VI

It was a constable¹ who opened the front door to them and saluted². Behind him, SuperintendentSugden advanced down the hall and said:

“Glad you’ve got here, sir. Shall we come into this room here on the left—Mr. Lee’s study?

I’d like to run over the main outlines. The whole thing’s a rum business.”

He ushered⁴ them into a small room on the left of the hall. There was a telephone there and abig desk covered with papers. The walls were lined with bookcases.

The chief constable said: “Sugden, this is M. Hercule Poirot. You may have heard of him.

Just happened to be staying with me. Superintendent³ Sugden.”

Poirot made a little bow and looked the other man over. He saw a tall man with squareshoulders and a military bearing who had an aquiline⁵ nose, a pugnacious⁶ jaw⁷ and a largeflourishing chestnut- coloured moustache. Sugden stared hard at Hercule Poirot afteracknowledging the introduction. Hercule Poirot stared hard at Superintendent Sugden’smoustache. Its luxuriance seemed to fascinate him.

The superintendent said:

“Of course I have heard of you, Mr. Poirot. You were in this part of the world some yearsago, if I remember rightly. Death of Sir Bartholomew Strange. Poisoning case. Nicotine⁸. Not mydistrict, but of course I heard all about it.”

Colonel Johnson said impatiently:

“Now, then, Sugden, let’s have the facts. A clear case, you said.”

“Yes, sir, it’s murder right enough—not a doubt of that. Mr. Lee’s throat was cut—jugularvein severed⁹, I understand from the doctor. But there’s something very odd about the wholematter.”

“You mean—?”

“I’d like you to hear my story first, sir. These are the circumstances: This afternoon, aboutfive o’clock, I was rung up by Mr. Lee at Addlesfield police station. He sounded a bit odd over thephone—asked me to come and see him at eight o’clock this evening—made a special point of thetime. Moreover, he instructed me to say to the butler that I was collecting subscriptions¹⁰ for somepolice charity.”

The chief constable looked up sharply.

“Wanted some plausible¹¹ pretext¹² to get you into the house?”

“That’s right, sir. Well, naturally, Mr. Lee is an important person, and I acceded¹³ to hisrequest. I got here a little before eight o’clock, and represented myself as seeking subscriptions forthe Police Orphanage¹⁴. The butler went away and returned to tell me that Mr. Lee would see me.

Thereupon he showed me up to Mr. Lee’s room, which is situated¹⁵ on the first floor, immediatelyover the dining room.”

Superintendent Sugden paused, drew a breath and then proceeded in a somewhat officialmanner with his report.

“Mr. Lee was seated in a chair by the fireplace. He was wearing a dressing¹⁶ gown. When thebutler had left the room and closed the door, Mr. Lee asked me to sit near him. He then said ratherhesitatingly that he wanted to give me particulars of a robbery. I asked him what had been taken.

He replied that he had reason to believe that diamonds (uncut diamonds, I think he said) to thevalue of several thousand pounds had been stolen from his safe.”

“Diamonds, eh?” said the chief constable.

“Yes, sir. I asked him various routine questions, but his manner was very uncertain and hisreplies were somewhat vague in character. At last he said, ‘You must understand, Superintendent,that I may be mistaken in this matter.’ I said, ‘I do not quite understand, sir. Either the diamondsare missing or they are not missing—one or the other.’ He replied, ‘The diamonds are certainlymissing, but it is just possible, Superintendent, that their disappearance¹⁷ may be simply a ratherfoolish kind of practical joke.’ Well, that seemed odd to me, but I said nothing. He went on: ‘It isdifficult for me to explain in detail, but what it amounts to is this: So far as I can see, only twopersons can possibly have the stones. One of those persons might have done it as a joke. If theother person took them, then they have definitely been stolen.’ I said, ‘What exactly do you wantme to do, sir?’ He said quickly, ‘I want you, Superintendent, to return here in about an hour—no,make it a little more than that—say nine fifteen. At that time I shall be able to tell you definitelywhether I have been robbed or not.’ I was a little mystified, but I agreed and went away.”

Colonel Johnson commented:

“Curious—very curious. What do you say, Poirot?”

Hercule Poirot said:

“May I ask, Superintendent, what conclusions you yourself drew?”

The superintendent stroked his jaw as he replied carefully:

“Well, various ideas occurred to me, but on the whole, I figured it out this way. There was noquestion of any practical joke. The diamonds had been stolen all right. But the old gentlemanwasn’t sure who’d done it. It’s my opinion that he was speaking the truth when he said that itmight have been one of two people—and of those two people one was a servant and the other wasa member of the family.”

Poirot nodded appreciatively.

“Très bien. Yes, that explains his attitude very well.”

“Hence his desire that I should return later. In the interval¹⁸ he meant to have an interview withthe person in question. He would tell them that he had already spoken of the matter to the policebut that, if restitution¹⁹ were promptly²⁰ made, he could hush²¹ the matter up.”

Colonel Johnson said:

“And if the suspect didn’t respond?”

“In that case, he meant to place the investigation²² in our hands.”

Colonel Johnson frowned and twisted his moustache. He demurred²³.

“Why not take that course before calling you in?”

“No, no, sir.” The superintendent shook his head. “Don’t you see, if he had done that, itmight have been bluff²⁴. It wouldn’t have been half so convincing. The person might say to himself,‘The old man won’t call the police in, no matter what he suspects!’ But if the old gentleman saysto him, ‘I’ve already spoken to the police, the superintendent has only just left.’ Then the thiefasks the butler, say, and the butler confirms that. He says, ‘Yes, the superintendent was here justbefore dinner.’ Then the chief is convinced the old gentleman means business and it’s up to him tocough up the stones.”

“H’m, yes, I see that,” said Colonel Johnson. “Any idea, Sugden, who this ‘member of thefamily’ might be?”

“No, sir.”

“No indication whatsoever²⁵?”

“None.”

Johnson shook his head. Then he said:

“Well, let’s get on with it.”

Superintendent Sugden resumed his official manner.

“I returned to the house, sir, at nine fifteen precisely²⁶. Just as I was about to ring the front doorbell, I heard a scream from inside the house, and then a confused sound of shouts and a generalcommotion. I rang several times and also used the knocker. It was three or four minutes before thedoor was answered. When the footman at last opened it I could see that something momentous²⁷ hadoccurred. He was shaking all over and looked as though he was about to faint. He gasped²⁸ out thatMr. Lee had been murdered. I ran hastily upstairs. I found Mr. Lee’s room in a state of wildconfusion. There had evidently been a severe struggle. Mr. Lee himself was lying in front of thefire with his throat cut in a pool of blood.”

The chief constable said sharply:

“He couldn’t have done it himself?”

Sugden shook his head.

“Impossible, sir. For one thing, there were the chairs and tables overturned, and the brokencrockery and ornaments²⁹, and then there was no sign of the razor or knife with which the crime hadbeen committed.”

The chief constable said thoughtfully:

“Yes, that seems conclusive³⁰. Anyone in the room?”

“Most of the family were there, sir. Just standing³¹ round.”

Colonel Johnson said sharply:

“Any ideas, Sugden?”

The superintendent said slowly:

“It’s a bad business, sir. It looks to me as though one of them must have done it. I don’t seehow anyone from outside could have done it and got away in time.”

“What about the window? Closed or open?”

“There are two windows in the room, sir. One was closed and locked. The other was open afew inches at the bottom—but it was fixed³² in that position by a burglar screw, and moreover, I’vetried it and it’s stuck fast—hasn’t been opened for years, I should say. Also the wall outside isquite smooth and unbroken—no ivy³³ or creepers. I don’t see how anyone could have left that way.”

“How many doors in the room?”

“Just one. The room is at the end of a passage. That door was locked on the inside. Whenthey heard the noise of the struggle and the old man’s dying scream, and rushed upstairs, they hadto break down the door to get in.”

Johnson said sharply:

“And who was in the room?”

Superintendent Sugden replied gravely:

“Nobody was in the room, sir, except the old man who had been killed not more than a fewminutes previously³⁴.”

 

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