Spider's Web - Agatha Christie [41]
‘This is beginning to sound like a variant of “Ten Little Indians”,’ Sir Rowland observed with a smile.
The Inspector smiled back. ‘We’ll take Mr Warrender next,’ he proposed. ‘Now, how well do you know him?’
‘I met him here for the first time two days ago,’ Sir Rowland replied. ‘He appears to be an agreeable young man, well bred, and well educated. He’s a friend of Clarissa’s. I know nothing about him, but I should say he’s an unlikely murderer.’
‘So much for Mr Warrender,’ the Inspector noted. ‘That brings me to my next question.’
Anticipating him, Sir Rowland nodded. ‘How well do I know Henry Hailsham-Brown, and how well do I know Mrs Hailsham-Brown? That’s what you want to know, isn’t it?’ he asked. ‘Actually, I know Henry Hailsham-Brown very well indeed. He is an old friend. As for Clarissa, I know all there is to know about her. She is my ward, and inexpressibly dear to me.’
‘Yes, sir,’ said the Inspector. ‘I think that answer makes certain things very clear.’
‘Does it, indeed?’
The Inspector rose and took a few paces about the room before turning back to face Sir Rowland. ‘Why did you three change your plans this evening?’ he asked. ‘Why did you come back here and pretend to play bridge?’
‘Pretend?’ Sir Rowland exclaimed sharply.
The Inspector took the playing card from his pocket. ‘This card,’ he said, ‘was found on the other side of the room under the sofa. I can hardly believe that you would have played two rubbers of bridge and started a third with a pack of fifty-one cards, and the ace of spades missing.’
Sir Rowland took the card from the Inspector, looked at the back of it, and then returned it. ‘Yes,’ he admitted. ‘Perhaps that is a little difficult to believe.’
The Inspector cast his eyes despairingly upwards before adding, ‘I also think that three pairs of Mr Hailsham-Brown’s gloves need a certain amount of explanation.’
After a moment’s pause, Sir Rowland replied, ‘I’m afraid, Inspector, you won’t get any explanation from me.’
‘No, sir,’ the Inspector agreed. ‘I take it that you are out to do your best for a certain lady. But it’s not a bit of good, sir. The truth will out.’
‘I wonder if it will,’ was Sir Rowland’s only response to this observation.
The Inspector went across to the panel. ‘Mrs Hailsham-Brown knew that Costello’s body was in the recess,’ he insisted. ‘Whether she dragged it there herself, or whether you helped her, I don’t know. But I’m convinced that she knew.’ He came back to face Sir Rowland. ‘I suggest,’ he continued, ‘that Oliver Costello came here to see Mrs Hailsham-Brown and to obtain money from her by threats.’
‘Threats?’ Sir Rowland asked. ‘Threats of what?’
‘That will all come out in due course, I have no doubt,’ the Inspector assured him. ‘Mrs Hailsham-Brown is young and attractive. This Mr Costello was a great man for the ladies, they say. Now, Mrs Hailsham-Brown is newly married and–’
‘Stop!’ Sir Rowland interrupted peremptorily. ‘I must put you right on certain matters. You can confirm what I tell you easily enough. Henry Hailsham-Brown’s first marriage was unfortunate. His wife, Miranda, was a beautiful woman, but unbalanced and neurotic. Her health and disposition had degenerated to such an alarming state that her little daughter had to be removed to a nursing home.’
He paused in reflection. Then, ‘Yes, a really shocking state of affairs,’ he continued. ‘It seemed that Miranda had become a drug addict. How she obtained these drugs was not found out, but it was a very fair guess that she had been supplied with them by this man, Oliver Costello. She was infatuated with him, and finally ran away with him.’
After another pause and a glance across at the Constable, to see if he was keeping up, Sir Rowland resumed his story. ‘Henry Hailsham-Brown, who is old-fashioned in his views, allowed Miranda to divorce him,’ he explained. ‘Henry has now found happiness and peace in his marriage with Clarissa, and I can assure you, Inspector, that there are no guilty secrets in Clarissa’s life. There is nothing, I can swear, with which