The Man in the Brown Suit - Agatha Christie [52]
Alas, for my plans! As I arrived at the docks, the Kilmorden Castle was steaming out to sea. And I had no means of knowing whether Chichester had sailed on her or not!
Chapter 20
I drove to the hotel. There was no one in the lounge that I knew. I ran upstairs and tapped on Suzanne’s door. Her voice bade me ‘come in’. When she saw who it was she literally fell on my neck.
‘Anne, dear, where have you been? I’ve been worried to death about you. What have you been doing?’
‘Having adventures,’ I replied. ‘Episode III of “The Perils of Pamela”.’
I told her the whole story. She gave vent to a deep sigh when I finished.
‘Why do these things always happen to you?’ she demanded plaintively. ‘Why does no one gag me and bind me hand and foot?’
‘You wouldn’t like it if they did,’ I assured her. ‘To tell you the truth, I’m not nearly so keen on having adventures myself as I was. A little of that sort of thing goes a long way.’
Suzanne seemed unconvinced. An hour or two of gagging and binding would have changed her view quickly enough. Suzanne likes thrills, but she hates being uncomfortable.
‘And what are we all doing now?’ she asked.
‘I don’t quite know,’ I said thoughtfully. ‘You still go to Rhodesia, of course, to keep an eye on Pagett–’
‘And you?’
That was just my difficulty. Had Chichester gone on the Kilmorden, or had he not? Did he mean to carry out his original plan of going to Durban? The hour of his leaving Muizenberg seemed to point to an affirmative answer to both questions. In that case, I might go to Durban by train. I fancied that I should get there before the boat. On the other hand, if the news of my escape were wired to Chichester, and also the information that I had left Cape Town for Durban, nothing was simpler for him than to leave the boat at either Port Elizabeth or East London and so give me the slip completely.
It was rather a knotty problem.
‘We’ll inquire about trains to Durban anyway,’ I said.
‘And it’s not too late for morning tea,’ said Suzanne. ‘We’ll have it in the lounge.’
The Durban train left at 8.15 that evening, so they told me at the office. For the moment I postponed decision, and joined Suzanne for somewhat belated ‘eleven-o’clock tea’.
‘Do you feel that you would really recognize Chichester again–in any other disguise, I mean?’ asked Suzanne.
I shook my head ruefully.
‘I certainly didn’t recognize him as the stewardess, and never should have but for your drawing.’
‘The man’s a professional actor, I’m sure of it,’ said Suzanne thoughtfully. ‘His make-up is perfectly marvellous. He might come off the boat as a navvy or something, and you’d never spot him.’
‘You’re very cheering,’ I said.
At that minute Colonel Race stepped in through the window and came and joined us.
‘What is Sir Eustace doing?’ asked Suzanne. ‘I haven’t seen him about today.’
Rather an odd expression passed over the Colonel’s face.
‘He’s got a little trouble of his own to attend to which is keeping him busy.’
‘Tell us about it.’
‘I mustn’t tell tales out of school.’
‘Tell us something–even if you have to invent it for our special benefit.’
‘Well, what would you say to the famous “Man in the Brown Suit” having made the voyage with us?’
‘What?’
I felt the colour die out of my face and then surge back again. Fortunately Colonel Race was not looking at me.
‘It’s a fact, I believe. Every port watched for him and he bamboozled Pedler into bringing him out as his secretary!’
‘Not Mr Pagett?’
‘Oh, not Pagett–the other fellow. Rayburn, he called himself.’
‘Have they arrested him?’ asked Suzanne. Under the table she gave my hand a reassuring squeeze. I waited breathlessly for an answer.
‘He seems