The Sittaford Mystery - Agatha Christie [85]
‘Have some tea, Mr Enderby?’
‘Awfully kind of you. I will. I see Emily isn’t here. I suppose she’s with your aunt, Mr Garfield.’
‘Not that I know of,’ said Ronnie staring. ‘I thought she’d gone to Exhampton.’
‘Ah! but she’s back from there. How do I know? A little bird told me. The Curtis bird, to be accurate. Saw the car pass the post office and go up the lane and come back empty. She is not in No. 5 and she’s not in Sittaford House. Puzzle—where is she? Failing Miss Percehouse, she must be sipping tea with that determined lady killer, Captain Wyatt.’
‘She may have gone up Sittaford Beacon to see the sunset,’ suggested Mr Rycroft.
‘Don’t think so,’ said Burnaby. ‘Should have seen her pass. I’ve been in the garden for the last hour.’
‘Well, I don’t think it’s a very vital problem,’ said Charles cheerfully. ‘I mean I don’t think she’s been kidnapped or murdered or anything.’
‘That’s a pity from the point of view of your paper, isn’t it?’ sneered Brian.
‘Even for copy, I wouldn’t sacrifice Emily,’ said Charles. ‘Emily,’ he added thoughtfully, ‘is unique.’
‘Very charming,’ said Mr Rycroft. ‘Very charming. We are—er—collaborators, she and I?’
‘Has everyone finished?’ said Mrs Willett. ‘What about some bridge?’
‘Er—one moment,’ said Mr Rycroft.
He cleared his throat importantly. Everyone looked at him.
‘Mrs Willett, I am, as you know, deeply interested in psychic phenomena. A week ago today, in this very room, we had an amazing, indeed an awe-inspiring experience.’
There was a faint sound from Violet Willett. He turned to her.
‘I know, my dear Miss Willett, I know. The experience upset you, it was upsetting. I do not deny it. Now, ever since the crime the police force have been seeking the murderer of Captain Trevelyan. They have made an arrest. But some of us, at least, in this room, do not believe that Mr James Pearson is the guilty party. What I propose is this, that we repeat the experiment of last Friday, though approaching it this time in a rather different spirit.’
‘No,’ cried Violet.
‘Oh! I say,’ said Ronnie. ‘That’s a bit too thick. I’m not going to join in anyway.’
Mr Rycroft took no notice of him.
‘Mrs Willett, what do you say?’
She hesitated.
‘Frankly, Mr Rycroft, I do not like the idea. I don’t like it at all. That miserable business last week made a most disagreeable impression on me. It will take me a long time to forget it.’
‘What are you getting at exactly?’ asked Enderby interestedly. ‘Do you propose that the spirits should tell us the name of Captain Trevelyan’s murderer? That seems a pretty tall order.’
‘It was a pretty tall order, as you call it, when last week a message came through saying that Captain Trevelyan was dead.’
‘That’s true,’ agreed Enderby. ‘But—well—you know this idea of yours might have consequences you haven’t considered.’
‘Such as?’
‘Supposing a name was mentioned? Could you be sure that someone present did not deliberately—’
He paused and Ronnie Garfield tendered the word.
‘Shove. That’s what he means. Supposing somebody goes and shoves.’
‘This is a serious experiment, sir,’ said Mr Rycroft warmly. ‘Nobody would do such a thing.’
‘I don’t know,’ said Ronnie dubiously. ‘I wouldn’t put it past them. I don’t mean myself. I swear I wouldn’t, but suppose everyone turns on me and says I have. Jolly awkward, you know.’
‘Mrs Willett, I am in earnest,’ the little old gentleman disregarded Ronnie. ‘I beg of you, let us make the experiment.’
She wavered.
‘I don’t like it. I really don’t. I—’ She looked round her uneasily, as though for a way of escape. ‘Major Burnaby, you were Captain Trevelyan’s friend. What do you say?’
The Major’s eyes met those of Mr Rycroft. This, he understood, was the contingency which the latter had foreshadowed.
‘Why not?’ he said gruffly.
It had all the decision of a casting vote.
Ronnie went into the adjoining room and brought the small table which had been used before. He set it in the middle of the floor