Read Online Partners in Crime by Agatha Christie - Free Book Online
Authors: Agatha Christie
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contents in a frenzied search.
Suddenly he uttered an ejaculation of delight and held up a blue envelope with a Russian stamp on it. Coggins gave a hoarse shout.
And just in that minute of triumph the other door, the door into Tuppence’s own office, opened noiselessly and Inspector Marriot and two men armed with revolvers stepped into the room, with the sharp command: ‘Hands up.’
There was no fight. The others were taken at a hopeless disadvantage. Dymchurch’s automatic lay on the table, and the two others were not armed.
‘A very nice little haul,’ said Inspector Marriot with approval, as he snapped the last pair of handcuffs. ‘And we’ll have more as time goes on, I hope.’
White with rage, Dymchurch glared at Tuppence.
‘You little devil,’ he snarled. ‘It was you put them on to us.’
Tuppence laughed.
‘It wasn’t all my doing. I ought to have guessed, I admit, when you brought in the number sixteen this afternoon. But it was Tommy’s note clinched matters. I rang up Inspector Marriot, got Albert to meet him with the duplicate key of the office, and came along myself with the empty blue envelope in my bag. The letter I forwarded according to my instructions as soon as I had parted with you two this afternoon.’
But one word had caught the other’s attention.
‘ Tommy ?’ he queried.
Tommy, who had just been released from his bonds, came towards them.
‘Well done, brother Francis,’ he said to Tuppence, taking both her hands in his. And to Dymchurch: ‘As I told you, my dear fellow, you really ought to read the classics.’
Chapter 5
Finessing the King
It was a wet Wednesday in the offices of the International Detective Agency. Tuppence let the Daily Leader fall idly from her hand.
‘Do you know what I’ve been thinking, Tommy?’
‘It’s impossible to say,’ replied her husband. ‘You think of so many things, and you think of them all at once.’
‘I think it’s time we went dancing again.’
Tommy picked up the Daily Leader hastily.
‘Our advertisement looks well,’ he remarked, his head on one side. ‘Blunt’s Brilliant Detectives. Do you realise, Tuppence, that you and you alone are Blunt’s Brilliant Detectives? There’s glory for you, as Humpty Dumpty would say.’
‘I was talking about dancing.’
‘There’s a curious point that I have observed about newspapers. I wonder if you have ever noticed it. Take these three copies of the Daily Leader . Can you tell me how they differ one from the other?’
Tuppence took them with some curiosity.
‘It seems fairly easy,’ she remarked witheringly. ‘One is today’s, one is yesterday’s, and one is the day before’s.’
‘Positively scintillating, my dear Watson. But that was not my meaning. Observe the headline, “Daily Leader.” Compare the three–do you see any difference between them?’
‘No, I don’t,’ said Tuppence, ‘and what’s more, I don’t believe there is any.’
Tommy sighed and brought the tips of his fingers together in the most approved Sherlock Holmes fashion.
‘Exactly. Yet you read the papers as much–in fact, more than I do. But I have observed and you have not. If you will look at today’s Daily Leader , you will see that in the middle of the downstroke of the D is a small white dot, and there is another in the L of the same word. But in yesterday’s paper the white dot is not in DAILY at all. There are two white dots in the L of LEADER. That of the day before again has two dots in the D of DAILY. In fact, the dot, or dots, are in a different position every day.’
‘Why?’ asked Tuppence.
‘That’s a journalistic secret.’
‘Meaning you don’t know, and can’t guess.’
‘I will merely say this–the practice is common to all newspapers.’
‘Aren’t you clever?’ said Tuppence. ‘Especially at drawing red herrings across the track. Let’s go back to what we were talking about before.’
‘What were we talking about?’
‘The Three Arts
Suddenly he uttered an ejaculation of delight and held up a blue envelope with a Russian stamp on it. Coggins gave a hoarse shout.
And just in that minute of triumph the other door, the door into Tuppence’s own office, opened noiselessly and Inspector Marriot and two men armed with revolvers stepped into the room, with the sharp command: ‘Hands up.’
There was no fight. The others were taken at a hopeless disadvantage. Dymchurch’s automatic lay on the table, and the two others were not armed.
‘A very nice little haul,’ said Inspector Marriot with approval, as he snapped the last pair of handcuffs. ‘And we’ll have more as time goes on, I hope.’
White with rage, Dymchurch glared at Tuppence.
‘You little devil,’ he snarled. ‘It was you put them on to us.’
Tuppence laughed.
‘It wasn’t all my doing. I ought to have guessed, I admit, when you brought in the number sixteen this afternoon. But it was Tommy’s note clinched matters. I rang up Inspector Marriot, got Albert to meet him with the duplicate key of the office, and came along myself with the empty blue envelope in my bag. The letter I forwarded according to my instructions as soon as I had parted with you two this afternoon.’
But one word had caught the other’s attention.
‘ Tommy ?’ he queried.
Tommy, who had just been released from his bonds, came towards them.
‘Well done, brother Francis,’ he said to Tuppence, taking both her hands in his. And to Dymchurch: ‘As I told you, my dear fellow, you really ought to read the classics.’
Chapter 5
Finessing the King
It was a wet Wednesday in the offices of the International Detective Agency. Tuppence let the Daily Leader fall idly from her hand.
‘Do you know what I’ve been thinking, Tommy?’
‘It’s impossible to say,’ replied her husband. ‘You think of so many things, and you think of them all at once.’
‘I think it’s time we went dancing again.’
Tommy picked up the Daily Leader hastily.
‘Our advertisement looks well,’ he remarked, his head on one side. ‘Blunt’s Brilliant Detectives. Do you realise, Tuppence, that you and you alone are Blunt’s Brilliant Detectives? There’s glory for you, as Humpty Dumpty would say.’
‘I was talking about dancing.’
‘There’s a curious point that I have observed about newspapers. I wonder if you have ever noticed it. Take these three copies of the Daily Leader . Can you tell me how they differ one from the other?’
Tuppence took them with some curiosity.
‘It seems fairly easy,’ she remarked witheringly. ‘One is today’s, one is yesterday’s, and one is the day before’s.’
‘Positively scintillating, my dear Watson. But that was not my meaning. Observe the headline, “Daily Leader.” Compare the three–do you see any difference between them?’
‘No, I don’t,’ said Tuppence, ‘and what’s more, I don’t believe there is any.’
Tommy sighed and brought the tips of his fingers together in the most approved Sherlock Holmes fashion.
‘Exactly. Yet you read the papers as much–in fact, more than I do. But I have observed and you have not. If you will look at today’s Daily Leader , you will see that in the middle of the downstroke of the D is a small white dot, and there is another in the L of the same word. But in yesterday’s paper the white dot is not in DAILY at all. There are two white dots in the L of LEADER. That of the day before again has two dots in the D of DAILY. In fact, the dot, or dots, are in a different position every day.’
‘Why?’ asked Tuppence.
‘That’s a journalistic secret.’
‘Meaning you don’t know, and can’t guess.’
‘I will merely say this–the practice is common to all newspapers.’
‘Aren’t you clever?’ said Tuppence. ‘Especially at drawing red herrings across the track. Let’s go back to what we were talking about before.’
‘What were we talking about?’
‘The Three Arts
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