Body in the Library - Agatha Christie [18]
“This business has shocked us all very much. We saw quite a lot of the poor girl, you know. It seems quite unbelievable. My father-in-law is terribly upset. He was very fond of Ruby.”
Colonel Melchett said:
“It was Mr. Jefferson, I understand, who reported her disappearance to the police?”
He wanted to see exactly how she would react to that. There was a flicker—just a flicker—of—annoyance? concern?—he could not say what exactly, but there was something, and it seemed to him she had definitely to brace herself, as though to an unpleasant task, before going on.
She said:
“Yes, that is so. Being an invalid, he gets easily upset and worried. We tried to persuade him that it was all right, that there was some natural explanation, and that the girl herself would not like the police being notified. He insisted. Well”—she made a slight gesture—“he was right and we were wrong.”
Melchett asked: “Exactly how well did you know Ruby Keene, Mrs. Jefferson?”
She considered.
“It’s difficult to say. My father-in-law is very fond of young people and likes to have them round him. Ruby was a new type to him—he was amused and interested by her chatter. She sat with us a good deal in the hotel and my father-in-law took her out for drives in the car.”
Her voice was quite noncommittal. Melchett thought to himself: “She could say more if she chose.”
He said: “Will you tell me what you can of the course of events last night?”
“Certainly, but there is very little that will be useful, I’m afraid. After dinner Ruby came and sat with us in the lounge. She remained even after the dancing had started. We had arranged to play bridge later, but we were waiting for Mark, that is Mark Gaskell, my brother-in-law—he married Mr. Jefferson’s daughter, you know—who had some important letters to write, and also for Josie. She was going to make a fourth with us.”
“Did that often happen?”
“Quite frequently. She’s a first-class player, of course, and very nice. My father-in-law is a keen bridge player and whenever possible liked to get hold of Josie to make the fourth instead of an outsider. Naturally, as she has to arrange the fours, she can’t always play with us, but she does whenever she can, and as”—her eyes smiled a little—“my father-in-law spends a lot of money in the hotel, the management are quite pleased for Josie to favour us.”
Melchett asked:
“You like Josie?”
“Yes, I do. She’s always good-humoured and cheerful, works hard and seems to enjoy her job. She’s shrewd, though not well educated, and—well—never pretends about anything. She’s natural and unaffected.”
“Please go on, Mrs. Jefferson.”
“As I say, Josie had to get her bridge fours arranged and Mark was writing, so Ruby sat and talked with us a little longer than usual. Then Josie came along, and Ruby went off to do her first solo dance with Raymond—he’s the dance and tennis professional. She came back to us afterwards just as Mark joined us. Then she went off to dance with a young man and we four started our bridge.”
She stopped, and made a slight insignificant gesture of helplessness.
“And that’s all I know! I just caught a glimpse of her once dancing, but bridge is an absorbing game and I hardly glanced through the glass partition at the ballroom. Then, at midnight, Raymond came along to Josie very upset and asked where Ruby was. Josie, naturally, tried to shut him up but—”
Superintendent Harper interrupted. He said in his quiet voice: “Why ‘naturally,’ Mrs. Jefferson?”
“Well”—she hesitated, looked, Melchett thought, a little put out—“Josie didn’t want the girl’s absence made too much of. She considered herself responsible for her in a way. She said Ruby was probably up in her bedroom, said the girl had talked about having a headache earlier—I don’t think that was true, by the way; Josie just said it by way of excuse. Raymond