Spider's Web - Agatha Christie [39]
‘Again, which do you mean, sir?’
‘Yes, they are mine, I think.’
‘Were you wearing them when you came back here from the golf club?’
‘Yes,’ Jeremy recalled. ‘I remember now. Yes, I was wearing them. There’s a bit of a nip in the air this evening.’
The Inspector got up from the arm of the sofa, and approached Jeremy. ‘I think you’re mistaken, sir.’ Indicating the initials in the gloves, he pointed out, ‘These have Mr Hailsham-Brown’s initials inside them.’
Returning his gaze calmly, Jeremy replied, ‘Oh, that’s funny. I’ve got a pair just the same.’
The Inspector returned to the sofa, sat on the arm again and, leaning over, produced the second pair of gloves. ‘Perhaps these are yours?’ he suggested.
Jeremy laughed. ‘You don’t catch me a second time,’ he replied. ‘After all, one pair of gloves looks exactly like another.’
The Inspector produced the third pair of gloves. ‘Three pairs of gloves,’ he murmured, examining them. ‘All with Hailsham-Brown’s initials inside. Curious.’
‘Well, it is his house, after all,’ Jeremy pointed out. ‘Why shouldn’t he have three pairs of gloves lying about?’
‘The only interesting thing,’ the Inspector replied, ‘is that you thought one of them might have been yours. And I think that your gloves are just sticking out of your pocket, now.’
Jeremy put his hand in his right-hand pocket. ‘No, the other one,’ the Inspector told him.
Removing the gloves from his left-hand pocket, Jeremy exclaimed, ‘Oh yes. Yes, so they are.’
‘They’re not really very like these. Are they?’ the Inspector asked, pointedly.
‘Actually, these are my golfing gloves,’ Jeremy replied with a smile.
‘Thank you, Mr Warrender,’ the Inspector said abruptly and dismissively, patting the cushion back into place on the sofa. ‘That will be all for now.’
Jeremy rose, looking upset. ‘Look here,’ he exclaimed, ‘you don’t think–’ He paused.
‘I don’t think what, sir?’ asked the Inspector.
‘Nothing,’ Jeremy replied uncertainly. He paused, and then made for the library door, only to be intercepted by the Constable. Turning back to the Inspector, Jeremy pointed mutely and enquiringly at the hall door. The Inspector nodded, and Jeremy made his way out of the room, closing the hall door behind him.
Leaving the gloves on the sofa, the Inspector went across to the bridge table, sat, and consulted Who’s Who again. ‘Here we are,’ he murmured, and began to read aloud, ‘“Thomson, Sir Kenneth. Chairman of Saxon-Arabian Oil Company, Gulf Petroleum Company.” Hmm! Impressive. “Recreations: Philately, golf, fishing. Address, three hundred and forty Broad Street, thirty-four Grosvenor Square”.’
While the Inspector was reading, Constable Jones went across to the table by the sofa and began to sharpen his pencil into the ashtray. Stooping to pick up some shavings from the floor, he saw a playing-card lying there and brought it to the bridge table, throwing it down in front of his superior.
‘What have you got there?’ the Inspector asked.
‘Just a card, sir. Found it over there, under the sofa.’
The Inspector picked up the card. ‘The ace of spades,’ he noted. ‘A very interesting card. Here, wait a minute.’ He turned the card over. ‘Red. It’s the same pack.’ He picked up the red pack of cards from the table, and spread them out.
The Constable helped him sort through the cards. ‘Well, well, no ace of spades,’ the Inspector exclaimed. He rose from his chair. ‘Now, that’s very remarkable, don’t you think, Jones?’ he asked, putting the card in his pocket and going across to the sofa. ‘They managed to play bridge without missing the ace of spades.’
‘Very remarkable indeed, sir,’ Constable Jones agreed, as he tidied the cards on the table.
The Inspector collected the three pairs of gloves from the sofa. ‘Now I think we’ll have Sir Rowland Delahaye,’ he instructed the Constable, as he took the gloves to the bridge table and spread them out in pairs.
Chapter 16
The Constable opened the library door, calling, ‘Sir Rowland Delahaye.’
As Sir Rowland paused in the doorway, the Inspector