Ordeal by Innocence - Agatha Christie [82]
Micky nodded.
“I got out of the car there and I walked towards the house. I felt unsure of myself. You know how difficult it was in some ways to talk to Mother. I mean, she always had her own ideas. I wanted to put the case as clearly as I could. And so I walked to the house and then back towards the car, and then back again. Thinking things out.”
“What time was this?” asked Micky.
“I don’t know,” said Tina. “I can’t remember now. I—time doesn’t mean very much to me.”
“No, darling,” said Micky. “You always have that air of infinite leisure.”
“I was under the trees,” said Tina, “and walking very softly—”
“Like the little cat you are,” said Micky affectionately.
“—when I heard them.”
“Heard what?”
“Two people whispering.”
“Yes?” Micky’s body had tensed. “What did they say?”
“They said—one of them said, ‘Between seven and seven-thirty. That’s the time. Now remember that and don’t make a muck of it. Between seven and seven-thirty.’ The other person whispered, ‘You can trust me,’ and then the first voice said, ‘And after that, darling, everything will be wonderful.’”
There was a silence, then Micky said:
“Well—why have you held this up?”
“Because I didn’t know,” said Tina. “I didn’t know who was speaking.”
“But surely! Was it a man or a woman?”
“I don’t know,” said Tina. “Don’t you see, when two people are whispering, you don’t hear the voice. It’s just—well, just a whisper. I think, of course I think, it was a man and a woman because—”
“Because of what they said?”
“Yes. But I didn’t know who they were.”
“You thought,” said Micky, “that it might have been Father and Gwenda?”
“It’s possible, isn’t it?” said Tina. “It might have meant that Gwenda was to leave the house and come back between those times, or it might have been Gwenda telling Father to come down between seven and half past.”
“If it was Father and Gwenda, you wouldn’t want to turn them over to the police. Is that it?”
“If I was sure,” said Tina. “But I’m not sure. It could have been someone else. It could have been—Hester and someone? It could even have been Mary, but not Philip. No, not Philip, of course.”
“When you say Hester and someone, who do you mean?”
“I don’t know.”
“You didn’t see him—the man, I mean?”
“No,” said Tina. “I didn’t see him.”
“Tina, I think you’re lying. It was a man, wasn’t it?”
“I turned back,” said Tina, “towards the car, and then someone came by on the other side of the road walking, very fast. He was just a shadow in the darkness. And then I thought—I thought I heard a car start up at the end of the road.”
“You thought it was me…” said Micky.
“I didn’t know,” said Tina. “It could have been you. It was about your size and height.”
They reached Tina’s little car.
“Come on, Tina,” said Micky, “get in. I’m coming with you. We’ll drive down to Sunny Point.”
“But, Micky—”
“It’s no use my telling you it wasn’t me, is it? What else should I say? Come on, drive to Sunny Point.”
“What are you going to do, Micky?”
“Why should you think I’m going to do anything? Weren’t you going to Sunny Point anyway?”
“Yes,” said Tina, “I was. I had a letter from Philip.” She started the little car. Micky sitting beside her, held himself very taut and rigid.
“Heard from Philip, did you? What had he to say?”
“He asked me to come over. He wanted to see me. He knows this is my half-day.”
“Oh. Did he say what he wanted to see you about?”
“He said he wanted to ask me a question and he hoped that I’d give him the answer to it. He said that I needn’t tell him anything—he’d tell me. I would only have to say yes or no. He said that whatever I told him he’d hold in confidence.”
“So he’s up to something, is he?” said Micky. “Interesting.”
It was a very short distance to Sunny Point. When they got there, Micky said:
“You go in, Tina. I’m going to walk up and down the garden a bit, thinking of things. Go on. Have your interview with Philip.”
Tina said:
“You’re not going to—you wouldn’t—”
Micky gave a short laugh.
“Suicide from Lover’s Leap? Come now,