The Clocks - Agatha Christie [68]
The tray was rolled out, the attendant lifted the sheet. She stood staring down for a few moments, her breath came a little faster, she made a faint gasping sound, then she turned away abruptly. She said:
“It’s Harry. Yes. He’s a lot older, he looks different … But it’s Harry.”
The inspector nodded to the attendant, then he laid his hand on her arm and took her out again to the car and they drove back to the station. He didn’t say anything. He left her to pull herself together. When they got back to his room a constable came in almost at once with a tray of tea.
“There you are, Mrs. Rival. Have a cup, it’ll pull you together. Then we’ll talk.”
“Thank you.”
She put sugar in the tea, a good deal of it, and gulped it down quickly.
“That’s better,” she said. “It’s not that I mind really. Only—only, well it does turn you up a bit, doesn’t it?”
“You think this man is definitely your husband?”
“I’m sure he is. Of course, he’s much older, but he hasn’t changed really so much. He always looked—well, very neat. Nice, you know, good class.”
Yes, thought Hardcastle, it was quite a good description. Good class. Presumably, Harry had looked much better class than he was. Some men did, and it was helpful to them for their particular purposes.
Mrs. Rival said, “He was very particular always about his clothes and everything. That’s why, I think—they fell for him so easily. They never suspected anything.”
“Who fell for him, Mrs. Rival?” Hardcastle’s voice was gentle, sympathetic.
“Women,” said Mrs. Rival. “Women. That’s where he was most of the time.”
“I see. And you got to know about it.”
“Well, I—I suspected. I mean, he was away such a lot. Of course I knew what men are like. I thought probably there was a girl from time to time. But it’s no good asking men about these things. They’ll lie to you and that’s all. But I didn’t think—I really didn’t think that he made a business of it.”
“And did he?”
She nodded. “I think he must have done.”
“How did you find out?”
She shrugged her shoulders.
“He came back one day from a trip he’d taken. To Newcastle, he said. Anyway, he came back and said he’d have to clear out quickly. He said that the game was up. There was some woman he’d got into trouble. A schoolteacher, he said, and there might be a bit of a stink about it. I asked him questions then. He didn’t mind telling me. Probably he thought I knew more than I did. They used to fall for him, you know, easily enough, just as I did. He’d give her a ring and they’d get engaged—and then he’d say he’d invest money for them. They usually gave it him quite easily.”
“Had he tried the same thing with you?”
“He had, as a matter of fact, only I didn’t give him any.”
“Why not? Didn’t you trust him even then?”
“Well, I wasn’t the kind that trusts anybody. I’d had what you’d call a bit of experience, you know, of men and their ways and the seamier side of things. Anyway, I didn’t want him investing my money for me. What money I had I could invest for myself. Always keep your money in your hands and then you’ll be sure you’ve got it! I’ve seen too many girls and women make fools of themselves.”
“When did he want you to invest money? Before you were married or after?”
“I think he suggested something of the kind beforehand, but I didn’t respond and he sheered off the subject at once. Then, after we were married, he told me about some wonderful opportunity he’d got. I said, ‘Nothing doing.’ It wasn’t only because I didn’t trust him, but I’d often heard men say they’re on to something wonderful and then it turned out that they’d been had for a mug themselves.”
“Had your husband ever been in trouble with the police?”
“No fear,” said Mrs. Rival. “Women don’t like the world to know they’ve been duped. But this time, apparently, things might be different. This girl or woman, she was an educated woman. She wouldn’t be as easy to deceive as the others may have been.”
“She was going to have a child?”
“Yes.”
“Had that happened on other occasions?”
“I rather think so.” She added,