They do it with mirrors - Agatha Christie [48]
It was, Curry judged, her sense of importance that was hurt. He hastened to pour oil on the troubled waters.
‘I’m very sorry, Mrs Strete. Perhaps you don’t quite know how we set about these things. We start, you know, with the less important evidence — get it out of the way, so to speak. It’s valuable to keep to the last a person on whose judgment we can rely — a good observer — by whom we can check what has been told us up to date.’
Mrs Strete softened visibly.
‘Oh I see. I hadn’t quite realized…’
‘Now you’re a woman of mature judgment, Mrs Strete. A woman of the world. And then this is your home — you’re the daughter of the house, and you can tell me all about the people who are in it.’
‘I can certainly do that,’ said Mildred Strete.
‘So you see that when we come to the question of who killed Christian Gulbrandsen, you can help us a great deal.’
‘But is there any question? Isn’t it perfectly obvious who killed my brother?’
Inspector Curry leant back in his chair. His hand stroked his small neat moustache.
‘Well — we have to be careful,’ he said. ‘You think it’s obvious?’
‘Of course. That dreadful American husband of poor Gina’s. He’s the only stranger here. We know absolutely nothing about him. He’s probably one of these dreadful American gangsters.’
‘But that wouldn’t quite account for his killing Christian Gulbrandsen, would it? Why should he?’
‘Because Christian had found out something about him. That’s what he came here for so soon after his last visit.’
‘Are you sure of that, Mrs Strete?’
‘Again it seems to me quite obvious. He let it be thought his visit was in connection with the Trust — but that’s nonsense. He was here for that only a month ago. And nothing of importance has arisen since. So he must have come on some private business. He saw Walter on his last visit, and he may have recognized him — or perhaps made inquiries about him in the States — naturally he has agents all over the world — and found out something really damaging. Gina is a very silly girl. She always has been. It is just like her to marry a man she knows nothing about — she’s always been man mad! A man wanted by the police, perhaps, or a man who’s already married, or some bad character in the underworld. But my brother Christian wasn’t an easy man to deceive. He came here, I’m sure, to settle the whole business. Expose Walter and show him up for what he is. And so, naturally, Walter shot him.’
Inspector Curry, adding some out-sized whiskers to one of the cats on his blotting pad, said:
‘Ye — es.’
‘Don’t you agree with me that that’s what must have happened?’
‘It could be — yes,’ admitted the Inspector.
‘What other solution could there be? Christian had no enemies. What I can’t understand is why you haven’t already arrested Walter?’
‘Well, you see, Mrs Strete, we have to have evidence.’
‘You could probably get that easily enough. If you wired to America — ’
‘Oh yes, we shall check up on Mr Walter Hudd. You can be sure of that. But until we can prove motive, there’s not very much to go upon. There’s opportunity, of course — ’
‘He went out just after Christian, pretending the lights had fused — ’
‘They did fuse.’
‘He could easily arrange that.’
‘True.’
‘That gave him his excuse. He followed Christian to his room, shot him and then repaired the fuse and came back to the Hall.’
‘His wife says he came back before you heard the shot from outside.’
‘Not a bit of it! Gina would say anything. The Italians are never truthful. And she’s a Roman Catholic, of course.’
Inspector Curry side-stepped the ecclesiastical angle.
‘You think his wife was in it with him?’
Mildred Strete hesitated for a moment.
‘No — no, I don’t think that.’ She seemed rather disappointed not to think so. She went on: ‘That must have been partly the motive — to prevent Gina’s learning the truth about him. After all, Gina is his bread and butter.’
‘And a very beautiful girl.’
‘Oh yes. I’ve always said Gina is good looking. A very common type in Italy, of course. But if you ask me, it’s money that Walter Hudd is after. That’s why he came over here