Hallowe'en Party - Agatha Christie [62]
‘What about the curate?’ said Desmond hopefully.
‘He might be a bit off his nut. You know, original sin perhaps, and all that, and the water and the apples and the things and then—look here, I’ve got a good idea now. Suppose he is a bit barmy. Not been here very long. Nobody knows much about him. Supposing it’s the Snapdragon put it into his head. Hell fire! All those flames going up! Then, you see, he took hold of Joyce and he said “come along with me and I’ll show you something,” and he took her to the apple room and he said “kneel down.” He said “This is baptism,” and pushed her head in. See? It would all fit. Adam and Eve and the apple and hell fire and the Snapdragon and being baptised again to cure you of sin.’
‘Perhaps he exposed himself to her first,’ said Nicholas hopefully. ‘I mean, there’s always got to be a sex background to all these things.’
They both looked with satisfied faces to Poirot.
‘Well,’ said Poirot, ‘you’ve certainly given me something to think about.’
Chapter 16
Hercule Poirot looked with interest at Mrs Goodbody’s face. It was indeed perfect as a model for a witch. The fact that it almost undoubtedly went with extreme amiability of character did not dispel the illusion. She talked with relish and pleasure.
‘Yes, I was up there right enough, I was. I always does the witches round here. Vicar he complimented me last year and he said as I’d done such a good job in the pageant as he’d give me a new steeple hat. A witch’s hat wears out just like anything else does. Yes, I was right up there that day. I does the rhymes, you know. I mean the rhymes for the girls, using their own Christian name. One for Beatrice, one for Ann and all the rest of it. And I gives them to whoever is doing the spirit voice and they recite it out to the girl in the mirror, and the boys, Master Nicholas and young Desmond, they send the phoney photographs floating down. Make me die of laughing, some of it does. See those boys sticking hair all over their faces and photographing each other. And what they dress up in! I saw Master Desmond the other day, and what he was wearing you’d hardly believe. Rose-coloured coat and fawn breeches. Beat the girls hollow, they do. All the girls can think of is to push their skirts higher and higher, and that’s not much good to them because they’ve got to put on more underneath. I mean what with the things they call body stockings and tights, which used to be for chorus girls in my day and none other—they spend all their money on that. But the boys—my word, they look like kingfishers and peacocks or birds of paradise. Well, I like to see a bit of colour and I always think it must have been fun in those old historical days as you see on the pictures. You know, everybody with lace and curls and cavalier hats and all the rest of it. Gave the girls something to look at, they did. And doublet and hose. All the girls could think of in historical times, as far as I can see, was to put great balloon skirts on, crinolines they called them later, and great ruffles around their necks! My grandmother, she used to tell me that her young ladies—she was in service, you know, in a good Victorian family—and her young ladies (before the time of Victoria I think it was) –it was the time the King what had a head like a pear was on the throne—Silly Billy, wasn’t it, William IVth—well then, her young ladies, I mean my grandmother’s young ladies, they used to have muslin gowns very long down to their ankles, very prim but they used to damp their muslins with water so they stuck to them. You know, stuck to them so it showed everything there was to show. Went about looking ever so modest, but it tickled up the gentlemen, all right, it did.
‘I lent Mrs Drake my witch ball for the party. Bought that witch ball at a jumble sale somewhere. There it is hanging up there now by the chimney, you see? Nice bright dark blue. I keep it over my door.