Unexpected Guest - Agatha Christie [31]
‘What exactly is it you are driving at, Angell?’ Farrar sounded as though he were beginning to lose his patience. ‘You’re certainly driving at something.’
Angell gave a self-deprecating smile before replying. Then he spoke quietly but with emphasis. ‘As I say, sir, last night I couldn’t sleep very well. I was lying awake, listening to the booming of the foghorn. An extremely depressing sound I always find it, sir. Then it seemed to me that I heard a shutter banging. A very irritating noise when you’re trying to get to sleep. I got up and leaned out of my window. It seemed to be the shutter of the pantry window, almost immediately below me.’
‘Well?’ asked Farrar, sharply.
‘I decided, sir, to go down and attend to the shutter,’ Angell continued. ‘As I was on my way downstairs, I heard a shot.’ He paused briefly. ‘I didn’t think anything of it at the time. “Mr Warwick at it again,” I thought. “But surely he can’t see what he’s shooting at in a mist like this.” I went to the pantry, sir, and fastened back the shutter securely. But, as I was standing there, feeling a bit uneasy for some reason, I heard footsteps coming along the path outside the window–’
‘You mean,’ Farrar interrupted, ‘the path that–’ His eyes went towards it.
‘Yes, sir,’ Angell agreed. ‘The path that leads from the terrace, around the corner of the house, that way–past the domestic offices. A path that’s not used very much, except of course by you, sir, when you come over here, seeing as it’s a short cut from your house to this one.’
He stopped speaking, and looked intently at Julian Farrar, who merely said icily, ‘Go on.’
‘I was feeling, as I said, a bit uneasy,’ Angell continued, ‘thinking there might be a prowler about. I can’t tell you how relieved I was, sir, to see you pass the pantry window, walking quickly–hurrying on your way back home.’
After a pause, Farrar said, ‘I can’t really see any point in what you’re telling me. Is there supposed to be one?’
With an apologetic cough, Angell answered him. ‘I just wondered, sir, whether you have mentioned to the police that you came over here last night to see Mr Warwick. In case you have not done so, and supposing that they should question me further as to the events of last night–’
Farrar interrupted him. ‘You do realize, don’t you,’ he asked tersely, ‘that the penalty for blackmail is severe?’
‘Blackmail, sir?’ responded Angell, sounding shocked. ‘I don’t know what you mean. It’s just a question, as I said, of deciding where my duty lies. The police–’
‘The police,’ Farrar interrupted him sharply, ‘are perfectly satisfied as to who killed Mr Warwick. The fellow practically signed his name to the crime. They’re not likely to come asking you any more questions.’
‘I assure you, sir,’ Angell interjected, with alarm in his voice, ‘I only meant–’
‘You know perfectly well,’ Farrar interrupted again, ‘that you couldn’t have recognized anybody in that thick fog last night. You’ve simply invented this story in order to–’ He broke off, as he saw Laura Warwick emerging from the house into the garden.
Chapter 13
‘I’m sorry I’ve kept you waiting, Julian,’ Laura called as she approached them. She looked surprised to see Angell and Julian Farrar apparently in conversation.
‘Perhaps I may speak to you later, sir, about this little matter,’ the valet murmured to Farrar. He moved away, half bowing to Laura, then walked quickly across the garden and around a corner of the house.
Laura watched him go, and then spoke urgently. ‘Julian,’ she said, ‘I must–’
Farrar interrupted her. ‘Why did you send for me, Laura?’ he asked, sounding annoyed.
‘I’ve been expecting you all day,’ Laura replied, surprised.
‘Well, I’ve been up to my ears ever since this morning,’ Farrar exclaimed. ‘Committees, and more meetings this afternoon. I can’t just drop any of these things so soon before the election. And in any case, don’t you see, Laura, that it’s much better that we shouldn’t meet at present?’
‘But there are things we’ve got to discuss,’ Laura