Postern of Fate (Tommy and Tuppence Series) - Agatha Christie [52]
‘I don’t suppose there are many of them, I mean–’ Tuppence paused, feeling that she might be about to say something tactless.
‘You’re thinking most of them are dead, I suppose, dear. Well, you’re quite right. Most of them are. But not all of them. No. I’ve still got quite a lot of people living, with whom I was, as they say, girls together. Not living here, because most girls that one knew married and went somewhere else. Either they had husbands who were in the Services and they went abroad, or they went to some other different town altogether. Two of my oldest friends live up in Northumberland. Yes, yes, it’s very interesting.’
‘There weren’t, I suppose, any Parkinsons left then?’ said Tuppence. ‘I don’t see the name anywhere.’
‘Oh no. It was after the Parkinsons’ time. There’s something you want to find out about the Parkinsons, isn’t there?’
‘Oh, yes, there is,’ said Tuppence. ‘It’s pure curiosity, you know, nothing else. But–well, somehow in looking at things I got interested in the boy, Alexander Parkinson, and then, as I was walking through the churchyard the other day, I noticed that he’d died fairly young and his grave was there and that made me think about him more.’
‘He died young,’ said Mrs Griffin. ‘Yes. Everyone seems to think it was sad that he should have done so. He was a very intelligent boy and they hoped for–well, quite a brilliant future for him. It wasn’t really any illness, some food he had on a picnic, I believe. So Mrs Henderson told me. She remembers a lot about the Parkinsons.’
‘Mrs Henderson?’ Tuppence looked up.
‘Oh, you wouldn’t know about her. She’s in one of these old people’s homes, you know. It’s called Meadowside. It’s about–oh, about twelve to fifteen miles from here. You ought to go and see her. She’d tell you a lot of things, I expect, about that house you’re living in. Swallow’s Nest, it was called then, it’s called something else, isn’t it now?’
‘The Laurels.’
‘Mrs Henderson is older than I am, although she was the youngest of quite a large family. She was a governess at one time. And then I think she was a kind of nurse-companion with Mrs Beddingfield who had Swallow’s Nest, I mean The Laurels, then. And she likes talking about old times very much. You ought to go and see her, I think.’
‘Oh, she wouldn’t like–’
‘Oh, my dear, I’m sure she would like. Go and see her. Just tell her that I suggested it. She remembers me and my sister Rosemary and I do go and see her occasionally, but not of late years because I haven’t been able to get about. And you might go and see Mrs Hendley, who lives in–what is it now?–Apple Tree Lodge, I think it is. That’s mainly old age pensioners. Not quite the same class, you know, but it’s very well run and there’s a lot of gossip going there! I’m sure they’d all be quite pleased with visits. You know, anything to break the monotony.’
Chapter 3
Tommy and Tuppence Compare Notes
‘You look tired, Tuppence,’ said Tommy as at the close of dinner they went into the sitting-room and Tuppence dropped into a chair, uttering several large sighs followed by a yawn.
‘Tired? I’m dead beat,’ said Tuppence.
‘What have you been doing? Not things in the garden, I hope.’
‘I have not been overworking myself physically,’ said Tuppence, coldly. ‘I’ve been doing like you. Mental research.’
‘Also very exhausting, I agree,’ said Tommy. ‘Where, particularly? You didn’t get an awful lot out of Mrs Griffin the day before yesterday, did you?’
‘Well, I did get a good deal, I think. I didn’t get much out of the first recommendation. At least, I suppose I did in a way.’
Opening her handbag, she tugged at a notebook of rather tiresome size, and finally got it out.
‘I made various notes each time about things. I took some of the china menus along, for one thing.’
‘Oh. And what did that produce?’
‘Well, it’s not names that I write down so much as the things they say to me and tell me. And they were very thrilled at that china menu because it seemed it was