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Five Little Pigs :: Christie Agatha
Страница: 99 из 147I noticed that hestaggered a bit and I wondered if he had been drinking. A man might easily be excused for doing so with all the fuss and the scenes.
He grumbled.
‘The beer here is red hot. Why can’t we keep some ice down here?’
And Caroline Crale said:
‘I’ll send you down some beer just off the ice.’
Amyas grunted out:
‘Thanks.’
Then Caroline shut the door of the Battery garden and came up with us to the house. We sat down on the terrace and she went into the house. About five minutes later Angela came along with a couple of bottles of beer and some glasses. It was a hot day and we were glad to see it. As we were drinking it Caroline passed us. She was carrying another bottle and said she would take it down to Amyas. Meredith said he’d go, but she was quite firm that she’d go herself. I thought-fool that I was-that it was just her jealousy. She couldn’t stand those two being alone down there. That was what had taken her down there once already with the weak pretext of arguing about Angela’s departure.
She went off down that zigzag path-and Meredith and I watched her go. We’d still not decided anything, and now Angela clamoured that I should come bathing with her. It seemed impossible to get Meredith alone. I just said to him: ‘After lunch.’ And he nodded.
Then I went off bathing with Angela. We had a good swim-across the creek and back, and then we lay out on the rocks sunbathing. Angela was a bit taciturn and that suited me. I made up my mind that directly after lunch I’d take Caroline aside and accuse her point-blank of having stolen the stuff. No use letting Meredith do it-he’d be too weak. No, I’d tax her with it outright. After that she’d have to give it back, or even if she didn’t she wouldn’t dare use it. I was pretty sure it must be her on thinking things over. Elsa was far too sensible and hard-boiled a young woman to risk tampering with poisons. She had a hard head and would take care of her own skin. Caroline was made of more dangerous stuff-unbalanced, carried away by impulses and definitely neurotic. And still, you know, at the back of my mind was the feeling that Meredithmight have made a mistake. Or some servant might have been poking about in there and split the stuff and then not dared to own up. You see, poison seems such a melodramatic thing-you can’t believe in it.
Not till it happens.
It was quite late when I looked at my watch, and Angela and I fairly raced up to lunch. They were just sitting down-all but Amyas, who had remained down in the Battery painting.
He grumbled.
‘The beer here is red hot. Why can’t we keep some ice down here?’
And Caroline Crale said:
‘I’ll send you down some beer just off the ice.’
Amyas grunted out:
‘Thanks.’
Then Caroline shut the door of the Battery garden and came up with us to the house. We sat down on the terrace and she went into the house. About five minutes later Angela came along with a couple of bottles of beer and some glasses. It was a hot day and we were glad to see it. As we were drinking it Caroline passed us. She was carrying another bottle and said she would take it down to Amyas. Meredith said he’d go, but she was quite firm that she’d go herself. I thought-fool that I was-that it was just her jealousy. She couldn’t stand those two being alone down there. That was what had taken her down there once already with the weak pretext of arguing about Angela’s departure.
She went off down that zigzag path-and Meredith and I watched her go. We’d still not decided anything, and now Angela clamoured that I should come bathing with her. It seemed impossible to get Meredith alone. I just said to him: ‘After lunch.’ And he nodded.
Then I went off bathing with Angela. We had a good swim-across the creek and back, and then we lay out on the rocks sunbathing. Angela was a bit taciturn and that suited me. I made up my mind that directly after lunch I’d take Caroline aside and accuse her point-blank of having stolen the stuff. No use letting Meredith do it-he’d be too weak. No, I’d tax her with it outright. After that she’d have to give it back, or even if she didn’t she wouldn’t dare use it. I was pretty sure it must be her on thinking things over. Elsa was far too sensible and hard-boiled a young woman to risk tampering with poisons. She had a hard head and would take care of her own skin. Caroline was made of more dangerous stuff-unbalanced, carried away by impulses and definitely neurotic. And still, you know, at the back of my mind was the feeling that Meredithmight have made a mistake. Or some servant might have been poking about in there and split the stuff and then not dared to own up. You see, poison seems such a melodramatic thing-you can’t believe in it.
Not till it happens.
It was quite late when I looked at my watch, and Angela and I fairly raced up to lunch. They were just sitting down-all but Amyas, who had remained down in the Battery painting.