XIII

Colonel Johnson had had no time to do more than clear his throat when the door opened again andHilda Lee came in.

Hercule Poirot looked at her with interest. He had to admit to himself that the wives theseLees had married were an interesting study. The swift intelligence and greyhound grace of Lydia,the meretricious¹ airs and graces of Magdalene, and now, the solid comfortable strength of Hilda.

She was, he saw, younger than her rather dowdy² style of hairdressing and unfashionable clothesmade her appear. Her mouse-brown hair was unflecked with grey and her steady hazel eyes set inthe rather podgy face shone out like beacons³ of kindliness⁴. She was, he thought, a nice woman.

Colonel Johnson was talking in his kindliest tone.

“.?.?. A great strain on all of you,” he was saying. “I gather from your husband, Mrs. Lee, thatthis is the first time you have been to Gorston Hall?”

She bowed her head.

“Were you previously⁵ acquainted with your father-in-law, Mr. Lee?”

Hilda replied in her pleasant voice:

“No. We were married soon after David left home. He always wanted to have nothing to dowith his family. Until now we have not seen any of them.”

“How, then, did this visit come about?”

“My father-in-law wrote to David. He stressed his age and his desire that all his childrenshould be with him this Christmas.”

“And your husband responded to this appeal?”

Hilda said:

“His acceptance was, I am afraid, all my doing—I misunderstood the situation.”

Poirot interposed. He said:

“Will you be so kind as to explain yourself a little more clearly, madame? I think what youcan tell us may be of value.”

She turned to him immediately.

She said:

“At that time I had never seen my father-in-law. I had no idea what his real motive⁶ was. Iassumed that he was old and lonely and that he really wanted to be reconciled to all his children.”

“And what was his real motive, in your opinion, madame?”

Hilda hesitated a moment. Then she said slowly:

“I have no doubt—no doubt at all—that what my father-in-law really wanted was not topromote peace but to stir up strife⁷.”

“In what way?”

Hilda said in a low voice:

“It amused him to—to appeal to the worst instincts in human nature. There was—how can Iput it?—a kind of diabolical⁸ impishness about him. He wished to set every member of the familyat loggerheads with one another.”

Johnson said sharply: “And did he succeed?”

“Oh, yes,” said Hilda Lee. “He succeeded.”

Poirot said:

“We have been told, madame, of a scene that took place this afternoon. It was, I think, rathera violent scene.”

She bowed her head.

“Will you describe it to us—as truthfully as possible, if you please.”

She reflected a minute.

“When we went in my father-in-law was telephoning.”

“To his lawyer, I understand?”

“Yes, he was suggesting that Mr.—was it Charlton?—I don’t quite remember the name—should come over as he, my father-in-law, wanted to make a new will. His old one, he said, wasquite out of date.”

Poirot said:

“Think carefully, madame; in your opinion did your father-in-law deliberately⁹ ensure thatyou should all overhear this conversation, or was it just by chance that you overheard it?”

Hilda Lee said:

“I am almost sure that he meant us to overhear.”

“With the object of fomenting¹⁰ doubt and suspicions among you?”

“Yes.”

“So that, really, he may not have meant to alter his will at all?”

She demurred¹¹.

“No, I think that part of it was quite genuine. He probably did wish to make a new will—buthe enjoyed underlining the fact.”

“Madame,” said Poirot, “I have no official standing¹² and my questions, you understand, arenot perhaps those that an English officer of the law would ask. But I have a great desire to knowwhat form you think that new will would have taken. I am asking, you perceive, not for yourknowledge, but simply for your opinion. Les femmes, they are never slow to form an opinion, Dieumerci.”

Hilda Lee smiled a little.

“I don’t mind saying what I think. My husband’s sister Jennifer married a Spaniard, JuanEstravados. Her daughter, Pilar, has just arrived here. She is a very lovely girl—and she is, ofcourse, the only grandchild in the family. Old Mr. Lee was delighted with her. He took atremendous fancy to her. In my opinion, he wished to leave her a considerable sum in his newwill. Probably he had only left her a small portion or even nothing at all in an old one.”

“Did you know your sister-in-law at all?”

“No, I never met her. Her Spanish husband died in tragic¹³ circumstances, I believe, soon afterthe marriage. Jennifer herself died a year ago. Pilar was left an orphan¹⁴. This is why Mr. Lee sentfor her to come and live with him in England.”

“And the other members of the family, did they welcome her coming?”

Hilda said quietly:

“I think they all liked her. It was very pleasant to have someone young and alive in thehouse.”

“And she, did she seem to like being here?”

Hilda said slowly:

“I don’t know. It must seem cold and strange to a girl brought up in the South—in Spain.”

Johnson said:

“Can’t be very pleasant being in Spain just at present. Now, Mrs. Lee, we’d like to hear youraccount of the conversation this afternoon.”

Poirot murmured:

“I apologize. I have made the digressions.”

Hilda Lee said:

“After my father-in-law finished telephoning, he looked round at us and laughed, and said weall looked very glum¹⁵. Then he said he was tired and should go to bed early. Nobody was to comeup and see him this evening. He said he wanted to be in good form for Christmas Day. Somethinglike that.”

“Then—” Her brows knit in an effort of remembrance. “I think he said something about itsbeing necessary to be one of a large family to appreciate Christmas, and then he went on to speakof money. He said it would cost him more to run this house in future. He told George andMagdalene they would have to economize¹⁶. Told her she ought to make her own clothes. Rather anold-fashioned idea, I’m afraid. I don’t wonder it annoyed her. He said his own wife had beenclever with her needle.”

Poirot said gently:

“Is that all that he said about her?”

Hilda flushed.

“He made a slighting reference to her brains. My husband was very devoted¹⁷ to his mother,and that upset him very much. And then, suddenly Mr. Lee began shouting at us all. He workedhimself up about it. I can understand, of course, how he felt—”

Poirot said gently, interrupting her:

“How did he feel?”

She turned her tranquil¹⁸ eyes upon him.

“He was disappointed, of course,” she said. “Because there are no grandchildren—no boys, Imean—no Lees to carry on. I can see that that must have festered for a long time. And suddenly hecouldn’t keep it in any longer and vented¹⁹ his rage against his sons—saying they were a lot ofnamby-pamby old women—something like that. I felt sorry for him, then, because I realized howhis pride was hurt by it.”

“And then?”

“And then,” said Hilda slowly, “we all went away.”

“That was the last you saw of him?”

She bowed her head.

“Where were you at the time the crime occurred?”

“I was with my husband in the music room. He was playing to me.”

“And then?”

“We heard tables and chairs overturned upstairs, and china being broken—some terriblestruggle. And then that awful scream as his throat was cut. .?.?.”

Poirot said:

“Was it such an awful scream? Was it”—he paused—“like a soul in hell?”

Hilda Lee said:

“It was worse than that!”

“What do you mean, madame?”

“It was like someone who had no soul .?.?. It was inhuman²⁰ like a beast. .?.?.”

Poirot said gravely:

“So—you have judged him, madame?”

She raised a hand in sudden distress²¹. Her eyes fell and she stared down at the floor.

 

点击收听单词发音