Murder Is Easy - Agatha Christie [44]
Miss Waynflete replied acidly:
“It was extremely difficult to get her up in the morning. Sometimes I would knock again and again, and call out to her before she answered. But then, you know, Mr. Fitzwilliam, there’s a saying there are none so deaf as those who will not hear!”
“That’s true,” acknowledged Luke. “Well, now, Miss Waynflete, we come to the question of motive. Starting with the most obvious one, do you think there was anything between that fellow Ellsworthy and the girl?” He added hastily, “This is just your opinion I’m asking. Only that.”
“If it’s a matter of opinion, I would say yes.”
Luke nodded.
“In your opinion, would the girl Amy have stuck at a spot of blackmail?”
“Again as a matter of opinion, I should say that that was quite possible.”
“Do you happen to know if she had much money in her possession at the time of her death?”
Miss Waynflete reflected.
“I do not think so. If she had had any unusual amount I think I should have heard about it.”
“And she hadn’t launched into any unusual extravagance before she died?”
“I don’t think so.”
“That rather militates against the blackmail theory. The victim usually pays once before he decides to proceed to extremes. There’s another theory. The girl might know something.”
“What kind of thing?”
“She might have knowledge that was dangerous to someone here in Wychwood. We’ll take a strictly hypothetical case. She’d been in service in a good many houses here. Supposing she came to know of something that would damage say, someone like Mr. Abbot, professionally.”
“Mr. Abbot?”
Luke said quickly:
“Or possibly some negligence or unprofessional conduct on the part of Dr. Thomas.”
Miss Waynflete began, “But surely—” and then stopped.
Luke went on:
“Amy Gibbs was housemaid, you said, in the Hortons’ house at the time when Mrs. Horton died.”
There was a moment’s pause, then Miss Waynflete said:
“Will you tell me, Mr. Fitzwilliam, why you bring the Hortons into this? Mrs. Horton died over a year ago.”
“Yes, and the girl Amy was there at the time.”
“I see. What have the Hortons to do with it?”
“I don’t know. I—just wondered. Mrs. Horton died of acute gastritis, didn’t she?”
“Yes.”
“Was her death at all unexpected?”
Miss Waynflete said slowly:
“It was to me. You see, she had been getting much better—seemed well on the road to recovery—and then she had a sudden relapse and died.”
“Was Dr. Thomas surprised?”
“I don’t know. I believe he was.”
“And the nurses, what did they say?”
“In my experience,” said Miss Waynflete, “hospital nurses are never surprised at any case taking a turn for the worse! It is recovery that surprises them.”
“But her death surprised you?” Luke persisted.
“Yes. I had been with her only the day before, and she had seemed very much better, talked and seemed quite cheerful.”
“What did she think about her own illness?”
“She complained that the nurses were poisoning her. She had had one nurse sent away, but she said these two were just as bad!”
“I suppose you didn’t pay much attention to that?”
“Well, no, I thought it was all part of the illness. And she was a very suspicious woman and—it may be unkind to say so—but she liked to make herself important. No doctor ever understood her case—and it was never anything simple—it must either be some very obscure disease or else somebody was ‘trying to get her out of the way.’”
Luke tried to make his voice casual.
“She didn’t suspect her husband of trying to do her in?”
“Oh, no, that idea never occurred to her!”
Miss Waynflete paused a minute, then she asked quietly:
“Is that what you think?”
Luke said slowly:
“Husbands have done that before and got away with it. Mrs. Horton from all accounts was a woman any man might have longed to be rid of! And I understand that he came into a good deal of money on her death.”
“Yes, he did.”
“What do you think, Miss Waynflete?”
“You want my opinion?”
“Yes, just your opinion.”
Miss Waynflete said quietly and deliberately:
“In my opinion, Major Horton was quite devoted to his wife and would never have dreamed of doing