Nemesis - Agatha Christie [80]
‘You must go on believing as you do,’ said Miss Marple. ‘I think, you know, that I believe it too.’
‘But then what?’
‘I don’t know yet,’ said Miss Marple. ‘I’m not sure, but I think Elizabeth Temple did know or was beginning to know what happened. A frightening word, she said. Love. I thought when she spoke that what she meant was that because of a love affair Verity committed suicide. Because she found out something about Michael, or because something about Michael suddenly upset her and revolted her. But it couldn’t have been suicide.’
‘No,’ said the Archdeacon, ‘that couldn’t be so. The injuries were described very fully at the trial. You don’t commit suicide by beating in your own head.’
‘Horrible!’ said Miss Marple. ‘Horrible! And you couldn’t do that to anyone you loved even if you had to kill “for love”, could you? If he’d killed her, he couldn’t have done it that way. Strangling — perhaps, but you wouldn’t beat in the face and the head that you loved.’ She murmured, ‘Love, love — a frightening word.’
Chapter 19
Goodbyes Are Said
The coach was drawn up in front of the Golden Boar on the following morning. Miss Marple had come down and was saying goodbye to various friends. She found Mrs Riseley-Porter in a state of high indignation.
‘Really, girls nowadays,’ she said. ‘No vigour. No stamina.’
Miss Marple looked at her enquiringly.
‘Joanna, I mean. My niece.’
‘Oh dear. Is she not well?’
‘Well, she says not. I can’t see anything much the matter with her. She says she’s got a sore throat, she feels she might have a temperature coming on. All nonsense, I think.’
‘Oh, I’m very sorry,’ said Miss Marple. ‘Is there anything I can do? Look after her?’
‘I should leave her alone, if I were you,’ said Mrs Riseley-Porter. ‘If you ask me, it’s all an excuse.’
Miss Marple looked enquiringly at her once more.
‘Girls are so silly. Always falling in love.’
‘Emlyn Price?’ said Miss Marple.
‘Oh, so you’ve noticed it too. Yes, they’re really getting to a stage of spooning about together. I don’t much care for him anyway. One of these long-haired students, you know. Always going on demos or something like that. Why can’t they say demonstration properly? I hate abbreviations. And how am I going to get along? Nobody to look after me, collect my luggage, take it in, take it out. Really. I’m paying for this complete trip and everything.’
‘I thought she seemed so attentive to you,’ said Miss Marple.
‘Well, not the last day or two. Girls don’t understand that people have to have a little assistance when they get to middle age. They seem to have some absurd idea — she and the Price boy — of going to visit some mountain or some land-mark. About a seven or eight mile walk there and back.’
‘But surely if she has a sore throat and a temperature…’
‘You’ll see, as soon as the coach is gone the sore throat will get better and the temperature will go down,’ said Mrs Riseley-Porter. ‘Oh dear, we’ve got to get on board now. Oh, goodbye, Miss Marple, it’s nice to have met you. I’m sorry you’re not coming with us.’
‘I’m very sorry myself,’ said Miss Marple, ‘but really you know, I’m not so young and vigorous as you are, Mrs Riseley-Porter, and I really feel after all the — well, shock and everything else the last few days, I really must have a complete twenty-four hours’ rest.’
‘Well, hope to see you somewhere in the future.’
They shook hands. Mrs Riseley-Porter climbed into the coach.
A voice behind Miss Marple’s shoulder said:
‘Bon Voyage and Good Riddance.’
She turned to see Emlyn Price. He was grinning.
‘Was that addressed to Mrs Riseley-Porter?’
‘Yes. Who else.’
‘I’m sorry to hear that Joanna is under the weather this morning.’
Emlyn Price grinned at Miss Marple again.
‘She’ll be all right,’ he said, ‘as soon as that