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Five Little Pigs :: Christie Agatha
Страница: 16 из 147Loved him so much that half of her died with him…’
Mr Fogg, K.C., paused and polished his glasses.
‘Dear me,’ he said. ‘I seem to be saying some very strange things! I was quite a young man at the time, you know. Just an ambitious youngster. These things make an impression. But all the same I’m sure that Caroline Crale was a very remarkable woman. I shall never forget her. No-I shall never forget her…’
Chapter 3. The Young Solicitor
George Mayhew was cautious and non-committal.
He remembered the case, of course, but not at all clearly. His father had been in charge-he himself had been only nineteen at the time.
Yes, the case had made a great stir. Because of Crale being such a well-known man. His pictures were very fine-very fine indeed. Two of them were in the Tate. Not that that meant anything.
M. Poirot would excuse him, but he didn’t see quite what M. Poirot’s interest was in the matter. Oh, thedaughter! Really? Indeed? Canada? He had always heard it was New Zealand.
George Mayhew became less rigid. He unbent.
A shocking thing in a girl’s life. He had the deepest sympathy for her. Really it would have been better if she had never learned the truth. Still, it was no use saying thatnow.
She wanted to know? Yes, but whatwas there to know? There were the reports of the trial, of course. He himself didn’t really know anything.
No, he was afraid there wasn’t much doubt as to Mrs Crale’s being guilty. There was a certain amount of excuse for her. These artists-difficult people to live with. With Crale, he understood, it had always been some woman or other.
And she herself had probably been the possessive type of woman. Unable to accept facts. Nowadays she’d simply have divorced him and got over it. He added cautiously:
‘Let me see-er-Lady Dittisham, I believe, was the girl in the case.’
Poirot said that he believed that that was so.
‘The newspapers bring it up from time to time,’ said Mayhew. ‘She’s been in the divorce court a good deal. She’s a very rich woman, as I expect you know. She was married to that explorer fellow before Dittisham. She’s always more or less in the public eye. The kind of woman who likes notoriety, I should imagine.’
‘Or possibly a hero worshipper,’ suggested Poirot.
The idea was upsetting to George Mayhew. He accepted it dubiously.
‘Well, possibly-yes, I suppose that might be so.’
He seemed to be turning the idea over in his mind.
Mr Fogg, K.C., paused and polished his glasses.
‘Dear me,’ he said. ‘I seem to be saying some very strange things! I was quite a young man at the time, you know. Just an ambitious youngster. These things make an impression. But all the same I’m sure that Caroline Crale was a very remarkable woman. I shall never forget her. No-I shall never forget her…’
Chapter 3. The Young Solicitor
George Mayhew was cautious and non-committal.
He remembered the case, of course, but not at all clearly. His father had been in charge-he himself had been only nineteen at the time.
Yes, the case had made a great stir. Because of Crale being such a well-known man. His pictures were very fine-very fine indeed. Two of them were in the Tate. Not that that meant anything.
M. Poirot would excuse him, but he didn’t see quite what M. Poirot’s interest was in the matter. Oh, thedaughter! Really? Indeed? Canada? He had always heard it was New Zealand.
George Mayhew became less rigid. He unbent.
A shocking thing in a girl’s life. He had the deepest sympathy for her. Really it would have been better if she had never learned the truth. Still, it was no use saying thatnow.
She wanted to know? Yes, but whatwas there to know? There were the reports of the trial, of course. He himself didn’t really know anything.
No, he was afraid there wasn’t much doubt as to Mrs Crale’s being guilty. There was a certain amount of excuse for her. These artists-difficult people to live with. With Crale, he understood, it had always been some woman or other.
And she herself had probably been the possessive type of woman. Unable to accept facts. Nowadays she’d simply have divorced him and got over it. He added cautiously:
‘Let me see-er-Lady Dittisham, I believe, was the girl in the case.’
Poirot said that he believed that that was so.
‘The newspapers bring it up from time to time,’ said Mayhew. ‘She’s been in the divorce court a good deal. She’s a very rich woman, as I expect you know. She was married to that explorer fellow before Dittisham. She’s always more or less in the public eye. The kind of woman who likes notoriety, I should imagine.’
‘Or possibly a hero worshipper,’ suggested Poirot.
The idea was upsetting to George Mayhew. He accepted it dubiously.
‘Well, possibly-yes, I suppose that might be so.’
He seemed to be turning the idea over in his mind.