Spider's Web - Agatha Christie [21]
‘But he came back?’
‘Obviously,’ said Clarissa.
‘How?’ Sir Rowland asked her. ‘When?’
‘I don’t know,’ Clarissa answered. ‘I just came into the room, as I said, and I found him–like that.’ She gestured towards the sofa.
‘I see,’ said Sir Rowland, moving back to the body on the floor and leaning over it. ‘I see. Well, he’s dead all right. He’s been hit over the head with something heavy and sharp.’ He looked around at the others. ‘I’m afraid this isn’t going to be a very pleasant business,’ he continued, ‘but there’s only one thing to be done.’ He went across to the telephone as he spoke. ‘We must ring up the police and–’
‘No,’ Clarissa exclaimed sharply.
Sir Rowland was already lifting the receiver. ‘You ought to have done it at once, Clarissa,’ he advised her. ‘Still, I don’t suppose they’ll blame you much for that.’
‘No, Roly, stop,’ Clarissa insisted. She ran across the room, took the receiver from him, and replaced it on its rest.
‘My dear child–’ Sir Rowland expostulated, but Clarissa would not let him continue. ‘I could have rung up the police myself if I’d wanted to,’ she admitted. ‘I knew perfectly well that it was the proper thing to do. I even started dialling. Then, instead, I rang you up at the club and asked you to come back here immediately, all three of you.’ She turned to Jeremy and Hugo. ‘You haven’t even asked me why, yet.’
‘You can leave it all to us,’ Sir Rowland assured her. ‘We will–’
Clarissa interrupted him vehemently. ‘You haven’t begun to understand,’ she insisted. ‘I want you to help me. You said you would if I was ever in trouble.’ She turned to include the other two men. ‘Darlings, you’ve got to help me.’
Jeremy moved to position himself so that he hid the body from her sight. ‘What do you want us to do, Clarissa?’ he asked gently.
‘Get rid of the body,’ was her abrupt reply.
‘My dear, don’t talk nonsense,’ Sir Rowland ordered her. ‘This is murder.’
‘That’s the whole point,’ Clarissa told him. ‘The body mustn’t be found in this house.’
Hugo gave a snort of impatience. ‘You don’t know what you’re talking about, my dear girl,’ he exclaimed. ‘You’ve been reading too many murder mysteries. In real life you can’t go monkeying about, moving dead bodies.’
‘But I’ve already moved it,’ Clarissa explained. ‘I turned it over to see if he was dead, and then I started dragging it into that recess, and then I realized I was going to need help, and so I rang you up at the club, and while I was waiting for you I made a plan.’
‘Including the bridge table, I assume,’ Jeremy observed, gesturing towards the table.
Clarissa picked up the bridge marker. ‘Yes,’ she replied. ‘That’s going to be our alibi.’
‘What on earth–’ Hugo began, but Clarissa gave him no chance to continue. ‘Two and a half rubbers,’ she announced. ‘I’ve imagined all the hands, and put down the scores on this marker. You three must fill up the others in your own handwriting, of course.’
Sir Rowland stared at her in amazement. ‘You’re mad, Clarissa. Quite mad,’ he declared.
Clarissa paid no attention to him. ‘I’ve worked it out beautifully,’ she went on. ‘The body has to be taken away from here.’ She looked at Jeremy. ‘It will take two of you to do that,’ she instructed him. ‘A dead body is very difficult to manage–I’ve found that out already.’
‘Where the hell do you expect us to take it to?’ Hugo asked in exasperation.
Clarissa had already given this some thought. ‘The best place, I think, would be Marsden Wood,’ she advised. ‘That’s only two miles from here.’ She gestured away to the left. ‘You turn off into that side road, just a few yards after you’ve passed the front gate. It’s a narrow road, and there’s hardly ever any traffic on it.’ She turned to Sir Rowland. ‘Just leave the car by the side of the road when you get into the wood,’ she instructed him. ‘Then you walk back here.’
Jeremy looked perplexed. ‘Do you mean you want us to dump the body in the wood?’ he asked.
‘No, you leave it in the car,’ Clarissa explained. ‘It’s his car, don’t you see? He left it here, round by the stables.’
All three men now wore