The Mirror Crack'd - Agatha Christie [33]
‘What about a Mrs Bantry?’
‘Ah yes, she’s the former owner of this place, isn’t she? I believe she, and Mrs Badcock and her husband, did come up about the same time.’ He paused. ‘And the mayor came just about them. He had a big chain on and a wife with yellow hair, wearing royal blue with frills. I remember all of them. I didn’t pour drinks for any of them because I had to go down and bring up the next lot.’
‘Who did pour drinks for them?’
‘Why, I can’t exactly say. There were three or four of us on duty. I know I went down the stairs just as the mayor was coming up.’
‘Who else was on the stairs as you went down, if you can remember?’
‘Jim Galbraith, one of the newspaper boys who was covering this, three or four others whom I didn’t know. There were a couple of photographers, one of the locals, I don’t remember his name, and an arty girl from London, who rather specialises in queer angle shots. Her camera was set right up in that corner so that she could get a view of Miss Gregg receiving. Ah, now let me think, I rather fancy that that was when Ardwyck Fenn arrived.’
‘And who is Ardwyck Fenn?’
Hailey Preston looked shocked. ‘He’s a big shot, Chief-Inspector. A very big shot in the television and moving picture world. We didn’t even know he was in this country.’
‘His turning up was a surprise?’
‘I’ll say it was,’ said Preston. ‘Nice of him to come and quite unexpected.’
‘Was he an old friend of Miss Gregg’s and Mr Rudd’s?’
‘He was an old friend of Marina’s a good many years ago when she was married to her second husband. I don’t know how well Jason knew him.’
‘Anyway, it was a pleasant surprise when he arrived?’
‘Sure it was. We were all delighted.’
Craddock nodded and passed from that to other subjects. He made meticulous inquiries about the drinks, their ingredients, how they were served, who served them, what servants and hired servants were on duty. The answers seemed to be, as Inspector Cornish had already hinted was the case that, although any one of thirty people could have poisoned Heather Badcock with the utmost ease, yet at the same time any one of the thirty might have been seen doing so! It was, Craddock reflected, a big chance to take.
‘Thank you,’ he said at last. ‘Now I would like, if I may, to speak to Miss Marina Gregg.’
Hailey Preston shook his head.
‘I’m sorry,’ he said. ‘I really am sorry but that’s right out of the question.’
Craddock’s eyebrows rose.
‘Surely!’
‘She’s prostrated. She’s absolutely prostrated. She’s got her own physician here looking after her. He wrote out a certificate. I’ve got it here. I’ll show it to you.’
Craddock took it and read it.
‘I see,’ he said. He asked, ‘Does Marina Gregg always have a physician in attendance?’
‘They’re very high strung, all these actors and actresses. It’s a big strain, this life. It’s usually considered desirable in the case of the big shots that they should have a physician who understands their constitution and their nerves. Maurice Gilchrist has a very big reputation. He’s looked after Miss Gregg for many years now. She’s had a great deal of illness, as you may have read, in the last four years. She was hospitalized for a very long time. It’s only about a year ago that she got her strength and health back.’
‘I see.’
Hailey Preston seemed relieved that Craddock was not making any more protests.
‘You’ll want to see Mr Rudd?’ he suggested. ‘He’ll be —’ he looked at his watch, ‘— he’ll be back from the studios in about ten minutes if that’s all right for you.’
‘That’ll do admirably,’ said Craddock. ‘In the meantime is Dr Gilchrist in the house?’
‘He is.’
‘Then I’d like to talk to him.’
‘Why, certainly. I’ll fetch him right away.’
The young man bustled away. Dermot Craddock stood thoughtfully at the top of the stairs. Of course this frozen look that Mrs Bantry had described might have been entirely Mrs Bantry’s imagination. She was, he thought, a woman who would jump to conclusions. At the same time he thought