Parker Pyne Investigates - Agatha Christie [55]
Sir Donald, a little puzzled, murmured to his neighbour, Mr Parker Pyne: ‘Seems I dropped a brick, what?’
‘Curious,’ said Mr Parker Pyne.
Whatever momentary embarrassment had been caused, one person had quite failed to notice it. The archaeologist had sat silent, his eyes dreamy and abstracted. When a pause came, he spoke suddenly and abruptly.
‘You know,’ he said, ‘I agree with that–at any rate, from the opposite point of view. A man’s fundamentally honest, or he isn’t. You can’t get away from it.’
‘You don’t believe that sudden temptation, for instance, will turn an honest man into a criminal?’ asked Mr Parker Pyne.
‘Impossible!’ said Carver.
Mr Parker Pyne shook his head gently. ‘I wouldn’t say impossible. You see, there are so many factors to take into account. There’s the breaking point, for instance.’
‘What do you call the breaking point?’ asked young Hurst, speaking for the first time. He had a deep, rather attractive voice.
‘The brain is adjusted to carry so much weight. The thing that precipitates the crisis–that turns an honest man into a dishonest one–may be a mere trifle. That is why most crimes are absurd. The cause, nine times out of ten, is that trifle of overweight–the straw that breaks the camel’s back.’
‘It is the psychology you talk there, my friend,’ said the Frenchman.
‘If a criminal were a psychologist, what a criminal he could be!’ said Mr Parker Pyne. His voice dwelt lovingly on the idea. ‘When you think that of ten people you meet, at least nine of them can be induced to act in any way you please by applying the right stimulus.’
‘Oh, explain that!’ cried Carol.
‘There’s the bullyable man. Shout loud enough at him–and he obeys. There’s the contradictory man. Bully him the opposite way from the way in which you want him to go. Then there’s the suggestible person, the commonest type of all. Those are the people who have seen a motor, because they have heard a motor horn; who see a postman because they hear the rattle of the letter-box; who see a knife in a wound because they are told a man has been stabbed; or who will have heard the pistol if they are told a man has been shot.’
‘I guess no one could put that sort of stuff over on me,’ said Carol incredulously.
‘You’re too smart for that, honey,’ said her father.
‘It is very true what you say,’ said the Frenchman reflectively. ‘The preconceived idea, it deceives the senses.’
Carol yawned. ‘I’m going to my cave. I’m tired to death. Abbas Effendi said we had to start early tomorrow. He’s going to take us up to the place of sacrifice–whatever that is.’
‘It is where they sacrifice young and beautiful girls,’ said Sir Donald.
‘Mercy, I hope not! Well, goodnight, all. Oh, I’ve dropped my earring.’
Colonel Dubosc picked it up from where it had rolled across the table and returned it to her.
‘Are they real?’ asked Sir Donald abruptly. Discourteous for the moment, he was staring at the two large solitaire pearls in her ears.
‘They’re real all right,’ said Carol.
‘Cost me eighty thousand dollars,’ said her father with relish. ‘And she screws them in so loosely that they fall off and roll about the table. Want to ruin me, girl?’
‘I’d say it wouldn’t ruin you even if you had to buy me a new pair,’ said Carol fondly.
‘I guess it wouldn’t,’ her father acquiesced. ‘I could buy you three pairs of earrings without noticing it in my bank balance.’ He looked proudly around.
‘How nice for you!’ said Sir Donald.
‘Well, gentlemen, I think I’ll turn in now,’ said Blundell. ‘Good-night.’ Young Hurst went with him.
The other four smiled at one another, as though in sympathy over some thought.
‘Well,’ drawled Sir Donald, ‘it’s nice to know he wouldn’t miss the money. Purse-proud hog!’ he added viciously.
‘They have too much money, these Americans,’ said Dubosc.
‘It is difficult,’ said Mr Parker Pyne gently, ‘for a rich man to be appreciated by the poor.’
Dubosc laughed. ‘Envy and malice?’ he suggested. ‘You are right, Monsieur. We all wish to be rich; to buy the pearl earrings several times over.