The Thirteen Problems - Agatha Christie [84]
‘Ah!’ said the Inspector. ‘But you see, she didn’t. She was thrown in deliberately, Mr Sandford.’
‘She was—’ It took him a minute or two to take in all the horror of it. ‘My God! Then—’
He dropped into a chair.
Colonel Melchett made a move to depart.
‘You understand, Sandford,’ he said. ‘You are on no account to leave this house.’
The three men left together. The Inspector and the Chief Constable exchanged glances.
‘That’s enough, I think, sir,’ said the Inspector.
‘Yes. Get a warrant made out and arrest him.’
‘Excuse me,’ said Sir Henry, ‘I’ve forgotten my gloves.’
He re-entered the house rapidly. Sandford was sitting just as they had left him, staring dazedly in front of him.
‘I have come back,’ said Sir Henry, ‘to tell you that I personally, am anxious to do all I can to assist you. The motive of my interest in you I am not at liberty to reveal. But I am going to ask you, if you will, to tell me as briefly as possible exactly what passed between you and this girl Rose.’
‘She was very pretty,’ said Sandford. ‘Very pretty and very alluring. And—and she made a dead seat at me. Before God, that’s true. She wouldn’t let me alone. And it was lonely down here, and nobody liked me much, and—and, as I say she was amazingly pretty and she seemed to know her way about and all that—’ His voice died away. He looked up. ‘And then this happened. She wanted me to marry her. I didn’t know what to do. I’m engaged to a girl in London. If she ever gets to hear of this—and she will, of course—well, it’s all up. She won’t understand. How could she? And I’m a rotter, of course. As I say, I didn’t know what to do. I avoided seeing Rose again. I thought I’d get back to town—see my lawyer—make arrangements about money and so forth, for her. God, what a fool I’ve been! And it’s all so clear—the case against me. But they’ve made a mistake. She must have done it herself.’
‘Did she ever threaten to take her life?’
Sandford shook his head.
‘Never. I shouldn’t have said she was that sort.’
‘What about a man called Joe Ellis?’
‘The carpenter fellow? Good old village stock. Dull fellow—but crazy about Rose.’
‘He might have been jealous?’ suggested Sir Henry.
‘I suppose he was a bit—but he’s the bovine kind. He’d suffer in silence.’
‘Well,’ said Sir Henry. ‘I must be going.’
He rejoined the others.
‘You know, Melchett,’ he said, ‘I feel we ought to have a look at this other fellow—Ellis—before we do anything drastic. Pity if you made an arrest that turned out to be a mistake. After all, jealousy is a pretty good motive for murder—and a pretty common one, too.’
‘That’s true enough,’ said the Inspector. ‘But Joe Ellis isn’t that kind. He wouldn’t hurt a fly. Why, nobody’s ever seen him out of temper. Still, I agree we’d better just ask him where he was last night. He’ll be at home now. He lodges with Mrs Bartlett—very decent soul—a widow, she takes in a bit of washing.’
The little cottage to which they bent their footsteps was spotlessly clean and neat. A big stout woman of middle age opened the door to them. She had a pleasant face and blue eyes.
‘Good morning, Mrs Bartlett,’ said the Inspector. ‘Is Joe Ellis here?’
‘Came back not ten minutes ago,’ said Mrs Bartlett. ‘Step inside, will you, please, sirs.’
Wiping her hands on her apron she led them into a tiny front parlour with stuffed birds, china dogs, a sofa and several useless pieces of furniture.
She hurriedly arranged seats for them, picked up a whatnot bodily to make further room and went out calling:
‘Joe, there’s three gentlemen want to see you.’
A voice from the back kitchen replied:
‘I’ll be there when I’ve cleaned myself.’
Mrs Bartlett smiled.
‘Come in, Mrs Bartlett,’ said Colonel Melchett. ‘Sit down.’
‘Oh, no, sir, I couldn’t think of it.’
Mrs Bartlett was shocked at the idea.
‘You find Joe Ellis a good lodger?’ inquired Melchett in a seemingly careless tone.
‘Couldn’t have a better, sir. A real steady young fellow. Never touches a drop of drink. Takes a pride in his work. And always