chapter 17 the butler

the following day was one of inactivity for us, and activity for japp. he came round to see us about teatime.

he was red and wrathful.

‘i’ve made a bloomer.’

‘impossible, my friend,’ said poirot soothingly.

‘yes, i have. i’ve let that (here he gave way to profanity) – of a butler slip through my fingers.’

‘he has disappeared?’

‘yes. hooked it. what makes me kick myself for a double-dyed idiot is that i didn’t particularly suspect him.’

‘calm yourself – but calm yourself then.’

‘all very well to talk. you wouldn’t be calm if you’d been hauled over the coals at headquarters. oh! he’s a slippery customer. it isn’t the first time he’s given anyone the slip. he’s an old hand.’

japp wiped his forehead and looked the picture of misery. poirot made sympathetic noises – somewhat suggestive of a hen laying an egg. with more insight into the english character, i poured out a stiff whisky and soda and placed it in front of the gloomy inspector. he brightened a little.

‘well,’ he said. ‘i don’t mind if i do.’

presently he began to talk more cheerfully.

‘i’m not so sure even now that he’s the murderer! of course it looks bad his bolting this way, but there might be other reasons for that. i’d begun to get on to him, you see. seems he’s mixed up with a couple of disreputable night clubs. not the usual thing. something a great deal more recherché and nasty. in fact, he’s a real bad hat.’

‘tout de même, that does not necessarily mean that he is a murderer.’

‘exactly! he may have been up to some funny business or other, but not necessarily murder. no, i’m more than ever convinced it was the adams girl. i’ve got nothing to prove it as yet, though. i’ve had men going all through her flat today, but we’ve found nothing that’s helpful. she was a canny one. kept no letters except a few business ones about financial contracts. they’re all neatly docketed and labelled. couple of letters from her sister in washington. quite straight and above-board. one or two pieces of good old-fashioned jewellery – nothing new or expensive. she didn’t keep a diary. her pass-book and cheque-book don’t show anything helpful. dash it all, the girl doesn’t seem to have had any private life at all!’

‘she was of a reserved character,’ said poirot thoughtfully. ‘from our point of view that is a pity.’

‘i’ve talked to the woman who did for her. nothing there. i’ve been and seen that girl who keeps a hat shop and who, it seems, was a friend of hers.’

‘ah! and what do you think of miss driver?’

‘she seemed a smart wide-awake bit of goods. she couldn’t help me, though. not that that surprises me. the amount of missing girls i’ve had to trace and their family and their friends always say the same things. “she was of a bright and affectionate disposition and had no men friends.” that’s never true. it’s unnatural. girls ought to have men friends. if not there’s something wrong with them. it’s the muddle-headed loyalty of friends and relations that makes a detective’s life so difficult.’

he paused for want of breath, and i replenished his glass.

‘thank you, captain hastings, i don’t mind if i do. well, there you are. you’ve got to hunt and hunt about. there’s about a dozen young men she went out to supper and danced with, but nothing to show that one of them meant more than another. there’s the present lord edgware, there’s mr bryan martin, the film star, there’s half a dozen others – but nothing special and particular. your man behind idea is all wrong. i think you’ll find that she played a lone hand, m. poirot. i’m looking now for the connection between her and the murdered man. that must exist. i think i’ll have to go over to paris. there was paris written in that little gold box, and the late lord edgware ran over to paris several times last autumn, so miss carroll tells me, attending sales and buying curios. yes, i think i must go over to paris. inquest’s tomorrow. it’ll be adjourned, of course. after that i’ll take the afternoon boat.’

‘you have a furious energy, japp. it amazes me.’

‘yes, you’re getting lazy. you just sit here and think! what you call employing the little grey cells. no good, you’ve got to go out to things. they won’t come to you.’

the little maidservant opened the door.

‘mr bryan martin, sir. are you busy or will you see him?’

‘i’m off, m. poirot.’ japp hoisted himself up. ‘all the stars of the theatrical world seem to consult you.’

poirot shrugged a modest shoulder, and japp laughed.

‘you must be a millionaire by now, m. poirot. what do you do with the money? save it?’

‘assuredly i practise the thrift. and talking of the disposal of money, how did lord edgware dispose of his?’

‘such property as wasn’t entailed he left to his daughter. five hundred to miss carroll. no other bequests. very simple will.’

‘and it was made – when?’

‘after his wife left him – just over two years ago. he expressly excludes her from participation, by the way.’

‘a vindictive man,’ murmured poirot to himself.

with a cheerful ‘so long,’ japp departed.

bryan martin entered. he was faultlessly attired and looked extremely handsome. yet i thought that he looked haggard and not too happy.

‘i am afraid i have been a long time coming, m. poirot,’ he said apologetically. ‘and, after all, i have been guilty of taking up your time for nothing.’

‘en verité?’

‘yes. i have seen the lady in question. i’ve argued with her, pleaded with her, but all to no purpose. she won’t hear of my interesting you in the matter. so i’m afraid we’ll have to let the thing drop. i’m very sorry – very sorry to have bothered you –’

‘du tout – du tout,’ said poirot genially. ‘i expected this.’

‘eh?’ the young man seemed taken aback.

‘you expected this?’ he asked in a puzzled way.

‘mais oui. when you spoke of consulting your friend – i could have predicted that all would have arrived as it has done.’

‘you have a theory, then?’

‘a detective, m. martin, always has a theory. it is expected of him. i do not call it a theory myself. i say that i have a little idea. that is the first stage.’

‘and the second stage?’

‘if the little idea turns out to be right – then i know! it is quite simple, you see.’

‘i wish you’d tell me what your theory – or your little idea – is?’

poirot shook his head gently.

‘that is another rule. the detective never tells.’

‘can’t you suggest it even?’

‘no. i will only say that i formed my theory as soon as you mentioned a gold tooth.’

bryan martin stared at him.

‘i’m absolutely bewildered,’ he declared. ‘i can’t make out what you are driving at. if you’d just give me a hint.’

poirot smiled and shook his head.

‘let us change the subject.’

‘yes, but first – your fee – you must let me.’

poirot waved an imperious hand.

‘pas un sou! i have done nothing to aid you.’

‘i took up your time –’

‘when a case interests me, i do not touch money. your case interested me very much.’

‘i’m glad,’ said the actor uneasily.

he looked supremely unhappy.

‘come,’ said poirot kindly. ‘let us talk of something else.’

‘wasn’t that the scotland yard man whom i met on the stairs?’

‘yes, inspector japp.’

‘the light was so dim, i wasn’t sure. by the way, he came round and asked me some questions about that poor girl, carlotta adams, who died of an overdose of veronal.’

‘you knew her well – miss adams?’

‘not very well. i knew her as a child in america. i came across her here once or twice but i never saw very much of her. i was very sorry to hear of her death.’

‘you liked her?’

‘yes. she was extraordinarily easy to talk to.’

‘a personality very sympathetic – yes, i found the same.’

‘i suppose they think it might be suicide? i knew nothing that could help the inspector. carlotta was always very reserved about herself.’

‘i do not think it was suicide,’ said poirot.

‘far more likely to be an accident, i agree.’

there was a pause.

then poirot said with a smile:

‘the affair of lord edgware’s death becomes intriguing, does it not?’

‘absolutely amazing. do you know – have they any idea – who did it – now that jane is definitely out of it?’

‘mais oui – they have a very strong suspicion.’

bryan martin looked excited.

‘really? who?’

‘the butler has disappeared. you comprehend – flight is as good as a confession.’

‘the butler! really, you surprise me.’

‘a singularly good-looking man. il vous ressemble un peu.’ he bowed in a complimentary fashion.

of course! i realized now why the butler’s face had struck me as being faintly familiar when i first saw it.

‘you flatter me,’ said bryan martin with a laugh.

‘no, no, no. do not all the young girls, the servant girls, the flappers, the typists, the girls of society, do they not all adore m. bryan martin? is there one who can resist you?’

‘a lot, i should think,’ said martin. he got up abruptly.

‘well, thank you very much, m. poirot. let me apologize again for having troubled you.’

he shook hands with us both. suddenly, i noticed he looked much older. the haggard look was more apparent.

i was devoured with curiosity, and as soon as the door closed behind him, i burst out with what i wanted to know.

‘poirot, did you really expect him to come back and relinquish all idea of investigating those queer things that happened to him in america?’

‘you heard me say so, hastings.’

‘but then–’ i followed the thing out logically.

‘then you must know who this mysterious girl is that he had to consult?’

he smiled.

‘i have a little idea, my friend. as i told you, it started from the mention of the gold tooth, and if my little idea is correct, i know who the girl is, i know why she will not let m. martin consult me. i know the truth of the whole affair. and so could you know it if you would only use the brains the good god has given you. sometimes i really am tempted to believe that by inadvertence he passed you by.’

第十七章 管家

第二天，我们无事可做，贾普却忙得热火朝天。大约在下午茶的时候，他来看我们。

他气得满脸通红。

“我真是犯了个大错误。”

“不可能吧，我的朋友。”波洛安慰地说道。

“是的，大失误。我让那个（他忍不住了，用了一个脏字）——管家从手上溜了。”

“他不见了吗？”

“是的，逃掉了。害得我直打自己的嘴巴，直骂自己是双料傻瓜，因为我竟然没有特别怀疑他。”

“那么，你先镇定——镇定一下。”

“话是不错。如果是你要在总局被申斥一顿，你会镇定下来吗？啊，他是个不容易抓到的家伙。他这样溜掉不是第一次了。他是一个老手。”

贾普擦了擦他额头上的汗，一脸痛苦的样子。波洛发出同情的声音，使人联想到老母鸡生蛋的声响。我对英国人的个性了如指掌，所以我就倒了一杯浓烈的威士忌苏打，放在满面愁容的警督面前。他这才高兴了一点。

“唉”，他说，“我还是别太在意了。”

于是，他说话的兴致又高了起来。

“就是现在，我也不能肯定他就是杀人凶手。当然，他这样逃跑必定有他的原因，但也许还有其它原因。你知道，我已经了解了他的情形。他好像与几个名声很差的夜总会有牵扯。并非普通的来往。他们所干的事很不寻常，很卑鄙的事。他就是那种非比寻常的、卑鄙的人。”

“然而，这并非说他就是凶手。”

“一点儿也不错。他也许有些可疑的举动，但不一定是犯了凶杀案。是的，我更相信是那个姓亚当斯的女孩干的。尽管我还没办法证明这个。今天我让手下搜查了她的公寓，但没发现任何有用的东西。她是一个很机灵的人。除了一些有关商业合同的信函外，她没留任何其它信件。这些商业信函——一附有标签和摘要。有几封是她妹妹从华盛顿寄来的。从表面上看都是正大光明的。还找到一两件很好的旧式珠宝——不新也不贵重。她并不记日记。她的护照和支票簿没有一点线索可寻。他妈的！这个女孩似乎一点私生活也没有。”

“她的性格属保守型的。”波洛思索着说，“从我们的观点看，这是一个遗憾。”

“我同那个侍候她的女人谈过了，得不到任何线索。我也到那个开帽店的女人那儿查询过了，她似乎是她的朋友。”

“啊！你对德赖弗小姐印象如何？”

“她似乎是个很聪明、头脑相当冷静的人。不过，她对我也没什么帮助。但是，我不觉得奇怪。我以前因为工作需要，必须寻找许多失踪女子，这些女子的亲属或朋友总是说同样的话：‘她的性格爽朗，举止可爱，没有男朋友。’其实从未正确过。很反常的。女孩子应该有男朋友才对，要是没有，她自已一定有毛病。就是这些头脑不清楚的亲戚、朋友让侦探的日子这样难过。”

他停下来，喘了一口气。我重新为他添酒。

“谢谢你，黑斯廷斯上尉，我再喝一点也不要紧。唉，就是这样。你不得不四处寻查。曾同她一块出去跳舞、吃饭的年轻人能有一打，但没有一个和她有较深交情的。其中有现任埃奇韦尔男爵，布赖恩·马丁先生——那个电影明星，还有其他几个，也没有什么特别的。你那种幕后有人操纵的想法是错的。我认为你会发现是她独自干的。波洛先生，我现在正在寻找她与被害人的联系。一定有联系。我要去巴黎。那个小金匣上刻着巴黎的字样，已故的埃奇韦尔男爵去年秋天去过巴黎几次，这是卡罗尔小姐对载说的。他是到那里去看拍卖，购买古董的。是的，我想我必须到巴黎一趟。明。天本来要开庭调查的，不得不宣布延期了。过后我要搭下午的船去巴黎。”

“贾普，你的精力如此旺盛，令我赞叹。”

“是啊，可你却越来越偷懒了。你只坐在这里想，你把这称为脑细胞运动。这是没有用的。你得四处走走才能解决问题。答案是不会从天上掉下来的。”

这时候，我们的小女仆开门进来。

“先生，布赖恩·马丁求见。您是否愿意见他？”

“波洛先生，走了。”贾普站起来说，好像戏剧界所有的明星都来请教你了。”

波洛谦逊地耸耸肩。贾普大笑。

“波洛先生。你现在一定成了百万富翁了。怎么处置你的钱？存起来吗？”

“我是极为俭朴的。谈到如何处理钱的问题，埃奇韦尔的钱财是怎么处理的？”

“没有指定继承人的财产全部给他的女儿。给卡罗尔小姐五百镑。没有其他的遗赠人了。遗嘱很简单。”

“遗嘱是什么时候立的？”

“两年前——他妻子离开他的时候。附带再说一句，他在遗嘱里特别声明，将她除外。”

“真是一个喜欢报复的人。”波洛低声地自言自语道。

贾普道着“再见”，爽快地离开了。

布赖恩·马丁走了进来。他今天衣冠楚楚，特别英俊，但是我觉得他面容倦怠，并不开心。

“波洛先生，我本该早来的，”他歉意地说。“但我还是让你白白地等了好长时间，很内疚。”

“真的吗？”

“是的。我已经与提到的那位女士见了面。我与她争论，请求她，但毫无结果。她不愿意让我请你调查。所以这事，我恐怕要不谈算了。我很抱歉——很抱歉麻烦你。”

“没什么，没什么。”，波洛和蔼地说，“我早己料到了。”

“呃？”那个年轻人好像很吃惊。

“你早已料到了？”他迷惑不解地问道。

“是的。当你说要与你的朋友商量时——我就已经料到是这种结局的。”

“那么，你有一个假定吗？”

“马丁先生，一个侦探遇到案子时，总有一个假定。这是他的本分。我自己并不叫它假定。我说我有一点想法。这是第一阶段。”

“那么第二阶段呢？”

“假如我的一点想法是对的，那么我就清楚了。你看，这很简单。”

“我希望你能告诉我你的假想——或者是想法，是什么？”

波洛和善地摇摇头。

“这是另一个规则，侦探不多说的。”

“甚至暗示也不行吗？”

“不行。我只能说你一提到金牙，我就有了自己的假想了。”

布赖恩·马丁盯着他。

“我简直糊涂了”，他说道，“我不知道你在指什么。你就不能来点暗示吗？”

波洛笑着摇了摇头。

“我们换个话题吧。”

“是的，但首先——你的费用问题——一你得让我来付。”

波洛大方地摆摆手。

“一分钱也不要。我并未做任何事情帮助你。”

“可我占用了你的时间。”

“当我对一个案子感兴趣时，我不收一分钱。你的案子让我很感兴趣。”

“那我很高兴。”演员很不安地说。

他看起来却是愁容满面。

“来，”波洛友善地说，“让我们谈点别的吧。”

“我在楼梯上遇到的是伦敦警察厅的人吧？”

“是的，是贾普警督。”

“灯光很暗，我没敢断定。顺便说一下，他曾来问我一些关于那个可怜的姑娘——卡洛塔·亚当斯的问题。她服了过量的佛罗那死的。”

“你与亚当斯小姐——很熟吗？”

“不很熟。在美国，还是孩子的时候，我认识她。在这，我见过她一两次，但不常见面。听说她死了，我很悲痛。”

“你喜欢她？”

“是的，她说话很随和。”

“很有同情心的性格——是的，我也有同感。”

“我猜人们会以为她是自杀。我不能帮警督什么忙。卡洛塔自己总是很保守的。”

“我不认为是自杀。”波洛说，“我也同意，更像是意外事故。”

彼此沉默片刻。

波洛笑着开口说话。

“埃奇韦尔男爵之死一事很蹊跷，是不是”

“相当令人费解。你知道——或猜到——是谁干的吗？，简是不是完全被排除在嫌疑之外了？”

“是的——他们有一个很大的怀疑对象。”

“真的？是谁？”

“管家逃走了。你想——逃跑就等于承认自己有罪了。”

“管家！真的，你可让我吓了一跳。”

“是一个相当英俊的男子。有一点像你。”他以一种恭维的方式鞠了一个躬。

当然了。我恍然大悟，为什么第一眼望那管家的脸，我就觉得似曾相识。

“你真是恭维我、”布赖恩·马丁笑着说。

“不，不。不是的。年轻的小姐们、女仆们、摩登女郎、打字员以及社交名媛们，不都崇拜布赖恩·马丁先生吗？有谁不为你倾倒呢？”

“我想，有好多人。”马丁说着，站了起来。

“晤，波洛先生，非常感谢你。再一次向你致歉，我太麻烦你了。”

他与我们两人一一握手。突然我觉得他看起来老多了。那种憔悴的样子更明显了。

我心中充满了好奇。他走后，门一关上，我就忍不住道出我想知道的一切。

“波洛。你真的预料到他会回来并告诉你，托你调查美国发生的奇怪事情的想法作罢吗？”

“黑斯廷斯，你不是听我说过了吗？”

“可是——”我尽力按逻辑想着。

“那么你知道他与那位神秘女子谈过了？”

波洛笑了。

“我有一点想法，我的朋友。正如我对你所说过的，这件事由那个镶金牙的人谈起的。如果我的一点想法正确的话，我知道那女子是谁，我也知道为什么她不让马丁先生请教我。我知道整件事情的真相。如果你也能用用上帝赐给你的脑子想一想。你也会知道的。有时候我真觉得上帝把你疏忽了，你真太不开窍了。”