The Murder on the Links by Agatha Christie (read novel full TXT) đ
- Author: Agatha Christie
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âAnd now for quarters for the night,â said Poirot, when at length cafĂ© noir had completed the meal. âShall we try our old friend, the HĂŽtel des Bains?â
We traced our steps there without more ado. Yes, Messieurs could be accommodated with two good rooms overlooking the sea. Then Poirot asked a question which surprised me.
âHas an English lady, Miss Robinson, arrived?â
âYes, monsieur. She is in the little salon.â
âAh!â
âPoirot,â I cried, keeping pace with him as he walked along the corridor, âwho on earth is Miss Robinson?â
Poirot beamed kindly on me.
âIt is that I have arranged you a marriage, Hastings.â
âBut, I sayââ
âBah!â said Poirot, giving me a friendly push over the threshold of the door. âDo you think I wish to trumpet aloud in Merlinville the name of Duveen?â
It was indeed Cinderella who rose to greet us. I took her hands in both of mine. My eyes said the rest.
Poirot cleared his throat.
âMes enfants,â he said, âfor the moment we have no time for sentiment. There is work ahead of us. Mademoiselle, were you able to do what I asked you?â
In response, Cinderella took from her bag an object wrapped up in paper, and handed it silently to Poirot. The latter unwrapped it. I gave a startâfor it was the aeroplane dagger which I understood she had cast into the sea. Strange, how reluctant women always are to destroy the most compromising of objects and documents!
âTrĂšs bien, mon enfant,â said Poirot. âI am pleased with you. Go now and rest yourself. Hastings here and I have work to do. You shall see him tomorrow.â
âWhere are you going?â asked the girl, her eyes widening.
âYou shall hear all about it tomorrow.â
âBecause wherever youâre going, Iâm coming too.â
âBut mademoiselleââ
âIâm coming too, I tell you.â
Poirot realized that it was futile to argue further. He gave in.
âCome then, mademoiselle. But it will not be amusing. In all probability nothing will happen.â
The girl made no reply.
Twenty minutes later we set forth. It was quite dark now, a close, oppressive evening. Poirot led the way out of the town in the direction of the Villa GeneviĂšve. But when he reached the Villa Marguerite he paused.
âI should like to assure myself that all goes well with Jack Renauld. Come with me, Hastings. Mademoiselle will perhaps remain outside. Madame Daubreuil might say something which would wound her.â
We unlatched the gate, and walked up the path. As we went round to the side of the house, I drew Poirotâs attention to a window on the first floor. Thrown sharply on the blind was the profile of Marthe Daubreuil.
âAh!â said Poirot. âI figure to myself that that is the room where we shall find Jack Renauld.â
Madame Daubreuil opened the door to us. She explained that Jack was much the same, but perhaps we would like to see for ourselves. She led us upstairs and into the bedroom. Marthe Daubreuil was embroidering by a table with a lamp on it. She put her finger to her lips as we entered.
Jack Renauld was sleeping an uneasy fitful sleep, his head turning from side to side, and his face still unduly flushed.
âIs the doctor coming again?â asked Poirot in a whisper.
âNot unless we send. He is sleepingâthat is the great thing. Maman made him a tisane.â
She sat down again with her embroidery as we left the room. Madame Daubreuil accompanied us down the stairs. Since I had learned of her past history, I viewed this woman with increased interest. She stood there with her eyes cast down, the same very faint enigmatical smile that I remembered on her lips. And suddenly I felt afraid of her, as one might feel afraid of a beautiful poisonous snake.
âI hope we have not deranged you, madame,â said Poirot politely as she opened the door for us to pass out.
âNot at all, monsieur.â
âBy the way,â said Poirot, as though struck by an afterthought, âM. Stonor has not been in Merlinville today, has he?â
I could not at all fathom the point of this question which I well knew to be meaningless as far as Poirot was concerned.
Madame Daubreuil replied quite composedly:
âNot that I know of.â
âHe has not had an interview with Mrs. Renauld?â
âHow should I know that, monsieur?â
âTrue,â said Poirot. âI thought you might have seen him coming or going, that is all. Good night, madame.â
âWhyââ I began.
âNo âwhys,â Hastings. There will be time for that later.â
We rejoined Cinderella and made our way rapidly in the direction of the Villa GeneviĂšve. Poirot looked over his shoulder once at the lighted window and the profile of Marthe as she bent over her work.
âHe is being guarded at all events,â he muttered.
Arrived at the Villa GeneviĂšve, Poirot took up his stand behind some bushes to the left of the drive, where, whilst enjoying a good view ourselves, we were completely hidden from sight. The Villa itself was in total darkness, everybody was without doubt in bed and asleep. We were almost immediately under the window of Mrs. Renauldâs bedroom, which window, I noticed, was open. It seemed to me that it was upon this spot that Poirotâs eyes were fixed.
âWhat are we going to do?â I whispered.
âWatch.â
âButââ
âI do not expect anything to happen for at least an hour, probably two hours, but theââ
But his words were interrupted by a long thin drawn cry:
âHelp!â
A light flashed up in the second floor room on the right hand side of the house. The cry came from there. And even as we watched there came a shadow on the blind as of two people struggling.
âMille tenerres!â cried Poirot. âShe must have changed her room!â
Dashing forward, he battered wildly on the front door. Then rushing to the tree in the flower-bed, he swarmed up it with the agility of a cat. I followed him, as with a bound he sprang in through the open window. Looking over my shoulder, I saw Dulcie reaching the branch behind me.
âTake care,â I exclaimed.
âTake care of your grandmother!â retorted the girl. âThis is childâs play to me.â
Poirot had rushed through the empty room and was pounding on the door leading into the corridor.
âLocked and bolted on the outside,â he growled. âAnd it will take time to burst it open.â
The cries for help were getting noticeably fainter. I saw despair in Poirotâs eyes. He and I together put our shoulders to the door.
Cinderellaâs voice, calm and dispassionate, came from the window:
âYouâll be too late, I guess Iâm the only one who can do anything.â
Before I could move a hand to stop her, she appeared to leap upward into space. I rushed and looked out. To my horror, I saw her hanging by her hands from the roof, propelling herself along by jerks in the direction of the lighted window.
âGood heavens! Sheâll be killed,â I cried.
âYou forget. Sheâs a professional acrobat, Hastings. It was the providence of the good God that made her insist on coming with us tonight. I only pray that she may be in time. Ah!â
A cry of absolute terror floated out on to the night as the girl disappeared through the right-hand window; then in Cinderellaâs clear tones came the words:
âNo, you donât! Iâve got youâand my wrists are just like steel.â
At the same moment the door of our prison was opened cautiously by Françoise. Poirot brushed her aside unceremoniously and rushed down the passage to where the other maids were grouped round the further door.
âItâs locked on the inside, monsieur.â
There was the sound of a heavy fall within. After a moment or two the key turned and the door swung slowly open. Cinderella, very pale, beckoned us in.
âShe is safe?â demanded Poirot.
âYes, I was just in time. She was exhausted.â
Mrs. Renauld was half sitting, half lying on the bed. She was gasping for breath.
âNearly strangled me,â she murmured painfully. The girl picked up something from the floor and handed it to Poirot. It was a rolled up ladder of silk rope, very fine but quite strong.
âA getaway,â said Poirot. âBy the window, whilst we were battering at the door. Where isâthe other?â
The girl stood aside a little and pointed. On the ground lay a figure wrapped in some dark material a fold of which hid the face.
âDead?â
She nodded.
âI think so.â
âHead must have struck the marble fender.â
âBut who is it?â I cried.
âThe murderer of M. Renauld, Hastings. And the would-be murderer of Madame Renauld.â
Puzzled and uncomprehending, I knelt down, and lifting the fold of cloth, looked into the dead beautiful face of Marthe Daubreuil!
I have confused memories of the further events of that night. Poirot seemed deaf to my repeated questions. He was engaged in overwhelming Françoise with reproaches for not having told him of Mrs. Renauldâs change of sleeping quarters.
I caught him by the shoulder, determined to attract his attention, and make myself heard.
âBut you must have known,â I expostulated. âYou were taken up to see her this afternoon.â
Poirot deigned to attend to me for a brief moment.
âShe had been wheeled on a sofa into the middle roomâher boudoir,â he explained.
âBut, monsieur,â cried Françoise, âMadame changed her room almost immediately after the crime! The associationsâthey were too distressing!â
âThen why was I not told,â vociferated Poirot, striking the table, and working himself into a first-class passion. âI demand youâwhyâwasâIânotâtold? You are an old woman completely imbecile! And LĂ©onie and Denise are no better. All of you are triple idiots! Your stupidity has nearly caused the death of your mistress. But for this courageous childââ
He broke off, and, darting across the room to where the girl was bending over ministering to Mrs. Renauld, he embraced her with Gallic fervourâslightly to my annoyance.
I was aroused from my condition of mental fog by a sharp command from Poirot to fetch the doctor immediately on Mrs. Renauldâs behalf. After that, I might summon the police. And he added, to complete my dudgeon:
âIt will hardly be worth your while to return here. I shall be too busy to attend to you, and of Mademoiselle here I make a garde-malad.â
I retired with what dignity I could command. Having done my errands, I returned to the hotel. I understood next to nothing of what had occurred. The events of the night seemed fantastic and impossible. Nobody would answer my questions. Nobody had seemed to hear them. Angrily, I flung myself into bed, and slept the sleep of the bewildered and utterly exhausted.
I awoke to find the sun pouring in through the open windows and Poirot, neat and smiling, sitting beside the bed.
âEnfin you wake! But it is that you are a famous sleeper, Hastings! Do you know that it is nearly eleven oâclock?â
I groaned and put a hand to my head.
âI must have been dreaming,â I said. âDo you know, I actually dreamt that we found Marthe Daubreuilâs body in Mrs. Renauldâs room, and that you declared her to have murdered Mr. Renauld?â
âYou were not dreaming. All that is quite true.â
âBut Bella Duveen killed Mr. Renauld?â
âOh, no, Hastings, she did not! She said she didâyesâbut that was to save the man she loved from the guillotine.â
âWhat?â
âRemember Jack Renauldâs story. They both arrived on the scene at the same instant, and each took the other to be the perpetrator of the crime. The girl stares at him in horror, and then with a cry rushes away. But, when she hears that the crime has been brought home to him, she cannot bear it, and comes forward to accuse herself and save him from certain death.â
Poirot leaned back in his chair, and brought the tips of his fingers together in familiar style.
âThe case was not quite satisfactory to me,â he observed judicially. âAll along I was strongly under the impression that we were dealing with a cold-blooded and premeditated crime committed by some one who had been contented (very cleverly) with using M. Renauldâs own plans for throwing the police off the track. The great criminal (as
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