The Secret Adversary by Agatha Christie (read e book .txt) đ
- Author: Agatha Christie
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âIâll try.â The long lashes drooped over the hazel eyes.
Tuppence, for her part, sat bolt uprightâmuch in the attitude of a watchful terrier on guard. In spite of herself she was nervous. Her eyes flashed continually from one window to the other. She noted the exact position of the communication cord. What it was that she feared, she would have been hard put to it to say. But in her own mind she was far from feeling the confidence displayed in her words. Not that she disbelieved in Tommy, but occasionally she was shaken with doubts as to whether anyone so simple and honest as he was could ever be a match for the fiendish subtlety of the arch-criminal.
If they once reached Sir James Peel Edgerton in safety, all would be well. But would they reach him? Would not the silent forces of Mr. Brown already be assembling against them? Even that last picture of Tommy, revolver in hand, failed to comfort her. By now he might be overpowered, borne down by sheer force of numbers.... Tuppence mapped out her plan of campaign.
As the train at length drew slowly into Charing Cross, Jane Finn sat up with a start.
âHave we arrived? I never thought we should!â
âOh, I thought weâd get to London all right. If thereâs going to be any fun, now is when it will begin. Quick, get out. Weâll nip into a taxi.â
In another minute they were passing the barrier, had paid the necessary fares, and were stepping into a taxi.
âKingâs Cross,â directed Tuppence. Then she gave a jump. A man looked in at the window, just as they started. She was almost certain it was the same man who had got into the carriage next to them. She had a horrible feeling of being slowly hemmed in on every side.
âYou see,â she explained to Jane, âif they think weâre going to Sir James, this will put them off the scent. Now theyâll imagine weâre going to Mr. Carter. His country place is north of London somewhere.â
Crossing Holborn there was a block, and the taxi was held up. This was what Tuppence had been waiting for.
âQuick,â she whispered. âOpen the right-hand door!â
The two girls stepped out into the traffic. Two minutes later they were seated in another taxi and were retracing their steps, this time direct to Carlton House Terrace.
âThere,â said Tuppence, with great satisfaction, âthis ought to do them. I canât help thinking that Iâm really rather clever! How that other taxi man will swear! But I took his number, and Iâll send him a postal order to-morrow, so that he wonât lose by it if he happens to be genuine. Whatâs this thing swervingââOh!â
There was a grinding noise and a bump. Another taxi had collided with them.
In a flash Tuppence was out on the pavement. A policeman was approaching. Before he arrived Tuppence had handed the driver five shillings, and she and Jane had merged themselves in the crowd.
âItâs only a step or two now,â said Tuppence breathlessly. The accident had taken place in Trafalgar Square.
âDo you think the collision was an accident, or done deliberately?â
âI donât know. It might have been either.â
Hand-in-hand, the two girls hurried along.
âIt may be my fancy,â said Tuppence suddenly, âbut I feel as though there was some one behind us.â
âHurry!â murmured the other. âOh, hurry!â
They were now at the corner of Carlton House Terrace, and their spirits lightened. Suddenly a large and apparently intoxicated man barred their way.
âGood evening, ladies,â he hiccupped. âWhither away so fast?â
âLet us pass, please,â said Tuppence imperiously.
âJust a word with your pretty friend here.â He stretched out an unsteady hand, and clutched Jane by the shoulder. Tuppence heard other footsteps behind. She did not pause to ascertain whether they were friends or foes. Lowering her head, she repeated a manĆuvre of childish days, and butted their aggressor full in the capacious middle. The success of these unsportsmanlike tactics was immediate. The man sat down abruptly on the pavement. Tuppence and Jane took to their heels. The house they sought was some way down. Other footsteps echoed behind them. Their breath was coming in choking gasps as they reached Sir Jamesâs door. Tuppence seized the bell and Jane the knocker.
The man who had stopped them reached the foot of the steps. For a moment he hesitated, and as he did so the door opened. They fell into the hall together. Sir James came forward from the library door.
âHullo! Whatâs this?â
He stepped forward, and put his arm round Jane as she swayed uncertainly. He half carried her into the library, and laid her on the leather couch. From a tantalus on the table he poured out a few drops of brandy, and forced her to drink them. With a sigh she sat up, her eyes still wild and frightened.
âItâs all right. Donât be afraid, my child. Youâre quite safe.â
Her breath came more normally, and the colour was returning to her cheeks. Sir James looked at Tuppence quizzically.
âSo youâre not dead, Miss Tuppence, any more than that Tommy boy of yours was!â
âThe Young Adventurers take a lot of killing,â boasted Tuppence.
âSo it seems,â said Sir James dryly. âAm I right in thinking that the joint venture has ended in success, and that thisââhe turned to the girl on the couchââis Miss Jane Finn?â
Jane sat up.
âYes,â she said quietly, âI am Jane Finn. I have a lot to tell you.â
âWhen you are strongerâââ
âNoânow!â Her voice rose a little. âI shall feel safer when I have told everything.â
âAs you please,â said the lawyer.
He sat down in one of the big arm-chairs facing the couch. In a low voice Jane began her story.
âI came over on the Lusitania to take up a post in Paris. I was fearfully keen about the war, and just dying to help somehow or other. I had been studying French, and my teacher said they were wanting help in a hospital in Paris, so I wrote and offered my services, and they were accepted. I hadnât got any folk of my own, so it made it easy to arrange things.
âWhen the Lusitania was torpedoed, a man came up to me. Iâd noticed him more than onceâand Iâd figured it out in my own mind that he was afraid of somebody or something. He asked me if I was a patriotic American, and told me he was carrying papers which were just life or death to the Allies. He asked me to take charge of them. I was to watch for an advertisement in the Times. If it didnât appear, I was to take them to the American Ambassador.
âMost of what followed seems like a nightmare still. I see it in my dreams sometimes.... Iâll hurry over that part. Mr. Danvers had told me to watch out. He might have been shadowed from New York, but he didnât think so. At first I had no suspicions, but on the boat to Holyhead I began to get uneasy. There was one woman who had been very keen to look after me, and chum up with me generallyâa Mrs. Vandemeyer. At first Iâd been only grateful to her for being so kind to me; but all the time I felt there was something about her I didnât like, and on the Irish boat I saw her talking to some queer-looking men, and from the way they looked I saw that they were talking about me. I remembered that sheâd been quite near me on the Lusitania when Mr. Danvers gave me the packet, and before that sheâd tried to talk to him once or twice. I began to get scared, but I didnât quite see what to do.
âI had a wild idea of stopping at Holyhead, and not going on to London that day, but I soon saw that that would be plumb foolishness. The only thing was to act as though Iâd noticed nothing, and hope for the best. I couldnât see how they could get me if I was on my guard. One thing Iâd done already as a precautionâripped open the oilskin packet and substituted blank paper, and then sewn it up again. So, if anyone did manage to rob me of it, it wouldnât matter.
âWhat to do with the real thing worried me no end. Finally I opened it out flatâthere were only two sheetsâand laid it between two of the advertisement pages of a magazine. I stuck the two pages together round the edge with some gum off an envelope. I carried the magazine carelessly stuffed into the pocket of my ulster.
âAt Holyhead I tried to get into a carriage with people that looked all right, but in a queer way there seemed always to be a crowd round me shoving and pushing me just the way I didnât want to go. There was something uncanny and frightening about it. In the end I found myself in a carriage with Mrs. Vandemeyer after all. I went out into the corridor, but all the other carriages were full, so I had to go back and sit down. I consoled myself with the thought that there were other people in the carriageâthere was quite a nice-looking man and his wife sitting just opposite. So I felt almost happy about it until just outside London. I had leaned back and closed my eyes. I guess they thought I was asleep, but my eyes werenât quite shut, and suddenly I saw the nice-looking man get something out of his bag and hand it to Mrs. Vandemeyer, and as he did so he winked....
âI canât tell you how that wink sort of froze me through and through. My only thought was to get out in the corridor as quick as ever I could. I got up, trying to look natural and easy. Perhaps they saw somethingâI donât knowâbut suddenly Mrs. Vandemeyer said âNow,â and flung something over my nose and mouth as I tried to scream. At the same moment I felt a terrific blow on the back of my head....â
She shuddered. Sir James murmured something sympathetically. In a minute she resumed:
âI donât know how long it was before I came back to consciousness. I felt very ill and sick. I was lying on a dirty bed. There was a screen round it, but I could hear two people talking in the room. Mrs. Vandemeyer was one of them. I tried to listen, but at first I couldnât take much in. When at last I did begin to grasp what was going onâI was just terrified! I wonder I didnât scream right out there and then.
âThey hadnât found the papers. Theyâd got the oilskin packet with the blanks, and they were just mad! They didnât know whether Iâd changed the papers, or whether Danvers had been carrying a dummy message, while the real one was sent another way. They spoke ofââshe closed her eyesââtorturing me to find out!
âIâd never known what fearâreally sickening fearâwas before! Once they came to look at me. I shut my eyes and pretended to be still unconscious, but I was afraid theyâd hear the beating of my heart. However, they went away again. I began thinking madly. What could I do? I knew I wouldnât be able to stand up against torture very long.
âSuddenly something put the thought of loss of memory into my head. The subject had always interested me, and Iâd read an awful lot about it. I had the whole thing at my finger-tips. If only I could succeed in carrying the bluff through, it might save me. I said a prayer, and drew a long breath. Then I opened my eyes and started babbling in French!
âMrs. Vandemeyer came round the screen at once. Her face was so wicked I nearly died, but I smiled up at her doubtfully, and asked her in French where I was.
âIt puzzled her, I could see. She called the man she had been talking to. He stood by the screen with his face in shadow. He spoke to me in French. His voice was very ordinary and quiet, but somehow, I donât know why, he scared me worse than the woman. I felt heâd seen right through me, but I went on playing my part. I asked again where I was, and then went on that there was something I must rememberâmust rememberâonly for the moment it was all gone. I worked myself up to be more and more distressed. He asked me my name. I said I didnât knowâthat I couldnât remember anything at all.
âSuddenly he caught my wrist, and began twisting it. The pain
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