Parker Pyne Investigates - Agatha Christie [23]
‘Known what?’ said Madeleine faintly.
‘That I adored you. That there was no woman in the world for me but you. Iris can bring her divorce and when it’s gone through you’ll marry me, won’t you? Say you will, Madeleine, I adore you.’
He caught the paralysed Madeleine in his arms just as the door flew open again, this time to admit a thin woman dressed in untidy green.
‘I thought so,’ said the newcomer. ‘I followed you! I knew you’d go to her!’
‘I can assure you–’ began Mr Parker Pyne, recovering from the stupefaction that had descended upon him.
The intruder took no notice of him. She swept on: ‘Oh, Reggie, you can’t want to break my heart! Only come back! I’ll not say a word about this. I’ll learn golf. I won’t have any friends you don’t care about. After all these years, when we’ve been so happy together–’
‘I’ve never been happy till now,’ said Mr Wade, still gazing at Madeleine. ‘Dash it all, Iris, you wanted to marry that ass Jordan. Why don’t you go and do it?’
Mrs Wade gave a wail. ‘I hate him! I hate the very sight of him.’ She turned to Madeleine. ‘You wicked woman! You horrible vampire–stealing my husband from me.’
‘I don’t want your husband,’ said Madeleine distractedly.
‘Madeleine!’ Mr Wade was gazing at her in agony.
‘Please go away,’ said Madeleine.
‘But look here, I’m not pretending. I mean it.’
‘Oh, go away!’ cried Madeleine hysterically. ‘Go away!’
Reggie moved reluctantly towards the door. ‘I shall come back,’ he warned her. ‘You’ve not seen the last of me.’ He went out, banging the door.
‘Girls like you ought to be flogged and branded!’ cried Mrs Wade. ‘Reggie was an angel to me always till you came along. Now he’s so changed I don’t know him.’ With a sob, she hurried out after her husband.
Madeleine and Mr Parker Pyne looked at each other.
‘I can’t help it,’ said Madeleine helplessly. ‘He’s a very nice man–a dear–but I don’t want to marry him. I’d no idea of all this. If you knew the difficulty I had making him kiss me!’
‘Ahem!’ said Mr Parker Pyne. ‘I regret to admit it, but it was an error of judgement on my part.’ He shook his head sadly, and drawing Mr Wade’s file towards him, wrote across it:
FAILURE–owing to natural causes.
N.B.–They should have been foreseen.
The Case of the City Clerk
I
Mr Parker Pyne leaned back thoughtfully in his swivel chair and surveyed his visitor. He saw a small sturdily built man of forty-five with wistful, puzzled, timid eyes that looked at him with a kind of anxious hopefulness.
‘I saw your advertisement in the paper,’ said that little man nervously.
‘You are in trouble, Mr Roberts?’
‘No, not in trouble exactly.’
‘You are unhappy?’
‘I shouldn’t like to say that either. I’ve a great deal to be thankful for.’
‘We all have,’ said Mr Parker Pyne. ‘But when we have to remind ourselves of the fact it is a bad sign.’
‘I know,’ said the little man eagerly. ‘That’s just it! You’ve hit the nail on the head, sir.’
‘Supposing you tell me all about yourself,’ suggested Mr Parker Pyne.
‘There’s not much to tell, sir. As I say, I’ve a great deal to be thankful for. I have a job; I’ve managed to save a little money; the children are strong and healthy.’
‘So you want–what?’
‘I–I don’t know.’ He flushed. ‘I expect that sounds foolish to you, sir.’
‘Not at all,’ said Mr Parker Pyne.
By skilled questioning he elicited further confidences. He heard of Mr Roberts’ employment in a well-known firm and of his slow but steady rise. He heard of his marriage; of the struggle to present a decent appearance, to educate the children and have them ‘looking nice’ of the plotting and planning and skimping and saving to put aside a few pounds each year. He heard, in fact, the saga of a life of ceaseless effort to survive.
‘And–well, you see how it is,’ confessed Mr Roberts.