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Authors: Agatha Christie
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nurse in the house the whole time. Always wanting trays carried up and pots of tea made.”
“Must be very trying,” said the Inspector soothingly. “Now, will you go and tell your mistress please, that I am here from Mr Kirkwood of Exhampton?”
Beatrice withdrew and a few minutes later the door opened and a tall, rather commanding woman came into the room. She had an unusual looking face, broad about the brows, and black hair with a touch of gray at the temples, which she wore combed straight back from her forehead. She looked at the Inspector inquiringly.
“You have come from Mr Kirkwood at Exhampton?”
“Not exactly, Mrs Gardner. I put it that way to your maid. Your brother, Captain Trevelyan, was murdered yesterday afternoon and I am Divisional Inspector Narracott in charge of the case.”
Whatever else Mrs Gardner might be she was certainly a woman of iron nerve. Her eyes narrowed and she drew in her breath sharply, then motioning the Inspector to a chair and sitting down herself she said:
“Murdered! How extraordinary! Who in the world would want to murder Joe?”
“That is what I'm anxious to find out, Mrs Gardner.”
“Of course. I hope I shall be able to help you in some way, but I doubt it. My brother and I have seen very little of each other in the last ten years. I know nothing of his friends or of any ties he has formed.”
“You'll excuse me, Mrs Gardner, but had you and your brother quarreled?”
“No - not quarreled. I think estranged would be a better word to describe the position between us. I don't want to go into family details, but my brother rather resented my marriage. Brothers, I think, seldom approve of their sisters' choice, but usually, I fancy, they conceal it better than my brother did. My brother, as perhaps you know, had a large fortune left him by an aunt. Both my sister and myself married poor men. When my husband was invalided out of the army after the war with shell shock, a little financial assistance would have been a wonderful relief - would have enabled me to give him an expensive course of treatment which was otherwise denied to him. I asked my brother for a loan which he refused. That, of course, he was perfectly entitled to do. But since then we have met at very rare intervals, and hardly corresponded at all.”
It was a clear succinct statement.
An intriguing personality, this Mrs Gardner's, the Inspector thought. Somehow, he couldn't quite make her out. She seemed unnaturally calm, unnaturally ready with her recital of facts. He also noticed that, with all her surprise she asked for no details of her brother's death. That struck him as extraordinary.
“I don't know if you want to hear what exactly occurred - at Exhampton,” he began.
She frowned.
“Must I hear it? My brother was killed, painlessly - I hope.”
“Quite painlessly, I should say.”
“Then please spare me any revolting details.”
“Unnatural,” thought the Inspector, “decidedly unnatural.”
As though she had read his mind she used the very word that he had spoken to himself.
“I suppose you think that very unnatural, Inspector, but - I have heard a good many horrors. My husband has told me things when he has had one of his bad turns -” she shivered. “I think you would understand if you knew my circumstances better.”
“Oh! quite so, quite so, Mrs Gardner. What I really came in was to get a few family details from you.”
“Yes?”
“Do you know how many relatives living your brother has besides yourself?”
“Of near relations, only the Pearsons. My sister Mary's children.”
“And they are?”
“James, Sylvia and Brian.”
“James?”
“He is the eldest. He works in an Insurance Office.”
“What age is he?”
“Twenty-eight.”
“Is he married?”
“No, but he is engaged - to a very nice girl, I believe. I've not yet met her.”
“And his address?”
“21 Cromwell Street, S.W.3.”
The Inspector noted it down.
“Yes, Mrs
“Must be very trying,” said the Inspector soothingly. “Now, will you go and tell your mistress please, that I am here from Mr Kirkwood of Exhampton?”
Beatrice withdrew and a few minutes later the door opened and a tall, rather commanding woman came into the room. She had an unusual looking face, broad about the brows, and black hair with a touch of gray at the temples, which she wore combed straight back from her forehead. She looked at the Inspector inquiringly.
“You have come from Mr Kirkwood at Exhampton?”
“Not exactly, Mrs Gardner. I put it that way to your maid. Your brother, Captain Trevelyan, was murdered yesterday afternoon and I am Divisional Inspector Narracott in charge of the case.”
Whatever else Mrs Gardner might be she was certainly a woman of iron nerve. Her eyes narrowed and she drew in her breath sharply, then motioning the Inspector to a chair and sitting down herself she said:
“Murdered! How extraordinary! Who in the world would want to murder Joe?”
“That is what I'm anxious to find out, Mrs Gardner.”
“Of course. I hope I shall be able to help you in some way, but I doubt it. My brother and I have seen very little of each other in the last ten years. I know nothing of his friends or of any ties he has formed.”
“You'll excuse me, Mrs Gardner, but had you and your brother quarreled?”
“No - not quarreled. I think estranged would be a better word to describe the position between us. I don't want to go into family details, but my brother rather resented my marriage. Brothers, I think, seldom approve of their sisters' choice, but usually, I fancy, they conceal it better than my brother did. My brother, as perhaps you know, had a large fortune left him by an aunt. Both my sister and myself married poor men. When my husband was invalided out of the army after the war with shell shock, a little financial assistance would have been a wonderful relief - would have enabled me to give him an expensive course of treatment which was otherwise denied to him. I asked my brother for a loan which he refused. That, of course, he was perfectly entitled to do. But since then we have met at very rare intervals, and hardly corresponded at all.”
It was a clear succinct statement.
An intriguing personality, this Mrs Gardner's, the Inspector thought. Somehow, he couldn't quite make her out. She seemed unnaturally calm, unnaturally ready with her recital of facts. He also noticed that, with all her surprise she asked for no details of her brother's death. That struck him as extraordinary.
“I don't know if you want to hear what exactly occurred - at Exhampton,” he began.
She frowned.
“Must I hear it? My brother was killed, painlessly - I hope.”
“Quite painlessly, I should say.”
“Then please spare me any revolting details.”
“Unnatural,” thought the Inspector, “decidedly unnatural.”
As though she had read his mind she used the very word that he had spoken to himself.
“I suppose you think that very unnatural, Inspector, but - I have heard a good many horrors. My husband has told me things when he has had one of his bad turns -” she shivered. “I think you would understand if you knew my circumstances better.”
“Oh! quite so, quite so, Mrs Gardner. What I really came in was to get a few family details from you.”
“Yes?”
“Do you know how many relatives living your brother has besides yourself?”
“Of near relations, only the Pearsons. My sister Mary's children.”
“And they are?”
“James, Sylvia and Brian.”
“James?”
“He is the eldest. He works in an Insurance Office.”
“What age is he?”
“Twenty-eight.”
“Is he married?”
“No, but he is engaged - to a very nice girl, I believe. I've not yet met her.”
“And his address?”
“21 Cromwell Street, S.W.3.”
The Inspector noted it down.
“Yes, Mrs
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