - Agatha Christie [46]
“I beg your pardon, what do you mean by ‘back again’?”
“Well, that he was back here again, I mean.”
“Now, let’s get this quite clear,” said Father, careful to speak in an agreeable and reminiscent voice, and not as though it was really important. “You saw the old idio—you saw the Canon, that is to say, leave as you thought for the airport with his overnight bag, fairly early in the evening. Is that right?”
“Yes. About half past six, I would say, or quarter to seven.”
“But you say he came back.”
“Perhaps he missed the plane. That would account for it.”
“When did he come back?”
“Well, I don’t really know. I didn’t see him come back.”
“Oh,” said Father, taken aback. “I thought you said you did see him.”
“Oh, I did see him later,” said Miss Marple. “I meant I didn’t see him actually come into the hotel.”
“You saw him later? When?”
Miss Marple thought.
“Let me see. It was about 3 a.m. I couldn’t sleep very well. Something woke me. Some sound. There are so many queer noises in London. I looked at my little clock, it was ten minutes past three. For some reason—I’m not quite sure what—I felt uneasy. Footsteps, perhaps, outside my door. Living in the country, if one hears footsteps in the middle of the night it makes one nervous. So I just opened my door and looked out. There was Canon Pennyfather leaving his room—it’s next door to mine—and going off down the stairs wearing his overcoat.”
“He came out of his room wearing his overcoat and went down the stairs at 3 a.m. in the morning?”
“Yes,” said Miss Marple and added: “I thought it odd at the time.”
Father looked at her for some moments.
“Miss Marple,” he said, “why haven’t you told anyone this before?”
“Nobody asked me,” said Miss Marple simply.
Chapter Fifteen
Father drew a deep breath.
“No,” he said. “No, I suppose nobody would ask you. It’s as simple as that.”
He relapsed into silence again.
“You think something has happened to him, don’t you?” asked Miss Marple.
“It’s over a week now,” said Father. “He didn’t have a stroke and fall down in the street. He’s not in a hospital as a result of an accident. So where is he? His disappearance has been reported in the Press, but nobody’s come forward with any information yet.”
“They may not have seen it. I didn’t.”
“It looks—it really looks—” Father was following out his own line of thought—“as though he meant to disappear. Leaving this place like that in the middle of the night. You’re quite sure about it, aren’t you?” he demanded sharply. “You didn’t dream it?”
“I am absolutely sure,” said Miss Marple with finality.
Father heaved himself to his feet.
“I’d better go and see that chambermaid,” he said.
Father found Rose Sheldon on duty and ran an approving eye over her pleasant person.
“I’m sorry to bother you,” he said. “I know you’ve seen our sergeant already. But it’s about that missing gentleman, Canon Pennyfather.”
“Oh yes, sir, a very nice gentleman. He often stays here.”
“Absentminded,” said Father.
Rose Sheldon permitted a discreet smile to appear on her respectful mask of a face.
“Now let me see.” Father pretended to consult some notes. “The last time you saw Canon Pennyfather—was—”
“On the Thursday morning, sir. Thursday the 19th. He told me that he would not be back that night and possibly not the next either. He was going, I think, to Geneva. Somewhere in Switzerland, anyway. He gave me two shirts he wanted washed and I said they would be ready for him on the morning of the following day.”
“And that’s the last you saw of him, eh?”
“Yes, sir. You see, I’m not on duty in the afternoons. I come back again at 6 o’clock. By then he must have left, or at any rate he was downstairs. Not in his room. He had left two suitcases behind.”
“That’s right,” said Father. The contents of the suitcases had been examined, but had given no useful lead. He went on: “Did you call him the next morning?”
“Call him? No, sir, he was away.”
“What did you do ordinarily—take him early tea? Breakfast?”
“Early tea, sir. He breakfasted downstairs always.