The Sittaford Mystery - Agatha Christie [70]
‘Yes, yes, you can tell anyone to apply to me for a recommendation. That will be quite all right.’
‘Begging your pardon, sir, that wasn’t quite what I meant. Rebecca and me, sir, we’ve talked it over and we was wondering if, sir—if maybe you would give us a trial?’
‘Oh! but—well—I look after myself as you know. That old what’s her name comes in and cleans for me once a day and cooks a few things. That’s—er—about all I can afford.’
‘It isn’t the money that matters so much, sir,’ said Evans quickly. ‘You see, sir, I was very fond of the Capting and—well, if I could do for you, sir, the same as I did for him, well, it would be almost like the same thing, if you know what I mean.’
The Major cleared his throat and averted his eyes.
‘Very decent of you, ’pon my word. I’ll—I’ll think about it.’ And escaping with alacrity he almost bolted down the road. Evans stood looking after him, an understanding smile upon his face.
‘Like as two peas, him and the Capting,’ he murmured.
And then a puzzled expression came over his face.
‘Where can they have got to?’ he murmured. ‘It’s a bit queer that. I must ask Rebecca what she thinks.’
Chapter 24
Inspector Narracott
Discusses the Case
‘I am not entirely happy about it, sir,’ said Inspector Narracott.
The Chief Constable looked at him inquiringly.
‘No,’ said Inspector Narracott. ‘I’m not nearly as happy about it as I was.’
‘You don’t think we’ve got the right man?’
‘I’m not satisfied. You see, to start with, everything pointed the one way but now—it’s different.’
‘The evidence against Pearson remains the same.’
‘Yes, but there’s a good deal of further evidence come to light, sir. There’s the other Pearson—Brian. Feeling that we had no further to look I accepted the statement that he was in Australia. Now, it turns out that he was in England all the time. It seems he arrived back in England two months ago—travelled on the same boat as these Willetts apparently. Looks as though he had got sweet on the girl on the voyage. Anyway, for whatever reason he didn’t communicate with any of his family. Neither his sister nor his brother had any idea he was in England. On Thursday of last week he left the Ormsby Hotel in Russell Square and drove to Paddington. From there until Tuesday night, when Enderby ran across him, he refuses to account for his movements in any way.’
‘You pointed out to him the gravity of such a course of action?’
‘Said he didn’t give a damn. He had had nothing to do with the murder and it was up to us to prove he had. The way he had employed his time was his own business and none of ours, and he declined definitely to state where he had been and what he had been doing.’
‘Most extraordinary,’ said the Chief Constable.
‘Yes, sir. It’s an extraordinary case. You see, there’s no use getting away from the facts, this man’s far more the type than the other. There’s something incongruous about James Pearson hitting an old man on the head with a sandbag—but in a manner of speaking it might be all in the day’s work to Brian Pearson. He’s a hot-tempered, high-handed young man—and he profits to exactly the same extent, remember?’
‘Yes—he came over with Mr Enderby this morning, very bright and breezy, quite square and above-board, that was his attitude. But it won’t wash, sir, it won’t wash.’
‘H’m—you mean—’
‘It isn’t borne out by the facts. Why didn’t he come forward before? His uncle’s death was in the papers Saturday. His brother was arrested Monday. And he doesn’t give a sign of life. And he wouldn’t have either, if that journalist hadn’t run across him in the garden of Sittaford House at midnight last night.’
‘What was he doing there? Enderby, I mean?’
‘You know what journalists are,’ said Narracott, ‘always nosing round. They’re uncanny.’
‘They are a darned nuisance very often,’ said the Chief Constable. ‘Though they have their uses too.’
‘I fancy it was the young lady put him up to it,’ said Narracott.
‘The young lady?’
‘Miss Emily Trefusis.