Spider's Web - Agatha Christie [29]
As soon as they were out of earshot, Sir Rowland went to Clarissa. ‘What’s on the other side?’ he asked her quietly, indicating the panel.
‘Bookshelves,’ she replied tersely.
He nodded and strolled nonchalantly across to the sofa, as the Constable’s voice was heard calling, ‘Just another door through to the hall, sir.’
The two officers returned from the library. ‘Right,’ said the Inspector. He looked at Sir Rowland, apparently taking note of the fact that he had moved. ‘Now we’ll search the rest of the house,’ he announced, going to the hall door.
‘I’ll come with you, if you don’t mind,’ Clarissa offered, ‘in case my little stepdaughter should wake up and be frightened. Not that I think she will. It’s extraordinary how deeply children can sleep. You have to practically shake them awake.’
As the Inspector opened the hall door, she asked him, ‘Have you got any children, Inspector?’
‘One boy and one girl,’ he replied shortly, as he made his way out of the room, crossed the hall, and began to ascend the stairs.
‘Isn’t that nice?’ Clarissa observed. She turned to the Constable. ‘Mr Jones,’ she invited him with a gesture to precede her. He made his way out of the room and she followed him closely.
As soon as they had gone, the three remaining occupants of the room looked at one another. Hugo wiped his hands and Jeremy mopped his forehead. ‘And now what?’ Jeremy asked, taking another sandwich.
Sir Rowland shook his head. ‘I don’t like this,’ he told them. ‘We’re getting in very deep.’
‘If you ask me,’ Hugo advised him, ‘there’s only one thing to do. Come clean. Own up now before it’s too late.’
‘Damn it, we can’t do that,’ Jeremy exclaimed. ‘It would be too unfair to Clarissa.’
‘But we’ll get her in a worse mess if we keep on with this,’ Hugo insisted. ‘How are we ever going to get the body away? The police will impound the fellow’s car.’
‘We could use mine,’ Jeremy suggested.
‘Well, I don’t like it,’ Hugo persisted. ‘I don’t like it at all. Damn it, I’m a local JP. I’ve got my reputation with the police here to consider.’ He turned to Sir Rowland. ‘What do you say, Roly? You’ve got a good level head.’
Sir Rowland looked grave. ‘I admit I don’t like it,’ he replied, ‘but personally I am committed to the enterprise.’
Hugo looked perplexed. ‘I don’t understand you,’ he told his friend.
‘Take it on trust, if you will, Hugo,’ said Sir Rowland. He looked gravely at both men, and continued, ‘We’re in a very bad jam, all of us. But if we stick together and have reasonable luck, I think there’s a chance we may be able to pull it off.’
Jeremy looked as though he was about to say something, but Sir Rowland held up a hand, and went on, ‘Once the police are satisfied that Costello isn’t in this house, they’ll go off and look elsewhere. After all, there are plenty of reasons why he might have left his car and gone off on foot.’ He gestured towards them both and added, ‘We’re all respectable people–Hugo’s a JP, as he’s reminded us, and Henry Hailsham-Brown’s high up in the Foreign Office–’
‘Yes, yes, and you’ve had a blameless and even distinguished career, we know all that,’ Hugo intervened. ‘All right then, if you say so, we brazen it out.’
Jeremy rose to his feet and nodded towards the recess. ‘Can’t we do something about that straightaway?’ he asked.
‘There’s no time now,’ Sir Rowland decreed, tersely. ‘They’ll be back any minute. He’s safer where he is.’
Jeremy nodded in reluctant agreement. ‘I must say Clarissa’s a marvel,’ he observed. ‘She doesn’t turn a hair. She’s got that police inspector eating out of her hand.’
The front door bell rang. ‘That’ll be Miss Peake, I expect,’ Sir Rowland announced. ‘Go and let her in, Warrender, would you?’
As soon as Jeremy had left the room, Hugo beckoned to Sir Rowland.
‘What’s up, Roly?’ he asked in an urgent whisper. ‘What did Clarissa tell you when she got you to herself?’
Sir Rowland began to speak, but, hearing the voices of Jeremy and Miss Peake exchanging greetings at the front door, he made a gesture