Postern of Fate (Tommy and Tuppence Series) - Agatha Christie [48]
‘The wheels came off that beastly little cart and horse I was going down the hill in the other day, and so I came a terrible cropper right down behind the monkey puzzle and into it. And I very nearly–well, I might have had a serious accident. That silly old man Isaac ought to have seen that the thing was safe. He said he did look at it. He told me it was quite all right before I started.’
‘And it wasn’t?’
‘No. He said afterwards that he thought someone had been playing about with it, tampering with the wheels or something, so that they came off.’
‘Tuppence,’ said Tommy, ‘do you think that’s the second or third thing that’s happened here to us? You know that other thing that nearly came down on the top of me in the book-room?’
‘You mean somebody wants to get rid of us? But that would mean–’
‘That would mean,’ said Tommy, ‘that there must be something. Something that’s here–in the house.’
Tommy looked at Tuppence and Tuppence looked at Tommy. It was the moment for consideration. Tuppence opened her mouth three times but checked herself each time, frowning, as she considered. It was Tommy who spoke at last.
‘What did he think? What did he say about Truelove? Old Isaac, I mean.’
‘That it was only to be expected, that the thing was pretty rotten anyway.’
‘But he said somebody had been monkeying about with it?’
‘Yes,’ said Tuppence, ‘very definitely. “Ah,” he said, “these youngsters have been in tryin’ it out, you know. Enjoy pulling wheels off things, they do, young monkeys.” Not that I’ve seen anyone about. But then I suppose they’d be sure that I didn’t catch them at it. They’d wait till I’m away from home, I expect.
‘I asked him if he thought it was just–just something mischievous,’ said Tuppence.
‘What did he say to that?’ said Tommy.
‘He didn’t really know what to say.’
‘It could have been mischief, I suppose,’ said Tommy. ‘People do do those things.’
‘Are you trying to say you think that it was meant in some way so that I should go on playing the fool with the cart and that the wheel would come off and the thing would fall to pieces–oh, but that is nonsense, Tommy.’
‘Well, it sounds like nonsense,’ said Tommy, ‘but things aren’t nonsense sometimes. It depends where and how they happen and why.’
‘I don’t see what “why” there could be.’
‘One might make a guess–about the most likely thing,’ said Tommy.
‘Now what do you mean by the most likely?’
‘I mean perhaps people want us to go away from here.’
‘Why should they? If somebody wants the house for themselves, they could make us an offer for it.’
‘Yes, they could.’
‘Well, I wondered–Nobody else has wanted this house as far as we know. I mean, there was nobody else looking at it when we were. It seemed to be generally regarded as if it had come into the market rather cheap but not for any other reason, except that it was out of date and needed a lot doing to it.’
‘I can’t believe they wanted to do away with us, maybe it’s because you’ve been nosing about, asking too many questions, copying things out of books.’
‘You mean that I’m stirring up things that somebody doesn’t want to be stirred up?’
‘That sort of thing,’ said Tommy. ‘I mean, if we suddenly were meant to feel that we didn’t like living here, and put the house up for sale and went away, that would be quite all right. They’d be satisfied with that. I don’t think that they–’
‘Who do you mean by “they”?’
‘I’ve no idea,’ said Tommy. ‘We must get to “they” later. Just they. There’s We and there’s They. We must keep them apart in our minds.’
‘What about Isaac?’
‘What do you mean, what about Isaac?’
‘I don’t know. I just wondered if he was mixed up in this.’
‘He’s a very old man, he’s been here a long time and he knows a few things. If somebody slipped him a five pound note or something, do you think he’d tamper with Truelove’s wheels?’
‘No, I don’t,’ said Tuppence. ‘He hasn’t got the brains to.’
‘He wouldn’t need brains for it,’ said Tommy. ‘He’d only need the brains to take the five pound note and to take out a few screws or break off a bit of wood here or there