The Seven Dials Mystery - Agatha Christie [88]
‘The thing seemed incredible, because Mr Devereux and Mr Thesiger were close friends. But I remembered something else–that these thefts must have been committed by someone who was absolutely in the know. Someone, who, if not in the Foreign Office himself, was in the way of hearing all its chit-chat. And I found it very hard to find out where Mr Thesiger got his money. The income his father left him was a small one, yet he was able to live at a most expensive rate. Where did the money come from?
‘I knew that Mr Wade had been very excited by something that he had found out. He was quite sure that he was on the right track. He didn’t confide in anyone about what he thought that track was, but he did say something to Mr Devereux about being on the point of making sure. That was just before they both went down to Chimneys for that week-end. As you know, Mr Wade died there–apparently from an overdose of a sleeping draught. It seemed straightforward enough, but Mr Devereux did not accept that explanation for a minute. He was convinced that Mr Wade had been very cleverly put out of the way and that someone in the house must actually be the criminal we were all after. He came, I think, very near confiding in Mr Thesiger, for he certainly had no suspicions of him at that moment. But something held him back.
‘Then he did a rather curious thing. He arranged seven clocks upon the mantelpiece, throwing away the eighth. It was meant as a symbol that the Seven Dials would revenge the death of one of their members–and he watched eagerly to see if anyone betrayed themselves or showed signs of perturbation.’
‘And it was Jimmy Thesiger who poisoned Gerry Wade?’
‘Yes, he slipped the stuff into a whisky and soda which Mr Wade had downstairs before retiring to bed. That’s why he was already feeling sleepy when he wrote that letter to Miss Wade.’
‘Then the footman, Bauer, hadn’t anything to do with it?’ asked Bundle.
‘Bauer was one of our people, Lady Eileen. It was thought likely that our crook would go for Herr Eberhard’s invention and Bauer was got into the house to watch events on our behalf. But he wasn’t able to do much. As I say, Mr Thesiger administered the fatal dose easily enough. Later, when everyone was asleep, a bottle, glass and empty chloral bottle were placed by Mr Wade’s bedside by Mr Thesiger. Mr Wade was unconscious then, and his fingers were probably pressed round the glass and the bottle so that they should be found there if any questions should arise. I don’t know what effect the seven clocks on the mantelpiece made on Mr Thesiger. He certainly didn’t let on anything to Mr Devereux. All the same, I think he had a bad five minutes now and again thinking of them. And I think he kept a pretty wary eye on Mr Devereux after that.
‘We don’t know exactly what happened next. No one saw much of Mr Devereux after Mr Wade’s death. But it is clear that he worked along the same lines that he knew Mr Wade had been working on and reached the same result–namely, that Mr Thesiger was the man. I fancy, too, that he was betrayed in the same way.’
‘You mean?’
‘Through Miss Loraine Wade. Mr Wade was devoted to her–I believe he hoped to marry her–she wasn’t really his sister, of course–and there is no doubt that he told her more than he should have done. But Miss Loraine Wade was devoted body and soul to Mr Thesiger. She would do anything he told her. She passed on the information to him. In the same way, later, Mr Devereux was attracted to her, and probably warned her against Mr Thesiger. So Mr Devereux in turn was silenced–and died trying to send word to the Seven Dials that his murderer was Mr Thesiger.’
‘How ghastly,’ cried Bundle. ‘If I had only known.’
‘Well, it didn’t seem likely. In fact, I could hardly credit it myself. But then we came to the affair at the Abbey. You will remember how awkward it was–specially awkward for Mr Eversleigh here. You and Mr Thesiger were hand in glove. Mr Eversleigh had