Agatha Christie's Detectives: Five Complete Novels by Agatha Christie

Author:Agatha Christie [Christie, Agatha]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
ISBN: 9780399140792
Amazon: 0399140794
Publisher: Putnam Adult
Published: 1982-01-02T00:00:00+00:00

Dead Man's Folly

Chapter 10

“He kills people,” Inspector Bland repeated.

“I don't think you ought to take it too seriously,” said Sir George. “She kept repeating it and saying, 'He kills people,' but she couldn't tell me who he killed or when or why. I thought myself it was just some queer, childlike memory - trouble with the natives - something like that.”

“You say she couldn't tell you anything definite - do you mean couldn't, Sir George - or might it have been wouldn't?”

“I don't think...” He broke off. “I don't know. You've muddled me. As I say, I didn't take any of it seriously. I thought perhaps this cousin had teased her a bit when she was a kid - something of that kind. It's difficult to explain to you because you don't know my wife. I am devoted to her, but half the time I don't listen to what she says because it just doesn't make sense. Anyway, this De Sousa fellow couldn't have had anything to do with all this - don't tell me he lands here off a yacht and goes straight away through the woods and kills a wretched Girl Guide in a boathouse! Why should he?”

“I'm not suggesting that anything like that happened,” said Inspector Bland, “but you must realise, Sir George, that in looking for the murderer of Marlene Tucker the field is a more restricted one than one might think at first.”

“Restricted!” Sir George stared. “You've got the whole ruddy fкte to choose from, haven't you? Two hundred - three hundred - people? Any one of 'em might have done it.”

“Yes, I thought so at first, but from what I've learnt now that's hardly so. The boathouse door has a Yale lock. Nobody could come in from outside without a key.”

“Well, there were three keys.”

“Exactly. One key was the final clue in this Murder Hunt. It is still concealed in the hydrangea walk at the very top of the garden. The second key was in the possession of Mrs Oliver, the organiser of the Murder Hunt. Where is the third key, Sir George?”

“It ought to be in the drawer of that desk where you're sitting. No, the right-hand one with a lot of the other estate duplicates.”

He came over and rummaged in the drawer.

“Yes. Here it is all right.”

“Then you see,” said Inspector Bland, “what that means? The only people who could have got into the boathouse were first, the person who had completed the Murder Hunt and found the key (which as far as we know, did not happen). Second, Mrs Oliver or some member of the household to whom she may have lent her key, and, third, someone whom Marlene herself admitted to the room.”

“Well, that latter point covers pretty well everyone, doesn't it?”

“Very far from it,” said Inspector Bland. “If I understand the arrangement of this Murder Hunt correctly, when the girl heard anyone approaching the door she was to lie down and enact the part of the Victim, and wait to be discovered by the person who had found the last clue - the key.

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