Caribbean Mystery - Agatha Christie [57]
“Molly always seemed such a happy girl. I think perhaps”—Evelyn hesitated—“I ought to tell you, Dr. Graham.” She told him then about her interview with Molly on the beach the night that Victoria had been killed. Graham’s face was very grave when she had finished.
“I’m glad you’ve told me, Mrs. Hillingdon. There are very definite indications there of some kind of deep-rooted trouble. Yes. I’ll have a word with her husband in the morning.”
III
“I want to talk to you seriously, Kendal, about your wife.”
They were sitting in Tim’s office. Evelyn Hillingdon had taken his place by Molly’s bedside and Lucky had promised to come and, as she expressed it, “spell her” later. Miss Marple had also offered her services. Poor Tim was torn between his hotel commitments and his wife’s condition.
“I can’t understand it,” said Tim, “I can’t understand Molly any longer. She’s changed. Changed out of all seeming.”
“I understand she’s been having bad dreams?”
“Yes. Yes, she complained about them a good deal.”
“For how long?”
“Oh, I don’t know. About—oh, I suppose a month—perhaps longer. She—we—thought they were just—well, nightmares, you know.”
“Yes, yes, I quite understand. But what’s a much more serious sign is the fact that she seems to have felt afraid of someone. Did she complain about that to you?”
“Well, yes. She said once or twice that—oh, people were following her.”
“Ah! Spying on her?”
“Yes, she did use that term once. She said they were her enemies and they’d followed her here.”
“Did she have enemies, Mr. Kendal?—”
“No. Of course she didn’t.”
“No incident in England, anything you know about before you were married?”
“Oh no, nothing of that kind. She didn’t get on with her family very well, that was all. Her mother was rather an eccentric woman, difficult to live with perhaps, but….”
“Any signs of mental instability in her family?”
Tim opened his mouth impulsively, then shut it again. He pushed a fountain pen about on the desk in front of him.
The doctor said:
“I must stress the fact that it would be better to tell me, Tim, if that is the case.”
“Well, yes, I believe so. Nothing serious, but I believe there was an aunt or something who was a bit batty. But that’s nothing. I mean—well you get that in almost any family.”
“Oh yes, yes, that’s quite true. I’m not trying to alarm you about that, but it just might show a tendency to—well, to break down or imagine things if any stress arose.”
“I don’t really know very much,” said Tim. “After all, people don’t pour out all their family histories to you, do they?”
“No, no. Quite so. She had no former friend—she was not engaged to anyone, anyone who might have threatened her or made jealous threats? That sort of thing?”
“I don’t know. I don’t think so. Molly was engaged to some other man before I came along. Her parents were very against it, I understand, and I think she really stuck to the chap more out of opposition and defiance than anything else.” He gave a sudden half-grin. “You know what it is when you’re young. If people cut up a fuss it makes you much keener on whoever it is.”
Dr. Graham smiled too. “Ah yes, one often sees that. One should never take exception to one’s children’s objectionable friends. Usually they grow out of them naturally. This man, whoever he was, didn’t make threats of any kind against Molly?”
“No, I’m sure he didn’t. She would have told me. She said herself she just had a silly adolescent craze on him, mainly because he had such a bad reputation.”
“Yes, yes. Well, that doesn’t sound serious. Now there’s another thing. Apparently your wife has had what she describes as blackouts. Brief passages of time during which she can’t account for her actions. Did you know about that, Tim?”
“No,” said Tim slowly. “No. I didn’t. She never told me. I did notice, you know, now you mention it, that she seemed rather vague sometimes and …” He paused, thinking. “Yes, that explains it. I couldn