Agatha Christie - Hickory Dickory Death Read online

  That's exactly what they have been. Inspector Sharpe finished questioning all the students yesterday, and then he came back with a search warrant today and I've got Mrs. Nicoletis on my-hands with raving hysterics." Poirot clucked his tongue sympathetically.

  Then he said, "I-t is just a little question I have to ask. You sent me a list of those things that had disappeared-and other queer happenings-what I have to ask is this, did you write that list in chronological order?" "You mean?" "I mean, were thetbings written down exactly in the order of their disappearance?" "No, they weren't. I'm sorry-I just put them down as I thought of them. I'm sorry if I've misled you." "I should have asked you before," said Poirot. "But it did not strike me then as important. I have your list here. It begins, one evening shoe, bracelet, powder compact, diamond ring, cigarette lighter, stethoscope, and so on. But you say that that was not comthe order of disappearance?" "No." "Can you remember now, or would it be too difficult for you, what was the proper order?" "Well, I'm not sure if I could now, Mr.

  Poirot. You see it's all some time ago. I should have to think it out. Actually, after I had talked with my sister and knew I was coming to see you, I made a list, and I should say that I put it down in the order of the things as I remembered them. I mean, the evening shoe because it was so peculiar, and then the bracelet and the powder compact and the cigarette lighter and the diamond ring because comthey were all rather important things and looked as though we had a genuine thief at work, and then I remembered the other more unimportant things later and added them. I niean the boracic and the electric light bulbs and the rucksack. They weren't really important and I only really thought of them as a kind of afterthought." "I see," said Poirot. "Yes, I see .

  . . Now what I would ask of you, Madame, is to sit down now, when you have the leisure, that is . .

  ." "I daresay when I've got Mrs.

  Nicoletis to bed with a sedative and calmed down Geronimo and Maria, I shall have a little time. What is it you want me to do?" "Sit down and try to put down, as nearly as you can, the chronological order in which the various incidents occurred." "Certainly, Mr. Poirot. The rucksack, I believe, was the first and the electric light bulbs-wh I really didn't think had any connection with the other things comand then the bracelet and the compact, no-the evening shoe. But there, you don't want to hear me speculate about it. I'll put them down as best I can." "Thank you, Madame. I shall be much obliged to you." Poirot hung up the phone.

  "I am vexed with myself," he said to Miss Lemon. "I have departed from the principles of order and method. I should have made quite sure from the start, the exact order in which these thefts occurred." "Dear, dear," said Miss Lemon, mechanically. "Are you going to finish these letters now, Mr. Poirot?" But once again Poirot waved her impatiently away.

  On arrival back at Hickory Road with a search warrant on Saturday morning, Inspector Sharpe had demanded an interview with Mrs.

  Nicoletis who always came on Saturday to do accounts with Mrs.

  Hubbard. He had explained what he was about to do.

  Mrs. Nicoletis prggytested with vigour.

  "But it is an insult, that!- My students they will leave-they will all leave. I shall be ruined . . ." "No, no, Madam. I'm sure they wt be sensible. After all, this is a case of murder." "It is not murder-it is suicide." "And I'm sure once I've explained, no one will object . . ." Mrs. Hubbard put in a soothing word.

  "I'm sure," she said, "everyone will be sensible except," she added thoughtfully, "perhaps Mr. Ahmed Ali and Mr. Chandra Lal." "Pah!" said Mrs. Nicoletis. "Who cares about them?" "Thank you, Madam," said the Inspector.

  "Then I'll make a start here, in your sitting room." An immediate and violent protest came from Mrs.

  Nicoletis at the suggestion.

  "You search where you please," she said, "but here, no! I refuse." "I'm sorry, Mrs. Nicoletis, but I have to go through the house from top to bottom." "That is right, but not in my room. I am above the law." "No one's above the law. I'm afraid I shall have to ask you to stand aside." "It is an outrage," Mrs. Nicoletis screamed with fury. "You are officious busybodies. I will write to everyone. I will write to my Member of Parliament. I will write to the papers." "Write to anyone you please, Madam," said Inspector Sharpe, "I'm going to search this room." He started straight away upon the bureau. A large carton of confectionery, a mass of papers, and a large variety of assorted junk rewarded his search.

  He moved from there to a cupboard in the corner of the room.

  "This is locked. Can I have the key, please?" "Never!" screamed Mrs. Nicoletis.

  "Never, never, never shall,; you have the key! Beast and pig of a policeman, I spit at you. I spit!

  I spit! I spit!" "You might just as well give me the key," said Inspector Sharpe. "If not, I shall simply prise the door open." "I will not give you the key! You will have to tear my clothes off me before you get the key! And that that will be a scandal." "Get a chisel, Cobb," said Inspector Sharpe resignedly.

  Mrs. Nicoletis uttered a scream of fury.

  Inspector Sharpe paid no attention. The chisel was brought. Two sharp cracks and the door of the cupboard came open. As it swung forward, a large consignment of empty brandy bottles poured out of the cupboard.

  "Beast! Pig! Devil!" screamed Mrs.

  Nicoletis.

  "Thank you, Madam," said the Inspector politely. "We've finished in here." Mrs. Hubbard tactfully replaced the bottles while Mrs. Nicoletis had hysterics.

  One mystery, the mystery of Mrs.

  Nicoletis's tempers, was now cleared up.

  Poirot's telephone call came through just as Mrs. Hubbard was pouring out an appropriate dose of sedative from the private medicine cupboard in her sitting room. After replacing the receiver she went back to Mrs. Nicoletis whom she had left screaming and kicking her heels on the sofa in her sitting room.

  "Now you drink this," said Mrs. Hubbard. "And you'll feel better." ,eaGestapo!" said Mrs. Nicoletis who was now quiet but sullen. disI shouldn't think any more about it If I were you," saiggf Mrs. Hubbard soothingly.

  "Gestapo!" said Mrs. Nicoletis again.

  "Gestapol That is what they are!" "They have to do their duty, you know," said Mrs.

  Hubbard.

  "Is it their duty to pry into my private cupboards? say to them, 'That is not for you." I lock it.

  I put the key down my bosom. If you had not been there as a witness they would have torn my clothes off me without shame." "Oh no, I don't think they would have done that," said Mrs. Hubbard.

  "That is what you say! Instead they get a chisel and they force my door. That is structural damage to the house for which I shall be responsible." "Well, you see, if you wouldn't give them the key ..." "Why should I give them the key? It was my key.

  My private key. And this is my private room. My private room and I say to the police, 'Keep out" and they do not keep out." "Well, after all, Mrs. Nicoletis, there has been a murder, remember. And after a murder one has to put up with certain things which might not be very pldasant at ordinary times." "I spit upon the murder!" said Mrs.

  Nicoletis. "That little Celia she commits suicide. She has a silly love affair and she takes poison. It is the sort of thing that is always happening. They are so stupid about love, these girls-as though love mattered! One year, two years and it is all fccLnished, the grand passion!

  The man is the same as any other man! But com^the silly girls they do not know that. They take the sleeping draught and the disinfectant and they turn on gas taps and then it is too late." "Well," said Mrs. Hubbard, returning fun circle, as it were, to where the conversation had started, "I shouldn't worry any more about it all now." "That is all very well for you. Me, I have to worry. It is not safe for me any longer." "Safe?" Mrs. Hubbard looked at her, startled.

  "It was my private cupboard," Mrs.

  Nicoletis insisted. "Nobody knows what was in my private cupboard. I did not want them to know. And now they do know. I am very uneasy. They may think-what will they think?" "Who d
o you mean by they?" Mrs. Nicoletis shrugged her large, handsome shoulders and looked sulky.

  "You do not understand," she said, "but it makes me uneasy. Very uneasy." "You'd better tell me," said Mrs. Hubbard.

  "Then perhaps I can help you." "Thank goodness I do not sleep here," said Mrs.

  Nicoletis. "These locks on the doors here they are all alike; one key fits any other. No, thanks to heaven, I do not sleep here." Mrs. Hubbard said, "Mrs. Nicoletis, if you are afraid of something, hadn't you better tell me just what it is?" Mrs. Nicoletis gave her a flickering look from her dark eyes and then looked away again.

  "You have said it yourself," she said evasively. "You have said there has been murder in this house, so naturally one is uneasy. Who may be next?

  One does not even know who the murderer is. That is because the police are so stupid, or perhaps they have been bribed." "That's all nonsense and you know it," said Mrs.

  Hubbard. "But tell me, have you got any cause for real anxiety . . ." Mrs. Nicoletis flew into one of her tempers.

  "Ah, you do not think I have any cause for anxiety?

  You know best as usual. You know everything! You are so wonderful, you cater, you manage, you spend money like water on food so that the students are fond of you, and now you want to manage my affairs! But that, no!

  I keep my all airs to myself and nobody shall pry into them, do you hear? No, Mrs. What-do you-call-it Paul Pry." "Please yourself," said Mrs. Hubbard, exasperated.

  "You are a spy-I always knew it." "A spy on what?" "Nothing," said Mrs. Nicoletis. "There is nothing here to spy upop. If you think there is it is because you made it up. If lies are told about me I shall know who told them." "If you wish me to leave," said Mrs. Hubbard, "you've only got to say so." "No, you are not to leave. I forbid it. Not at this moment. Not when I have all the cares of the police, of murder, of everything else on my hands. I shall not allow you to abandon me." "Oh, all right," said Mrs. Hubbard helplessly. "But really, it's very difficult to know what you do want. Sometimes I don't think you know yourself. You'd better lie down on my bed and have a sleep-was HERCULE POIROT ALIGHTED from a taxi at 26 Hickory Road.

  The door was opened to him by Geronimo who welcomed him as an old friend. There was a constable standing in the hall and Geronimo drew Poirot into the dining room and closed the door.

  "It is terrible," he whispered, as he assisted Poirot off with his overcoat. "We have police here all time! Ask questions, go here, go there, look in cupboards, look in drawers, come into Maria's kitchen even. Maria very angry. She say she like to hit policeman with rolling pin but I say better not. I say policeman not like being hit by rolling pins and they make us more embarrassment if Maria do that." "You have the good sense," said Poirot, approvingly. "Is Mrs. Hubbard at liberty?" "I take you upstairs to her." "A Ettle moment," Poirot stopped him.

  "Do you remember the day when certain electric light bulbs disappeared?" "Oh yes, I remember. But that long time ago now.

  One-twhree month ago." "Exactly what electric light bulbs were taken?" "The one in the hall and I think in the Common Room. Someone make joke. Take all the bulbs out." "You don't remember the exact date?" Geronimo struck an attitude as he thought.

  "I do not remember," he said. "But I think it was on day when policeman come, some time in February-was "A policeman? What did a policeman come here for?" "He come here to see Mrs. Nicoletis about a student. Very bad student. come from Africa. Not do work. Go to labour exchan e, get National Assistance, then have woman and she go out with men for him.

  Very bad that. Police not like comt. All this in Manchester, I think, or Sheffield so he ran away from there and he come here, but police come after him and they talk to Mrs. Hubbard about him. Yes. And she say he not stop here because she no like him and she send him away." "I see. They were trying to trace I".gg@.

  "Scusi?" "They were trying to find him?" "Yes, yes, that is right. They find him and then they put him in prison because he live on woman and live on woman must not do. This is nice house here. Nothing like that here." "And that was the day the bulbs were missing?" "Yes. Because I turn switch and nothing happen.

  And I go into Common Room and no bulb there, and I look in drawer here for spares and I see bulbs have been taken away. So I go down to kitchen and ask Maria if she know where spare bulbs-but she angry because she not like police come and she say spare bulbs not her business, so I bring just candles." Poirot digested this story as he followed Geronimo up the stairs to Mrs. Hubbard's room.

  Poirot was welcomed warmly by Mrs. Hubbard, who was looking tired and harassed. She held out, at once, a piece of paper to him.

  "I've done my best, Mr. Poirot, to write down these things in the proper order but I wouldn't like to say that it's a hundred percent accurate now. You see, it's very difficult when you look back over a period of months to remember just when this, that or the other happened." "I am deeply grateful to you, Madame. And how is Mrs. Nicoletis?" "I've given her a sedative and I hope she's asleep now. She made a terrible fuss over the search warrant. She refused to open the cupboard in her room and the Inspector broke it open and quantities of empty bottles tumbled out." "Ah," said Poirot, making a tactful sound.

  "Which really explains quite a lot of things," said Mrs. Hubbard. "I really can't imagine why I didn't think of that before, having seen as much of drink as I have out in Singapore. But all that, I'm sure, isn't what interests you." "Everything interests me," said Poirot.

  He sat down and studied the piece of paper that Mrs. Hubbard had handed to him.

  "Ah!" he said, after a moment or two. "I see that now the rucksack heads the list." "Yes. It wasn't a very important thing, but I do remember now, definitely, that it happened before the jewelry and those sort of things began to disappear. It was all rather mixed up with some trouble we had about one of the coloured students. He'd left a day or two before this happened and I remembered thinking that it might have been a revengeful act on his part before he went. There'd been-well-a little trouble." "Ah! Geronimo has recounted to me something like that. You had, I believe, the police here? Is that right?" "Yes. It seems they had an enquiry from Sheffield or Birmingham or somewhere. It had all been rather a scandal. L equals oral earnings and all that sort of thing.

  He was had up about it in court later. Actually, he'd only stayed here about three or four days.

  Then I didn't like his behaviour, the way he was carrying on, so I told him that his room was engaged and that he'd have to go. I wasn't really at all surprised when the police called. Of course, I couldn't tell them where he'd gone to, but they got on his track all right." "And it was after that that you found the rucksack?" "Yes, I think so-it's hard to remember. You see, Len Bateson was going off on a hitch-hike and he couldn't find his rucksack anywhere and he created a terrible fuss about it -- and everyone did a lot of searching and at last Geronimo found it shoved behind the boiler all cut to ribbons. Such an odd thing to happen. So curious and pointless, M. Poirot." "Yes," Poirot agreed. "Curious and pointless." He remained thoughtful for a moment.

  "And it was on that same day, the day that the police came to enquire about this African student, that some electric bulbs disappeared-or so Geronimo tells me. Was it that day?" "WeII, I really can't remember. Yes, yes, I think you're right, because I remember coming downstairs with the police inspector and going into the Common Room with him and there were candles there. We wanted to ask Akibombo' whether this other young man had spoken to him at an or told him where he was going to stay." "Who else was in the Common Room?" "Oh, I think most of the students had come back by that time. It was in the evening, you know, just about six o'clock. I asked Geronimo about the bulbs and he said they'd been taken out. I asked him why he hadn't replaced them and he said we were right out of electric bulbs. I was rather annoyed as it seemed such a silly pointless joke. I thought of it as a joke, not as stealing, but I was surp'n'sed that we had no more electric bulbs because we usually keep quite a good supply in stock. Still, I didn't take it seri
ously, Mr.

  Poirot, not at that time." "The bulbs and the rucksack," said Poirot thoughtfully.

  "But it still seems to me possible," said Mrs.

  Hubhard, "that those two things have no connection with poor little Celia's peccadilloes. You remember she denied very earnestly that she'd even touched the racksack at all." "Yes, yes, that is true. How soon after this did the thefts begin?" "Oh dear, Mr. Poirot, you've no idea how difficult all this is to remember. Let me see-that was March, no, February-the end of February. Yes, yes, I think Genevieve said she'd missed her bracelet about a week after that.

  Yes, between the 20th and 25th of February." "And after that the thefts went on fairly continuously?" "Yes." "And this rucksack was Len Bateson's?" "Yes." "And he was very annoyed about it?" "Well, you mustn't go by that, Mr. Poirot," said Mrs. Hubbard, smiling a little. "Len Bateson is that kind of boy, you know.

  Warmhearted, generous, kind to a fault, but one of those fiery, outspoken tempers." "What was it, this rucksack-something special?" "Oh no, it was just the ordinary kind." "Could you show me one like it?" "WeEvery, yes, of course. Colin's got one, I think, just like it. So has Nigel-in fact Len's got one again now because he had to go and buy another. The students usually buy them at the shop at the end of the road.