阳光下的罪恶32

II

When the door had closed behind Christine Redfern Inspector Colgate said:

“Now we are getting somewhere!”

Weston said:

“You think so, eh?”

“Well, it’s suggestive, sir, you can’t get away from it. Somebody in this hotel was blackmailingthe lady.”

Poirot murmured:

“But it is not the wicked blackmailer who lies dead. It is the victim.”

“That’s a bit of a setback, I agree,” said the Inspector. “Blackmailers aren’t in the habit ofbumping off their victims. But what it does give us is this, it suggests a reason for Mrs. Marshall’scurious behaviour this morning. She’d got a rendezvous with this fellow who was blackmailingher, and she didn’t want either her husband or Redfern to know about it.”

“It certainly explains that point,” agreed Poirot.

Inspector Colgate went on:

“And think of the place chosen. The very spot for the purpose. The lady goes off in her float.

That’s natural enough. It’s what she does every day. She goes round to Pixy Cove where no oneever goes in the morning and which will be a nice quiet place for an interview.”

Poirot said:

“But yes, I too was struck by that point. It is as you say, an ideal spot for a rendezvous. It isdeserted, it is only accessible from the land side by descending a vertical steel ladder which is noteverybody’s money, bien entendu. Moreover most of the beach is invisible from above because ofthe overhanging cliff. And it has another advantage. Mr. Redfern told me of that one day. There isa cave on it, the entrance to which is not easy to find but where anyone could wait unseen.”

Weston said:

“Of course, the Pixy’s Cave—remember hearing about it.”

Inspector Colgate said:

“Haven’t heard it spoken of for years, though. We’d better have a look inside it. Never know,we might find a pointer of some kind.”

Weston said:

“Yes, you’re right, Colgate, we’ve got the solution to part one of the puzzle. Why did Mrs.

Marshall go to Pixy’s Cove? We want the other half of that solution, though. Who did she go thereto meet? Presumably someone staying in this hotel. None of them fitted as a lover — but ablackmailer’s a different proposition.”

He drew the register towards him.

“Excluding the waiters, boots, etc., whom I don’t think likely, we’ve got the following. TheAmerican—Gardener, Major Barry, Mr. Horace Blatt, and the Reverend Stephen Lane.”

Inspector Colgate said:

“We can narrow it down a bit, sir. We might almost rule out the American, I think. He was onthe beach all the morning. That’s so, isn’t it, M. Poirot?”

Poirot replied:

“He was absent for a short time when he fetched a skein of wool for his wife.”

Colgate said:

“Oh well, we needn’t count that.”

Weston said:

“And what about the other three?”

“Major Barry went out at ten o’clock this morning. He returned at one thirty. Mr. Lane wasearlier still. He breakfasted at eight. Said he was going for a tramp. Mr. Blatt went off for a sail atnine thirty same as he does most days. Neither of them are back yet.”

“A sail, eh?” Colonel Weston’s voice was thoughtful.

Inspector Colgate’s voice was responsive. He said:

“Might fit in rather well, sir.”

Weston said:

“Well, we’ll have a word with this Major bloke—and let me see, who else is there? RosamundDarnley. And there’s the Brewster woman who found the body with Redfern. What’s she like,Colgate?”

“Oh, a sensible party, sir. No nonsense about her.”

“She didn’t express any opinions on the death?”

The Inspector shook his head.

“I don’t think she’ll have anything more to tell us, sir, but we’ll have to make sure. Then thereare the Americans.”

Colonel Weston nodded. He said: “Let’s have ’em all in and get it over as soon as possible.

Never know, might learn something. About the blackmailing stunt if about nothing else.”

 

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