Roger Ackroyd might easily have been poisoned in his food that night.’ I laughed out loud.
‘Nonsense,’ I cried. ‘He was stabbed in the neck. You know that as well as I do.’ ‘After death, James,’ said Caroline; ‘to make a false clue.’ ‘My good woman,’ I said, ‘I examined the body, and I know what I’m talking about. That wound wasn’t inflicted after death – it was the cause of death, and you need make no mistake about it.’ Caroline merely continued to look omniscient, which so annoyed me that I went on: ‘Perhaps you will tell me, Caroline, if I have a medical degree or if I have not?’ ‘You have the medical degree, I dare say, James – at least, I mean I know you have. But you’ve no imagination whatever.’
‘Having endowed you with a treble portion, there was none left over for me,’ I said drily.
I was amused to see Caroline’s manoeuvres that afternoon when Poirot duly arrived. My sister, without asking a direct question, skirted the subject of the mysterious guest in every way imaginable. By the twinkle in Poirot’s eyes, I saw that he realized her object. He remained blandly impervious, and blocked her bowling so successfully that she herself was at a loss how to proceed.
Having, I suspect, enjoyed the little game, he rose to his feet and suggested a walk.
‘It is that I need to reduce the figure a little,’ he ex196 plained. ‘You will come with me, doctor? And perhaps later. Miss Caroline will give us some tea.’ Delighted,’ said Caroline. ‘Won’t your – er – guest come in also?’ ‘You are too kind,’ said Poirot. ‘But no, my friend reposes himself. Soon you must make his acquaintance.’ ‘Quite an old friend of yours, so somebody told me,’ said Caroline, making one last valiant effort.
‘Did they?’ murmured Poirot. ‘Well, we must start.’ Our tramp took us in the direction of Fernly. I had guessed beforehand that it might do so. I was beginning to understand Poirot’s methods. Every little irrelevancy had a bearing upon the whole.
‘I have a commission for you, my friend,’ he said at last.
‘Tonight, at my house. I desire to have a little conference.
You will attend, will you not?’ ‘Certainly,’ I said.
‘Good. I need also those in the house – that is to say: Mrs Ackroyd, Mademoiselle Flora, Major Blunt, Mr Raymond. I want you to be my ambassador. This little reunion is fixed for nine o’clock. You will ask them – yes?’ ‘With pleasure; but why not ask them yourself?’ ‘Because they will then put the questions: Why? What for? They will demand what my idea is. And, as you know, my friend, I much dislike to have to explain my little ideas until the time comes.’ I smiled a little.
‘My friend Hastings, he of whom I told you, used to say of me that I was the human oyster. But he was unjust. Of facts, I keep nothing to myself. But to everyone his own interpretation of them.’ ‘When do you want me to do this?’ ‘Now, if you will. We are close to the house.’ ‘Aren’t you coming in?’ ‘No, me, I will promenade myself in the grounds. I will rejoin you by the lodge gates in a quarter of an hour’s time.’ I nodded, and set off on my task. The only member of the family at home proved to be Mrs Ackroyd, who was sipping an early cup of tea. She received me very graciously.
‘So grateful to you, doctor,’ she murmured, ‘for clearing up that little matter with M. Poirot. But life is one trouble after another. You have heard about Flora, of course?’ ‘What exactly?’ I asked cautiously.
‘This new engagement. Flora and Hector Blunt. Of course not such a good match as Ralph would have been.
But after all, happiness comes first. What dear Flora needs is an older man – someone steady annd reliable, and then Hector is really a very distinguished man in his way. You saw the news of Ralph’s arrest in the paper this morning?’ ‘Yes,’ I said, ‘I did.’ ‘Horrible.’ Mrs Ackroyd closed her eyes and shuddered.