The Pale Horse - Agatha Christie [47]
Bequests to old servants, to a couple of godchildren, and then provision for his wife—sufficient, but not unduly generous. A sum in trust, the income to be enjoyed during her lifetime. The residue of his estate, which ran into a sum of six figures, to his daughter Thomasina Ann, to be hers absolutely at the age of twenty-one, or on her marriage. If she died before twenty-one unmarried, the money was to go to her stepmother. There had been, it seemed, no other members of the family.
The prize, I thought, had been a big one. And Mrs. Tuckerton liked money… It stuck out all over her. She had never had any money of her own, I was sure, till she married her elderly widower. And then, perhaps, it had gone to her head. Hampered, in her life with an invalid husband, she had looked forward to the time when she would be free, still young, and rich beyond her wildest dreams.
The will, perhaps, had been a disappointment. She had dreamed of something better than a moderate income. She had looked forward to expensive travel, to luxury cruises, to clothes, jewels—or possibly to the sheer pleasure of money itself—mounting up in the bank.
Instead the girl was to have all that money! The girl was to be a wealthy heiress. The girl who, very likely, had disliked her stepmother and shown it with the careless ruthlessness of youth. The girl was to be the rich one—unless….
Unless…? Was that enough? Could I really believe that the blonde-haired meretricious creature talking platitudes so glibly was capable of seeking out the Pale Horse, and arranging for a young girl to die?
No, I couldn’t believe it….
Nevertheless, I must do my stuff. I said, rather abruptly:
“I believe, you know, I met your daughter—stepdaughter—once.”
She looked at me in mild surprise, though without much interest.
“Thomasina? Did you?”
“Yes, in Chelsea.”
“Oh, Chelsea! Yes, it would be…” She sighed. “These girls nowadays. So difficult. One doesn’t seem to have any control over them. It upset her father very much. I couldn’t do anything about it, of course. She never listened to anything I said.” She sighed again. “She was nearly grown-up, you know, when we married. A stepmother—” she shook her head.
“Always a difficult position,” I said sympathetically.
“I made allowances—did my best in every way.”
“I’m sure you did.”
“But it was absolutely no use. Of course Tom wouldn’t allow her to be actually rude to me, but she sailed as near to the wind as she could. She really made life quite impossible. In a way it was a relief to me when she insisted on leaving home, but I could quite understand how Tom felt about it. She got in with a most undesirable set.”
“I—rather gathered that,” I said.
“Poor Thomasina,” said Mrs. Tuckerton. She adjusted a stray lock of blonde hair. Then she looked at me. “Oh, but perhaps you don’t know. She died about a month ago. Encephalitis—very sudden. It’s a disease that attacks young people, I believe—so sad.”
“I did know she was dead,” I said.
I got up.
“Thank you, Mrs. Tuckerton, very much indeed for showing me your house.” I shook hands.
Then as I moved away, I turned back.
“By the way,” I said, “I think you know the Pale Horse, don’t you?”
There wasn’t any doubt of the reaction. Panic, sheer panic, showed in those pale eyes. Beneath the makeup, her face was suddenly white and afraid.
Her voice came shrill and high:
“Pale Horse? What do you mean by the Pale Horse? I don’t know anything about the Pale Horse.”
I let mild surprise show in my eyes.
“Oh—my mistake. There’s a very interesting old pub—in Much Deeping. I was down there the other day and was taken to see it. It’s been charmingly converted, keeping all the atmosphere. I certainly thought your name was mentioned—but perhaps it was your stepdaughter who had been down there—or someone else of the same name.” I paused. “The place has got—quite a reputation.”
I enjoyed my exit line. In one of the mirrors on the wall I saw Mrs. Tuckerton’s face reflected. She was staring after me. She was very, very frightened and I saw just how she would look in years to come… It was not