Unexpected Guest - Agatha Christie [26]
‘Oh, Griffiths wouldn’t do a thing like that,’ Laura exclaimed quickly.
Farrar looked contrite. ‘No, no, of course not,’ he admitted. ‘I–I didn’t mean that. I mean that it was the sort of thing that–er–people said about Richard.’
To cover his embarrassment, he took out his cigarette-case and extracted a cigarette.
The inspector sat in the desk chair, looking thoughtful. Starkwedder stood in a corner near the alcove, close to Jan who gazed at him with interest.
‘I wish I’d come over here last night,’ Julian Farrar announced, addressing no one in particular. ‘I meant to.’
‘But that awful fog,’ Laura said quietly. ‘You couldn’t come out in that.’
‘No,’ Farrar replied. ‘I had my committee members over to dine with me. When they found the fog coming on, they went home rather early. I thought then of coming along to see you, but I decided against it.’ Searching in his pockets, he asked, ‘Has anyone got a match? I seem to have mislaid my lighter.’
He looked around, and suddenly noticed the lighter on the table where Laura had left it the night before. Rising, he went across to pick it up, observed by Starkwedder. ‘Oh, here it is,’ said Farrar. ‘Couldn’t imagine where I’d left it.’
‘Julian–’ Laura began.
‘Yes?’ Farrar offered her a cigarette, and she took one. ‘I’m most awfully sorry about all this, Laura,’ he said. ‘If there’s anything I can do–’ His voice trailed off indecisively.
‘Yes. Yes, I know,’ Laura replied, as Farrar lit their cigarettes.
Jan suddenly spoke, addressing Starkwedder. ‘Can you shoot, Mr Starkwedder?’ he asked. ‘I can, you know. Richard used to let me try, sometimes. Of course, I wasn’t as good as he was.’
‘Did he, indeed?’ said Starkwedder, turning to Jan. ‘What sort of gun did he let you use?’
As Jan engaged Starkwedder’s attention, Laura took the opportunity of speaking quickly to Julian Farrar.
‘Julian, I must talk to you. I must,’ she murmured softly.
Farrar’s voice was equally low. ‘Careful,’ he warned her.
‘It was a .22,’ Jan was telling Starkwedder. ‘I’m quite good at shooting, aren’t I, Julian?’ He went across to Julian Farrar. ‘Do you remember the time you took me to the fair? I knocked two of the bottles down, didn’t I?’
‘You did indeed, my lad,’ Farrar assured him. ‘You’ve got a good eye, that’s what counts. Good eye for a cricket ball, too. That was quite a sensational game, that match we had last summer,’ he added.
Jan smiled at him happily, and then sat on the footstool, looking across at the inspector who was now examining documents on the desk. There was a pause. Then Starkwedder, as he took out a cigarette, asked Laura, ‘Do you mind if I smoke?’
‘Of course not,’ replied Laura.
Starkwedder turned to Julian Farrar. ‘May I borrow your lighter?’
‘Of course,’ said Farrar. ‘Here it is.’
‘Ah, a nice lighter, this,’ Starkwedder commented, lighting his cigarette.
Laura made a sudden movement, and then stopped herself. ‘Yes,’ Farrar said carelessly. ‘It works better than most.’
‘Rather–distinctive,’ Starkwedder observed. He gave a quick glance at Laura, and then returned the lighter to Julian Farrar with a murmured word of thanks.
Jan left his footstool, and stood behind the inspector’s chair. ‘Richard has lots of guns,’ he confided. ‘Air-guns, too. And he’s got one gun that he used to use in Africa to shoot elephants. Would you like to see them? They’re in Richard’s bedroom through there.’ He pointed the way.
‘All right,’ said the inspector, rising. ‘You show them to us.’ He smiled at Jan, adding genially, ‘You know, you’re being very helpful to us. Helping us quite a lot. We ought to take you into the police force.’
Putting a hand on the boy’s shoulder, he steered him towards the door, which the sergeant opened for them. ‘We don’t need to keep you, Mr Starkwedder,’ the inspector called from the door. ‘You can go about your business now. Just keep in touch with us, that’s all.’
‘All right,’ replied Starkwedder, as Jan, the