Cat Among the Pigeons - Agatha Christie [36]
The Inspector nodded. “Yes.”
He went on: “I should also like interviews with the other members of your staff. One or other of them may have heard some remark made by Miss Springer that will give us a clue. Or may have observed some oddity of behaviour on her part.”
He paused, then went on, “The same thing might apply to the pupils.”
Miss Bulstrode said: “I had formed the plan of making a short address to the girls this evening after prayers. I would ask that if any of them has any knowledge that might possibly bear upon Miss Springer’s death that they should come and tell me of it.”
“Very sound idea,” said the Chief Constable.
“But you must remember this,” said Miss Bulstrode, “one or other of the girls may wish to make herself important by exaggerating some incident or even by inventing one. Girls do very odd things: but I expect you are used to dealing with that form of exhibitionism.”
“I’ve come across it,” said Inspector Kelsey. “Now,” he added, “please give me a list of your staff, also the servants.”
III
“I’ve looked through all the lockers in the Pavilion, sir.”
“And you didn’t find anything?” said Kelsey.
“No, sir, nothing of importance. Funny things in some of them, but nothing in our line.”
“None of them were locked, were they?”
“No, sir, they can lock. There were keys in them, but none of them were locked.”
Kelsey looked round the bare floor thoughtfully. The tennis and lacrosse sticks had been replaced tidily on their stands.
“Oh well,” he said, “I’m going up to the house now to have a talk with the staff.”
“You don’t think it was an inside job, sir?”
“It could have been,” said Kelsey. “Nobody’s got an alibi except those two mistresses, Chadwick and Johnson and the child Jane that had the earache. Theoretically, everyone else was in bed and asleep, but there’s no one to vouch for that. The girls all have separate rooms and naturally the staff do. Any one of them, including Miss Bulstrode herself, could have come out and met Springer here, or could have followed her here. Then, after she’d been shot, whoever it was could dodge back quietly through the bushes to the side door, and be nicely back in bed again when the alarm was given. It’s motive that’s difficult. Yes,” said Kelsey, “it’s motive. Unless there’s something going on here that we don’t know anything about, there doesn’t seem to be any motive.”
He stepped out of the Pavilion and made his way slowly back to the house. Although it was past working hours, old Briggs, the gardener, was putting in a little work on a flower bed and he straightened up as the Inspector passed.
“You work late hours,” said Kelsey, smiling.
“Ah,” said Briggs. “Young ’uns don’t know what gardening is. Come on at eight and knock off at five—that’s what they think it is. You’ve got to study your weather, some days you might as well not be out in the garden at all, and there’s other days as you can work from seven in the morning until eight at night. That is if you love the place and have pride in the look of it.”
“You ought to be proud of this one,” said Kelsey. “I’ve never seen anyplace better kept these days.”
“These days is right,” said Briggs. “But I’m lucky I am. I’ve got a strong young fellow to work for me. A couple of boys, too, but they’re not much good. Most of these boys and young men won’t come and do this sort of work. All for going into factories, they are, or white collars and working in an office. Don’t like to get their hands soiled with a bit of honest earth. But I’m lucky, as I say. I’ve got a good man working for me as come and offered himself.”
“Recently?” said Inspector Kelsey.
“Beginning of the term,” said Briggs. “Adam, his name is. Adam Goodman.”
“I don’t think I’ve seen him about,” said Kelsey.
“Asked for the day off today, he did,” said Briggs. “I give it him. Didn’t seem to be much doing today with you people tramping all over