chapter 10 jenny driver

our next proceeding was to call upon the doctor whose address the maid had given us.

he turned out to be a fussy elderly man somewhat vague in manner. he knew poirot by repute and expressed a lively pleasure at meeting him in the flesh.

‘and what can i do for you, m. poirot?’ he asked after this opening preamble.

‘you were called this morning, m. le docteur, to the bedside of a miss carlotta adams.’

‘ah! yes, poor girl. clever actress too. i’ve been twice to her show. a thousand pities it’s ended this way. why these girls must have drugs i can’t think.’

‘you think she was addicted to drugs, then?’

‘well, professionally, i should hardly have said so. at all events she didn’t take them hypodermically. no marks of the needle. evidently always took it by the mouth. maid said she slept well naturally, but then maids never know. i don’t suppose she took veronal every night, but she’d evidently taken it for some time.’

‘what makes you think so?’

‘this, dash it – where did i put the thing?’

he was peering into a small case.

‘ah! here it is.’

he drew out a small black morocco handbag.

‘there’s got to be an inquest, of course. i brought this away so that the maid shouldn’t meddle with it.’

opening the pochette he took out a small gold box. on it were the initials c.a. in rubies. it was a valuable and expensive trinket. the doctor opened it. it was nearly full of a white powder.

‘veronal,’ he explained briefly. ‘now look what’s written inside.’

on the inside of the lid of the box was engraved:

c.a. from d. paris, nov. 10th. sweet dreams.

‘november 10th,’ said poirot thoughtfully.

‘exactly, and we’re now in june. that seems to show that she’s been in the habit of taking the stuff for at least six months, and as the year isn’t given, it might be eighteen months or two years and a half – or any time.’

‘paris. d,’ said poirot, frowning.

‘yes. convey anything to you? by the way, i haven’t asked you what your interest is in the case. i’m assuming you’ve got good grounds. i suppose you want to know if it’s suicide? well, i can’t tell you. nobody can. according to the maid’s account she was perfectly cheerful yesterday. that looks like accident, and in my opinion accident it is. veronal’s very uncertain stuff. you can take a devil of a lot and it won’t kill you, and you can take very little and off you go. it’s a dangerous drug for that reason.

‘i’ve no doubt they’ll bring it in accidental death at the inquest. i’m afraid i can’t be of any more help to you.’

‘may i examine the little bag of mademoiselle?’

‘certainly. certainly.’

poirot turned out the contents of the pochette. there was a fine handkerchief with c.m.a. in the corner, a powder puff, a lipstick, a pound note and a little change, and a pair of pince-nez.

these last poirot examined with interest. they were gold-rimmed and rather severe and academic in type.

‘curious,’ said poirot. ‘i did not know that miss adams wore glasses. but perhaps they are for reading?’

the doctor picked them up.

‘no, these are outdoor glasses,’ he affirmed. ‘pretty powerful too. the person who wore these must have been very short-sighted.’

‘you do not know if miss adams –’

‘i never attended her before. i was called in once to see a poisoned finger of the maid’s. otherwise i have never been in the flat. miss adams whom i saw for a moment on that occasion was certainly not wearing glasses then.’

poirot thanked the doctor and we took our leave.

poirot wore a puzzled expression.

‘it can be that i am mistaken,’ he admitted.

‘about the impersonation?’

‘no, no. that seems to me proved. no, i mean as to her death. obviously she had veronal in her possession. it is possible that she was tired and strung up last night and determined to ensure herself a good night’s rest.’

then he suddenly stopped dead – to the great surprise of the passers-by – and beat one hand emphatically on the other.

‘no, no, no, no!’ he declared emphatically. ‘why should that accident happen so conveniently? it was no accident. it was not suicide. no, she played her part and in doing so she signed her death warrant. veronal may have been chosen simply because it was known that she occasionally took it and that she had that box in her possession. but, if so, the murderer must have been someone who knew her well. who is d, hastings? i would give a good deal to know who d was.’

‘poirot,’ i said, as he remained rapt in thought. ‘hadn’t we better go on? everyone is staring at us.’

‘eh? well, perhaps you are right. though it does not incommode me that people should stare. it does not interfere in the least with my train of thought.’

‘people were beginning to laugh,’ i murmured.

‘that has no importance.’

i did not quite agree. i have a horror of doing anything conspicuous. the only thing that affects poirot is the possibility of the damp or the heat affecting the set of his famous moustache.

‘we will take a taxi,’ said poirot, waving his stick.

one drew up by us, and poirot directed it to go genevieve in moffat street.

genevieve turned out to be one of those establishments where one nondescript hat and a scarf display themselves in a glass box downstairs and where the real centre of operations is one floor up a flight of musty-smelling stairs.

having climbed the stairs we came to a door with ‘genevieve. please walk in’ on it, and having obeyed this command we found ourselves in a small room full of hats while an imposing blonde creature came forward with a suspicious glance at poirot.

‘miss driver?’ asked poirot.

‘i do not know if modom can see you. what is your business, please?’

‘please tell miss driver that a friend of miss adams would like to see her.’

the blonde beauty had no need to go on this errand. a black velvet curtain was violently agitated and a small vivacious creature with flaming red hair emerged.

‘what’s that?’ she demanded.

‘are you miss driver?’

‘yes. what’s that about carlotta?’

‘you have heard the sad news?’

‘what sad news?’

‘miss adams died in her sleep last night. an overdose of veronal.’

the girl’s eyes opened wide.

‘how awful!’ she exclaimed. ‘poor carlotta. i can hardly believe it. why, she was full of life yesterday.’

‘nevertheless it is true, mademoiselle,’ said poirot. ‘now see – it is just on one o’clock. i want you to do me the honour of coming out to lunch with me and my friend. i want to ask you several questions.’

the girl looked him up and down. she was a pugilistic little creature. she reminded me in some ways of a fox terrier.

‘who are you?’ she demanded bluntly.

‘my name is hercule poirot. this is my friend captain hastings.’

i bowed.

her glance travelled from one to the other of us.

‘i’ve heard of you,’ she said abruptly. ‘i’ll come.’

she called to the blonde:

‘dorothy?’

‘yes, jenny.’

‘mrs lester’s coming in about that rose descartes model we’re making for her. try the different feathers. bye-bye, shan’t be long, i expect.’

she picked up a small black hat, affixed it to one ear, powdered her nose furiously, and then looked at poirot.

‘ready,’ she said abruptly.

five minutes afterwards we were sitting in a small restaurant in dover street. poirot had given an order to the waiter and cocktails were in front of us.

‘now,’ said jenny driver. ‘i want to know the meaning of all this. what has carlotta been getting herself mixed up in?’

‘she had been getting herself mixed up in something, then, mademoiselle?’

‘now then, who is going to ask the questions, you or me?’

‘my idea was that i should,’ said poirot, smiling. ‘i have been given to understand that you and miss adams were great friends.’

‘right.’

‘eh bien, then i ask you, mademoiselle, to accept my solemn assurance that what i do, i am doing in the interests of your dead friend. i assure you that that is so.’

there was a moment’s silence while jenny driver considered this question. finally she gave a quick assenting nod of the head.

‘i believe you. carry on. what do you want to know?’

‘i understand, mademoiselle, that your friend lunched with you yesterday.’

‘she did.’

‘did she tell you what her plans were for last night?’

‘she didn’t exactly mention last night.’

‘but she said something?’

‘well, she mentioned something that maybe is what you’re driving at. mind you, she spoke in confidence.’

‘that is understood.’

‘well, let me see now. i think i’d better explain things in my own words.’

‘if you please, mademoiselle.’

‘well, then, carlotta was excited. she isn’t often excited. she’s not that kind. she wouldn’t tell me anything definite, said she’d promised not to, but she’d got something on. something i gathered, in the nature of a gigantic hoax.’

‘a hoax?’

‘that’s what she said. she didn’t say how or when or where. only –’ she paused, frowning. ‘well – you see – carlotta’s not the kind of person who enjoys practical jokes or hoaxes or things of that kind. she’s one of those serious, nice-minded, hard-working girls. what i mean is, somebody had obviously put her up to this stunt. and i think – she didn’t say so, mind –’

‘no, no, i quite understand. what was it that you thought?’

‘i thought – i was sure – that in some way money was concerned. nothing really ever excited carlotta except money. she was made that way. she’d got one of the best heads for business i’ve ever met. she wouldn’t have been so excited and so pleased unless money – quite a lot of money – had been concerned. my impression was that she’d taken on something for a bet – and that she was pretty sure of winning. and yet that isn’t quite true. i mean, carlotta didn’t bet. i’ve never known her make a bet. but anyway, somehow or other, i’m sure money was concerned.’

‘she did not actually say so?’

‘n-no-o. just said that she’d be able to do this, that and the other in the near future. she was going to get her sister over from america to meet her in paris. she was crazy about her little sister. very delicate, i believe, and musical. well that’s all i know. is that what you want?’

poirot nodded his head.

‘yes. it confirms my theory. i had hoped, i admit, for more. i had anticipated that miss adams would have been bound to secrecy. but i hoped that, being a woman, she would not have counted revealing the secret to her best friend.’

‘i tried to make her tell me,’ admitted jenny. ‘but she only laughed and said she’d tell me about it some day.’

poirot was silent for a moment. then he said:

‘you know the name of lord edgware?’

‘what? the man who was murdered? on a poster half an hour ago.’

‘yes. do you know if miss adams was acquainted with him?’

‘i don’t think so. i’m sure she wasn’t. oh! wait a minute.’

‘yes, mademoiselle?’ said poirot eagerly.

‘what was it now?’ she frowned, knitting her brow as she tried to remember.

‘yes, i’ve got it now. she mentioned him once. very bitterly.’

‘bitterly?’

‘yes. she said – what was it? – that men like that shouldn’t be allowed to ruin other people’s lives by their cruelty and lack of understanding. she said – why, so she did – that he was the kind of man whose death would probably be a good thing for everybody.’

‘when was it she said this, mademoiselle?’

‘oh! about a month ago, i think it was.’

‘how did the subject come up?’

jenny driver racked her brains for some minutes and finally shook her head.

‘i can’t remember,’ she confessed. ‘his name cropped up or something. it might have been in the newspaper. anyway, i remember thinking it odd that carlotta should be so vehement all of a sudden when she didn’t even know the man.’

‘certainly it is odd,’ agreed poirot thoughtfully. then he asked:

‘do you know if miss adams was in the habit of taking veronal?’

‘not that i knew. i never saw her take it or mention taking it.’

‘did you ever see in her bag a small gold box with the initials c.a. on it in rubies?’

‘a small gold box – no. i am sure i didn’t.’

‘do you happen to know where miss adams was last november?’

‘let me see. she went back to the states in november, i think – towards the end of the month. before that she was in paris.’

‘alone?’

‘alone, of course! sorry – perhaps you didn’t mean that! i don’t know why any mention of paris always suggests the worst. and it’s such a nice respectable place really. but carlotta wasn’t the week-ending sort, if that’s what you’re driving at.’

‘now, mademoiselle, i am going to ask you a very important question. was there any man miss adams was specially interested in?’

‘the answer to that is “no,” ’ said jenny slowly. ‘carlotta, since i’ve known her, has been wrapped up in her work and in her delicate sister. she’s had the “head of the family all depends on me” attitude very strongly. so the answer’s no – strictly speaking.’

‘ah! and not speaking so strictly?’

‘i shouldn’t wonder if – lately – carlotta hadn’t been getting interested in some man.’

‘ah!’

‘mind you, that’s entirely guesswork on my part. i’ve gone simply by her manner. she’s been – different – not exactly dreamy, but abstracted. and she’s looked different, somehow. oh! i can’t explain. it’s the sort of thing that another woman just feels – and, of course, may be quite wrong about.’

poirot nodded.

‘thank you, mademoiselle. one thing more. is there any friend of miss adams whose initial is d?’

‘d,’ said jenny driver thoughtfully. ‘d? no, i’m sorry. i can’t think of anyone.’

第十章 詹尼·德赖弗

我们下一步就是按女仆给我们的地址去拜访那位医生。

原来他是一位很爱小题大作的上年纪的老人。态度上模棱两可的。他久仰波洛大名，现在见到他本人，大有无上荣幸之感。

“波洛先生，那么我能为您做点什么呢？”开场白后他这样问道。

“今天早上，大夫您被叫去给卡洛塔·亚当斯看病。”

“啊！是的，那可怜的女孩也是一个聪明的女演员。我看过她的两次表演。这样的结局真是遗憾。真是可惜。我真不明白为什么这些女孩要服药。”

“您认为她有服麻醉剂的习惯吗？”

“从职业角度上讲，我不该这么说。不论怎么说，她没通过皮下注射方式吸毒。没有针眼的痕迹。很明显，她是口服的。女仆说她睡得很好，很正常。但她不知道什么。我想她不会每晚都服佛罗那的。但是很明显，她一定服用一段时期了。”

“您为什么这样想？”

“因为这个。怎么搞的——我把东西放在哪里了？”

他在一个小箱里寻找。

“啊！在这儿呢！”

他取出一个小小的、黑色的摩洛哥羊皮手袋。

“当然要有调查的。我把这个拿开，怕女仆乱动它。”

他把手袋打开，拿出一个小小的金匣子，上面用红宝石镶着姓名的首位字母c·a“这是一个很昂贯的装饰品。医生把匣盖打开，里面装满白色粉末。

“佛罗那。”他简洁地解释道，“现在再看看里面写着什么字。”

在匣盖里面刻着这样一些字。

c·a一—留念，d敬赠。巴黎十一月十日。甜梦。

“十一月十日。”波洛若有所思地说。

“一点不错。现在是六月。这似乎说明她服这种药至少六个月了。况且，没有说年代，也可能是十八个月或两年半，时间长短可没准头。”

“巴黎，d。”波洛皱眉说道。

“是的。您觉得这有什么含意吗？说起这个，我倒要问问您。您对这案子兴趣何在？我猜您是有很好的理由的。您是不是想知道她是否是自杀？这个，我不敢说。没人能肯定。按女仆的说法，她昨天还是兴高采烈的。那好像是由意外致死的。我想是这么个意外事故。佛罗那是一种很难把握用量的药物。你要是吃了好多，也许不会死去，而只吃一点反倒会要了命。因为这个缘故，这是一种很危险的药物。

“我敢肯定，他们调查的时候，会认定这是意外死亡的。在这一方面我恐怕不能帮您什么。”

“我可以看看亚当斯小姐的手袋吗？”

“当然可以。当然可以。”

波洛将手袋里的东西倒了出来。里面有一块很精细的手帕，角上绣着c·m·a·，还有一个粉扑，一支唇膏，一张一英镑的钞票，一些零钱和一副夹鼻眼镜。

波洛对最后这件东西很感兴趣。这副眼镜是金边的，戴起来有一种学者派头。

“奇怪了。”波洛说道，“我不知道亚当斯小姐戴眼镜的。大概只有看书时才用。”

医生把眼镜拿了起来。

“不是。这是外出用的眼镜。”他肯定地说，“度数很高的。戴这副眼镜的人一定是非常近视的。”

“您知不知道亚当斯小姐——”

“我以前没给她看过病。我曾经去给她的女仆看过一次中毒的手指。否则我不可能去过她那套房子的。那一次我看到的亚当斯小姐并未戴眼镜。”

波洛先生向医生道谢之后，我们便起身告辞了。

波洛满脸迷惑不解的表情。

“我可能猜错了。”他承认迫。

“是关于假扮简的那事吗？”

“不是的。不是的。那一点我己经证实了。我是说她的死亡。现在很明显，她自己有佛罗那。昨天晚上，很有可能她精疲力尽了，所以才吃了这药”备好好睡上一觉。”

他突然停了下来，一动不动地立在那。令路人极为惊讶。然后他两手用力一击。

“不，不，不。不！”他用力地说，“为什么这件意外事故发生得这么容易？这根本不是意外事故，不是自杀。不，她扮演了一个角色，结果为自己签了死亡证书。之所以选佛罗那，是因为有人知道她偶尔服用此药，而且手头上有这东西。不过如果是这样的话，凶手一定是和她很熟悉的人。黑斯廷斯。准是那个。d，呢？我无沦如何要查出来，谁是叼，。”

“波洛，”我看到他仍然沉浸在思考中，便对他说，“我们还是向前走吧。路人在看我们呢。”

“呢？好吧。也许你是对的。虽然他们在盯着我，但这并不妨碍我。他们根本没有妨碍我的思绪。”

我小声地说道：“人家都快要笑你了。”

“这并不重要。”

我不太同意。我最讨厌做出惹人注目的事。不过惟一让波洛担心的是空气中的热度或是湿度会影响他那著名的小胡子。

“我们叫一辆出租车吧。”波洛挥动他的手杖，向经过的车子示意。

一辆车停住了，波洛便吩咐司机开到莫法特街的吉纳维夫帽店。

有些商店只在楼下的玻璃橱窗里摆一顶难以形容的帽子和披肩，要走上一层霉味很重的楼梯，上面一层才是真正的营业中心。吉纳维夫帽店就属于这类帽店。

我们上了楼梯，看见一扇门上写着“吉纳维夫。请由此入”的字样。我们按照这一指示走了进去，原来是一间小屋子，里面全是帽子。一位身材高大、金发碧眼的漂亮女子走了过来，她有些疑惑地望着波洛。

“是德赖弗小姐吗？”

“我不知道老板娘现在能不能见您。请问您有何贵干？”

“请告诉德赖弗小姐，亚当斯小姐的一位朋友想见她。”

其实那位金发碧眼的女子根本不用去干这差事了，因为黑色的丝绒帘子猛然掀了起来，里面走出了一位身材娇小、红头发、非常活泼的女士。

“怎么了？”她问道。

“您是德赖弗小姐吗？”

“是的。卡洛塔怎么了？”

“您已经听说了那不幸的消息了？”

“什么不幸的消息？”

“亚当斯小姐昨夜睡下就再也未醒。她服了过量的安眠药。”

女孩的眼睛瞪得大大的。

“真可怕！”她叫道，“可伶的卡洛塔！我简直无法相信，怎么？昨天她还是活蹦乱跳的呢。”

“可是。小姐，这是真的。”波洛说道，“您看，现在刚刚是一点钟。我想请您赏光同我，以及我的朋友一块去吃午饭。我想问您一些问题。”

那位女士上上下下打量了他一番。她是一位颇不好惹

的女人。在某些方面我觉得她像一条狼狗。

“您是谁？”她突然地问道。

“我叫波洛，赫尔克里·波洛。这位是我朋友，黑斯廷斯上尉。”

我向她鞠躬致意。

她的眼光由我们一个人身上转到另一个人身上。

“我听说过您的名宇。”她毫不客气地说，“我去。”

她叫那位金发碧眼的女士。

“多洛希！”

“什么事，詹妮！”

“莱斯特太太要来看她定做的那顶罗斯。笛卡尔型的帽子，你让她试试各种羽毛，看看哪种好。再见。我想我不会去太久的。”

她拿起一顶黑色小帽子，侧戴在头上，匆匆扑点粉，然后望着波洛。

她很快地说：“好了。”

五分钟以后，我们便在多佛街的一个小餐馆里坐定了。波洛已经向侍者点了菜。我们面前已经摆上了鸡尾酒。

“现在，”詹尼。德赖弗说道，“我想知道这到底是怎么回事。卡洛塔闯了什么祸？”

“那么，女士，她闯了什么祸了？”

“现在是谁提问题？是您？还是我？”

波洛笑着说：“我的想法是我来问。听说您和亚当斯小姐是要好的朋友？”

“是的。”

“好吧，那么女士，我可以郑重地向您保证。我现在所做的一切都是为了您死去的朋友。请您相信我，事实是这样。”

詹尼。德赖弗沉默片刻，考虑这个问题。最后她迅速地点头同意。

“我相信您。说吧。您想知道什么？”

“女士，听说您与您的朋友昨天一起去吃午饭了？”

“是的。”

“她有没有对您说晚上打算做什么？”

“她并未确切地说是昨夭晚上。”

“但她说过什么话。是吗？”

“呃，她提到一件事，也许是您想打听的事。不过，您得注意，这是她秘密地告诉我的。”

“这个我明白。”

“好吧。让我想想。我想我还是对您说个明白吧。”

“女士，请说吧。”

“好吧。卡洛塔很兴奋。她井不是常常会这样兴奋的。她不是那种人。她不愿意肯定地告诉我，她说她答应过不泄露秘密的。但是，她要做件事。根据我的推测，这事是很大的捉弄人的把戏。”

“捉弄人的把戏？”

“这是她所说的。她并没有说什么时候，在哪。只是——”她顿了一下，皱了皱眉，“晤，您要明白，卡洛塔不是那种喜欢戏弄人，开玩笑的那类人。她是一个认真的、心眼好、工作勤恳的女子。我的意思是。分明有人鼓动她去显示自己的本事。但是我认为——她并没有这样说。注意——”

“是的，是的，我明白。您怎样认为呢？”

“我认为——我很确信——这里面有金钱的关系。除了钱以外，没有什么能真让卡洛塔激动兴奋的。她天性如此。在我所认识的人中。她是最有生意头脑的。除非因为钱——一笔数目相当大的钱——她是不会那样兴奋的，也不会那么得意。我的感觉是她在打什么赌——而她确信她会赢。我从未见过她与别人打赌。但不管怎么说，我确信和钱有关系。”

“她确实并未这样说过吗？”

“没有。她只是说她将来要如何如何。她要把她妹妹从美国接来，到巴黎与她会面。她对她的妹妹爱得不得了。她的妹妹好像很弱。我想，还很有音乐天赋。我所知道的就这些。这些是您想要知道的吗？”

波洛点点头。

“是的，我想这可以证实我的想法。但是我承认。我希望您能多告诉我一些。我预料亚当斯小姐一定要严守秘密的。但是我希望。她既然是个女人，也许会把自己的秘密告诉她的好朋友。”

“我试图让她告诉我，”德赖弗小姐承认道，“但她只是笑着对我说，总有一天她会告诉我的。”

波洛沉默片刻，接着说

“您听说过埃奇韦尔男爵这个名字吗？”

“什么？那个被谋杀的人？半个小时前，我在一张招贴上看到了。”

“是的。您知道亚当斯小姐认识他吗？”

“我想不认识。我肯定她不认识。噢！等等。”

“怎么了？女士？”波洛急切地间道。

“是什么来着？”她眉头紧锁，竭力地回忆着，“啊！我想起来了。她曾经提过他一次。很怨恨地。”

“很怨恨地？”

“是的。她说一说什么来着？她说像他那样的男人不应该那么残酷。那样缺乏谅解。把别人的一生都毁了。她说——啊，是的，她这样说过——她说：‘像这样的男人，要是死了，也许对人人都有好处。’”

“女士”什么时候说的这话？”

“唤！我想大约是一个月之前。”

“她怎么说起这一话题的？”

德赖弗小姐绞尽脑汁想了几分钟，来还是摇了摇头。

“我不记得了，她说道，好像是他的名字突然出现。可能是在报纸上。不过我还记得自己觉得奇怪，洛塔根本不认识那个人怎么提起他来那样激动呢？”

“的确很奇怪。”波洛若有所思地说。随后。他又问：“您知道亚当斯小姐有服用佛罗那的习惯吗？”

“据我所知没有。我从未见过她吃这种药，也没听她提起过。”

“您有没有看到过她手袋里有个小金匣子，里面用宝石镶着c·a的字样？”

“一个小金匣子——没有。我肯定没见过。”

“那么，您也许知道去年十一月亚当斯小姐在哪里？”

“让我想想。她在十一月回了芙国，我想一是在月末。在那之前她在巴黎。”

“一个人吗？”

“当然是一个人！对不起一也许您并未有那种意思。我不知道为什么一提起巴黎，人们就往顶坏的事上去想。其实那是一个很好、很高尚的地方。不过，卡洛塔并不是那种喜欢周末找乐的人，您要是有那种想法可就错了。”

“女士，现在我要问您一个很重要的问题。亚当斯小姐是否对某个男人有特别的兴趣？”

“答案是‘没有’。”詹尼慢条斯理地说。“从我认识卡洛塔的时候起，她总是忙忙碌碌地工作，惦念自己的娇弱的小妹。她有一种很强烈的。家人全指望我，的想法。所以严格地讲。答案是‘没有’。”

“啊！可以不严格地说呢？”

“近来。卡洛塔恐怕是逐渐对什么男人发生兴趣了。”

“啊！”

“您要注意，这是我自己的推测。我只是由她的态度判断得出的。她近来——有些异样——并非做梦似的，她看起来有点异样。噢！我没法解释清楚。这只是另一个女人的感觉——当然可能完全是错误的。”

波洛点点头。

“女士，非常感谢您。还有——个问题，亚当斯小姐有没有一个名字以‘d’起头的朋友？”

“d。”詹尼。德赖弗想想说。“d？没有。对不起。我想不起有这么个人。”