Postern of Fate (Tommy and Tuppence Series) - Agatha Christie [45]
‘That’s why I feel awful about having come and disturbed you. But I wouldn’t have done it on my own. It was only Mutton-Chop. I mean–’
‘I know who you mean. Had mutton-chop whiskers and was rather pleased with them at one time. That’s why he was called that. A nice chap. Done good work in his time. Yes. He sent you to me because he knew that I am interested in anything like that. I started quite early, you know. Poking about, I mean, and finding out things.’
‘And now,’ said Tommy, ‘now you’re the tops.’
‘Now who told you that?’ said Mr Robinson. ‘All nonsense.’
‘I don’t think it is,’ said Tommy.
‘Well,’ said Mr Robinson, ‘some get to the tops and some have the tops forced upon them. I would say the latter applies to me, more or less. I’ve had a few things of surpassing interest forced upon me.’
‘That business connected with–Frankfurt, wasn’t it?’
‘Ah, you’ve heard rumours, have you? Ah well, don’t think about them any more. They’re not supposed to be known much. Don’t think I’m going to rebuff you for coming here asking me questions. I probably can answer some of the things you want to know. If I said there was something that happened years ago that might result in something being known that would be–possibly–interesting nowadays, sometimes that would give one a bit of information about things that might be going on nowadays, that might be true enough. I wouldn’t put it past anyone or anything. I don’t know what I can suggest to you, though. It’s a question of worry about, listen to people, find out what you can about bygone years. If anything comes along that you think might be interesting to me, just give me a ring or something. We’ll find some code words, you know. Just to make ourselves feel excited again, feel as though we really mattered. Crab-apple jelly, how would that be? You know, you say your wife’s made some jars of crab-apple jelly and would I like a pot. I’ll know what you mean.’
‘You mean that–that I would have found out something about Mary Jordan. I don’t see there’s any point in going on with that. After all, she’s dead.’
‘Yes. She’s dead. But–well, you see, sometimes one has the wrong ideas about people because of what you’ve been told. Or because of what’s been written.’
‘You mean we have wrong ideas about Mary Jordan. You mean, she wasn’t important at all.’
‘Oh yes, she could have been very important.’ Mr Robinson looked at his watch. ‘I have to push you off now. There’s a chap coming in, in ten minutes. An awful bore, but he’s high up in government circles, and you know what life is nowadays. Government, government, you’ve got to stand it everywhere. In the office, in the home, in the supermarkets, on the television. Private life. That’s what we want more of nowadays. Now this little fun and games that you and your wife are having, you’re in private life and you can look at it from the background of private life. Who knows, you might find out something. Something that would be interesting. Yes. You may and you may not.
‘I can’t tell you anything more about it. I know some of the facts that probably nobody else can tell you and in due course I might be able to tell them to you. But as they’re all dead and done with, that’s not really practical.
‘I’ll tell you one thing that will help you perhaps in your investigations. You read about this case, the trial of Commander whatever-he-was–I’ve forgotten his name now–and he was tried for espionage, did a sentence for it and richly deserved it. He was a traitor to his country and that’s that. But Mary Jordan–’
‘Yes?’
‘You want to know something about Mary Jordan. Well, I’ll tell you one thing that might, as I say, help your point of view. Mary Jordan was–well, you can call it a spy but she wasn’t a German spy. She wasn’t an enemy spy. Listen to this, my boy. I can’t keep calling you “my boy”.’
Mr Robinson dropped his voice and leaned forward over his desk.
‘She was one of our lot.’
Book III
Chapter 1
Mary Jordan
‘But