| 187 | 188 | 189 | 190 | 191 |
| 1 | 50 | 100 | 150 | 200 |
|
www.freeclassicebooks.com
entirely different persons?"
"No," I said, "it was not plain to me!"
"Then again," continued Poirot, "at the beginning, did I not repeat to you
several times that I didn't want Mr. Inglethorp arrested now? That should
have conveyed something to you."
"
Do you mean to say you suspected him as long ago as that?"
"Yes. To begin with, whoever else might benefit by Mrs. Inglethorp's death,
her husband would benefit the most. There was no getting away from that.
When I went up to Styles with you that first day, I had no idea as to how the
crime had been committed, but from what I knew of Mr. Inglethorp I fancied
that it would be very hard to find anything to connect him with it. When I
arrived at the chateau, I realized at once that it was Mrs. Inglethorp who
had burnt the will; and there, by the way, you cannot complain, my friend,
for I tried my best to force on you the significance of that bedroom fire in
midsummer."
"Yes, yes," I said impatiently. "Go on."
"
Well, my friend, as I say, my views as to Mr. Inglethorp's guilt were very
much shaken. There was, in fact, so much evidence against him that I was
inclined to believe that he had not done it."
"When did you change your mind?"
"When I found that the more efforts I made to clear him, the more efforts he
made to get himself arrested. Then, when I discovered that Inglethorp had
nothing to do with Mrs. Raikes and that in fact it was John Cavendish who
was interested in that quarter, I was quite sure."
"But why?"
"Simply this. If it had been Inglethorp who was carrying on an intrigue with
Mrs. Raikes, his silence was perfectly comprehensible. But, when I
discovered that it was known all over the village that it was John who was
attracted by the farmer's pretty wife, his silence bore quite a different
interpretation. It was nonsense to pretend that he was afraid of the scandal,
as no possible scandal could attach to him. This attitude of his gave me
furiously to think, and I was slowly forced to the conclusion that Alfred
189
Page
Quick Jump
|