清洁女工之死27

Twenty-seven

“I’m not going back to Breather & Scuttle,” said Maude Williams. “They’re a lousy firm anyway.”

“And they have served their purpose.”

“What do you mean by that, M. Poirot?”

“Why did you come to this part of the world?”

“I suppose being Mr. Knowall, you think you know?”

“I have a little idea.”

“And what is this famous idea.”

Poirot was looking meditatively¹ at Maude’s hair.

“I have been very discreet,” he said. “It has been assumed that the woman who went intoMrs. Upward’s house, the fair-haired woman that Edna saw, was Mrs. Carpenter, and that she hasdenied being there simply out of fright. Since it was Robin² Upward who killed Mrs. Upward, herpresence has no more significance than that of Miss Henderson. But all the same I do not think shewas there. I think Miss Williams, that the woman Edna saw was you.”

“Why me?”

Her voice was hard.

Poirot countered with another question.

“Why were you so interested in Broadhinny? Why, when you went over there, did you askRobin Upward for an autograph—you are not the autograph-hunting type. What did you knowabout the Upwards³? Why did you come to this part of the world in the first place? How did youknow that Eva Kane died in Australia and the name she took when she left England?”

“Good at guessing, aren’t you? Well, I’ve nothing to hide, not really.”

She opened her handbag. From a worn notecase she pulled out a small newspaper cuttingfrayed with age. It showed the face that Poirot by now knew so well, the simpering face of EvaKane.

Written across it were the words, She killed my mother.

Poirot handed it back to her.

“Yes, I thought so. Your real name is Craig?”

Maude nodded.

“I was brought up by some cousins—very decent they were. But I was old enough when it allhappened not to forget. I used to think about it a good deal. About her. She was a nasty bit ofgoods all right—children know! My father was just—weak. And besotted by her. But he took therap. For something, I’ve always believed, that she did. Oh yes, I know he’s an accessory after thefact—but it’s not quite the same thing, is it? I always meant to find out what had become of her.

When I was grown up, I got detectives on to it. They traced her to Australia and finally reportedthat she was dead. She’d left a son—Evelyn Hope he called himself.

“Well, that seemed to close the account. But then I got pally with a young actor chap. Hementioned someone called Evelyn Hope who’d come from Australia, but who now called himselfRobin Upward and who wrote plays. I was interested. One night Robin Upward was pointed⁴ out tome—and he was with his mother. So I thought that, after all, Eva Kane wasn’t dead. Instead, shewas queening it about with a packet of money.

“I got myself a job down here. I was curious—and a bit more than curious. All right, I’lladmit it, I thought I’d like to get even with her in some way .?.?. When you brought up all thisbusiness about James Bentley, I jumped to the conclusion that it was Mrs. Upward who’d killedMrs. McGinty. Eva Kane up to her tricks again. I happened to hear from Michael West that RobinUpward and Mrs. Oliver were coming over to this show at the Cullenquay Rep. I decided⁵ to go toBroadhinny and beard the woman. I meant—I don’t quite know what I meant. I’m telling youeverything—I took a little pistol I had in the war with me. To frighten her? Or more? Honestly, Idon’t know. .?.?.

“Well, I got there. There was no sound in the house. The door was unlocked. I went in. Youknow how I found her. Sitting there dead, her face all purple and swollen⁶. All the things I’d beenthinking seemed silly and melodramatic. I knew that I’d never, really, want to kill anyone when itcame to it .?.?. But I did realize that it might be awkward to explain what I’d been doing in thehouse. It was a cold night and I’d got gloves on, so I knew I hadn’t left any fingerprints⁷, and Ididn’t think for a moment anyone had seen me. That’s all.” She paused and added abruptly⁸: “Whatare you going to do about it?”

“Nothing,” said Hercule Poirot. “I wish you good luck in life, that is all.”

 

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