AgathaChristie-ParkerPineDetective Read online

  "I want to know whether or not my husband is

  poisoning me."

  Whatever Mr. Parker Pyne had expected, it

  wasn't this.

  "That is a very serious accusation to make,

  Lady Grayle."

  "Well, I'm not a fool and I wasn't born yesterday.

  I've had my suspicions for some time.

  Whenever George goes away, I feel better. My

  food doesn't disagree with me and I feel a different

  woman. There must be some reason for

  that."

  "Do you want your suspicions proved right or

  wrong?"

  "Really, Mr. Pyne!" The lady rose to her feet,

  quivering with indignation.

  Mr. Parker Pyne nodded his head gently. "Yes,

  yes," he said. "But that doesn't answer my question,

  you know."

  "The champion deceiver of our time."

  reNEW YORK TIMES

  Berkley books by Agatha Christie

  APPOINTMENT WITH DEATH

  THE BIG FOUR

  THE BOOMERANG CLUE

  CARDS ON THE TABLE

  DEAD MAN'S MIRROR

  DEATH IN THE AIR

  DOUBLE SIN AND OTHER STORIES

  ELEPHANTS CAN REMEMBER

  THE GOLDEN BALL AND OTHER STORIES

  THE HOLLOW

  THE LABORS OF HERCULES

  THE MAN IN THE BROWN SUIT

  THE MOVING FINGER

  MR. PARKER PYNE, DETECTIVE

  THE MURDER AT HAZELMOOR

  THE MURDER AT THE VICARAGE

  MURDER IN MESOPOTAMIA

  MURDER IN RETROSPECT

  MURDER IN THREE ACTS

  THE MURDER ON THE LINKS

  THE MYSTERIOUS MR. QUIN

  N OR M?

  THE PATRIOTIC MURDERS

  PARTNERS IN CRIME

  POIROT LOSES A CLIENT

  THE REGA'FA MYSTERY AND OTHER STORIES

  SAD CYPRESS

  THE SECRET OF CHIMNEYS

  THERE IS A TIDE,..

  THEY CAME TO BAGHDAD

  THIRTEEN AT DINNER

  THREE BLIND MICE AND OTHER STORIES

  THE TUESDAY CLUB MURDERS

  THE UNDER DOG AND OTHER STORIES

  THE WITNESS FOR THE PROSECUTION AND OTHER STORIES

  AGATHA

  CHR TIE

  Ig

  BERKLEY BOOKS, NEW YORK

  This Berkley book contains the complete

  text of the original hardcover edition.

  It has been completely reset in a typeface

  designed for easy reading and was printed

  from new film.

  MR. PARKER PYNE, DETECTIVE

  A Berkley Book / published by arrangement with

  G. P. Putnam's Sons

  PRINTING HISTORY

  Dodd, Mead edition published 1934

  Dell edition / February 1981

  Berldey edition / April 1984

  All rights reserved.

  Copyright 1932, 1933, 1934 by Agatha Christie.

  Copyright renewed 1958, 1960, 1961 by Agatha Christie Mailowan.

  Book design by Virginia M. Smith.

  This book may not be reproduced in whole or in part,

  by mimeograph or any other means, without permission.

  For information address: G. P. Putnam's Sons,

  200 Madison Avenue, New York, New York 10016.

  ISBN: 0425087700

  A BERKLEY BOOK ®TM 757,375

  Berkley Books are published by The Berkley Publishing Group,

  200 Madison Avenue, New York, New York 10016.

  The name "BERKLEY" and the "B" logo

  are trademarks belonging to Berkley Publishing Corporation.

  PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

  '

  20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11

  Contents

  The Case of the Middle-Aged Wife

  The Case of the Discontented Soldier

  The Case of the Distressed Lady

  The Case of the Discontented Husband

  The Case of the City Clerk

  The Case of the Rich Woman

  Have You Got Everything You Want?

  The Gate of Baghdad

  The House at Shiraz

  The Pearl of Price

  Death on the Nile

  The Oracle at Dlphi

  1

  17

  38

  51

  66

  83

  101

  117

  135

  151

  166

  183

  'The Case of

  the 3fiddle-A, qed 'l ife

  Four grunts, an indignant voice asking why nobody

  could leave a hat alone, a slammed door, and Mr. Pack-ington

  had departed to catch the eight-forty-five to the

  City. Mrs. Packington sat on at the breakfast table. Her

  face was flushed, her lips were pursed, and the only

  reason she was not crying was that at the last minute

  anger had taken the place of grief.

  "I won't stand it," said Mrs. Packington. "I won't

  stand it!" She remained for some moments brooding,

  and then murmured: "The minx. Nasty sly little cat!

  How George can be such a fool!"

  Anger faded; grief came back. Tears came into Mrs.

  Packington's eyes and rolled slowly down her middle-aged

  cheeks.

  "It's all very well to say I won't stand it, but what can

  I do?"

  Suddenly she felt alone, helpless, utterly forlorn.

  Slowly she took up the morning paper and read, not for

  the first time, an advertisement on the front page.

  2

  Agatha Christie

  "Absurd!" said Mrs. Packington. "Utterly absurd."

  Then: "After all, I might just see..."

  Which explains why at eleven o'clock Mrs. Packing-ton,

  a little nervous, was being shown into Mr. Parker

  Pyne's private office.

  As has been said, Mrs. Packington was nervous, but

  somehow or other, the mere sight of Mr. Parker Pyne

  brought a feeling of reassurance. He was large, not to

  say fat; he had a bald head of noble proportions, strong

  glasses and little twinkling eyes.

  "Pray sit down," said Mr. Parker Pyne. "You have

  come in answer to my advertisement?" he added help-fully.

  "Yes," gaid Mrs. Packington, and stopped there.

  "And you are not happy," said Mr. Parker Pyne in a

  cheerful, matter-of-fact voice. "Very few people are.

  You would really be surprised if you knew how few peo-ple

  are happy."

  "Indeed?" said Mrs. Packington, not feeling,

  however, that it mattered whether other people were

  unhappy or not.

  "Not interesting to you, I know," said Mr. Parker

  Pyne, "but very interesting to me. You see, for thirty-five

  years of my life I have been engaged in the compil-ing

  of statistics in a government office. Now I have

  retired, and it has occurred to me to use the experience

  THE CASE OF THE MIDDLE-AGED WIFE

  3

  I have gained in a novel fashion. It is all so simple.

  Unhappiness can be classified under five main heads

  --no more, I assure you. Once you know the cause of a

  malady, the remedy should not be impossible.

  "I stand in the pla
ce of the doctor. The doctor first

  diagnoses the patient's disorder, then he proceeds to

  recommend a course of treatment. There are cases

  where no treatment can be of any avail. If that is so, I

  say frankly that I can do nothing. But I assure you, Mrs.

  Packington, that if I undertake a case, the cure is practically

  guaranteed."

  Could it be so? Was this nonsense, or could it,

  perhaps, be true? Mrs. Packington gazed at him

  hopefully.

  "Shall we diagnose your case?" said Mr. Parker

  Pyne, smiling. He leaned back in his chair and brought

  the tips of his fingers together. "The trouble concerns

  your husband. You have had, on the whole, a happy

  married life. Your husband has, I think, prospered. I

  think there is a young lady concerned in the case--perhaps

  a young lady in your husband's office."

  "A typist," said Mrs. Packington. "A nasty made-up

  little minx, all lipstick and silk stockings and curls."

  The words rushed from her.

  Mr. Parker Pyne nodded in a-soothing manner.

  "There is no real harm in it--that is your husband's

  phrase, I have no doubt."

  "His very words."

  "Why, therefore, should he not enjoy a pure friendship

  with this young lady, and be able to bring a little

  brightness, a little pleasure, into her dull existence?

  Poor child, she has so little fun. Those, I imagine, are

  his sentiments."

  Mrs. Packington nodded with vigor. "Humbug--all

  humbug! He takes her on the river--I'm fond of going

  4

  Agatha Christie

  on the river myself, but five or six years ago he said it

  interfered with his golf. But he can give up golf for her.

  I like the theater--George has always said he's too tired

  to go out at night. Now he takes her out to dance--

  dance,t And comes back at three in the morning. I--I--"

  "And doubtless he deplores the fact that women are

  so jealous, so unreasonably jealous when there is ab-solutely

  no cause for jealousy?"

  Again Mrs. Packington nodded. "That's it." She

  asked sharply: "How do you know all this?"

  "Statistics," Mr. Parker Pyne said simply.

  "I'm so miserable," said Mrs. Packington. "I've

  always been a good wife to George. I worked my fingers

  to the bone in our early days. I helped him to get on.

  I've never looked at any other man. His things are

  always mended, he gets good meals, and the house is

  well and economically run. And now that we've got on

  in the world and could enjoy ourselves and go about a

  bit and do all the things I've looked forward to doing

  some day--well, this!" She swallowed hard.

  Mr. Parker Pyne nodded gravely. "I assure you I

  understand your case perfectly."

  "And--can you do anything?" She asked it almost in

  whisper.

  "Certainly, my dear lady. There is a cure. Oh, yes,

  there is a cure."

  "What is it?" She waited, round-eyed, and expec-tant.

  Mr. Parker Pyne spoke quietly and firmly. "You will

  place yourself in my hands, and the fee will be two hun-dred

  guineas."

  "Two hundred guineas!"

  "Exactly. You can afford to pay such a fee, Mrs.

  Packington. You would pay that sum for an operation.

  Happiness is just as important as bodily health."

  THE CASE OF THE MIDDLE-AGED WIFE

  5

  "I pay you afterwards, I suppose?"

  "On the contrary," said Mr. Parker Pyne. "You pay

  me in advance."

  Mrs. Packington rose. "I'm afraid I don't see my

  way--"

  "To buying a pig in a poke?" said Mr. Parker Pyne

  cheerfully. "Well, perhaps you're right. It's a lot of

  money to risk. You've got to trust me, you see. You've

  got to pay the money and take a chance. Those are my

  terms."

  "Two hundred guineas!"

  "Exactly. Two hundred guineas. It's a lot of money.

  Good morning, Mrs. Packington. Let me know if you

  change your mind." He shook hands with her, smiling

  in an unperturbed fashion.

  When she had gone he pressed a buzzer on his desk. A

  forbidding-looking young woman with spectacles

  answered it.

  "A file, please, Miss Lemon. And you might tell

  Claude that I am likely to want him shortly."

  "A new client"

  "A new client. At the moment she has jibbed, but she

  will come back. Probably this afternoon about four.

  Enter her."

  "Schedule A?"

  "Schedule A, of course. Interesting how everyone

  thinks his own case unique. Well, well, warn Claude.

  Not too exotic, tell him. No scent and he'd better get his

  hair cut short."

  It was a quarter past four when Mrs. Packington once

  more entered Mr. Parker Pyne's office. She drew out a

  check book, made out a check and passed it to him. A

  receipt was given.

  "And now?" Mrs. Packington looked at him

  hopefully.

  6

  Agatha Christie

  "And now," said Mr. Parker Pyne, smiling, "you

  will return home. By the first post tomorrow you will

  receive certain instructions which I shall be glad if you

  will carry out."

  Mrs. Packington went home in a state of pleasant an-ticipation.

  Mr. Packington came home in a defensive

  mood, ready to argue his position if the scene at the

  breakfast table was reopened. He was relieved, how-ever,

  to find that his wife did not seem to be in a com-bative

  mood. She was unusually thoughtful.

  George listened to the radio and wondered whether

  that dear child Nancy would allow him to give her a fur

  coat. She was very proud, he knew. He didn't want to

  offend her. Still, she had complained of the cold. That

  tweed coat of hers was a cheap affair; it didn't keep the

  cold out. He could put it so that she wouldn't mind,

  perhaps...

  They must have another evening out soon. It was a

  pleasure to take a girl like that to a smart restaurant. He

  could see several young fellows were envying him. She

  was uncommonly pretty. And she liked him. To her, as

  she had told him, he didn't seem a bit old.

  He looked up and caught his wife's eye. He felt sud-denly

  guilty, which annoyed him. What a narrow-minded,

  suspicious woman Maria was! She grudged him

  any little bit of happiness.

  He switched off the radio and went to bed..

  Mrs. Packington received two unexpected letters the

  following morning. One was a printed form confirming

  an appointment at a noted beauty specialist's. The sec-ond

  was an appointment with a dressmaker. The third

  was from Mr. Parker Pyne, requesting the pleasure of

  her company at lunch at the Ritz that day.

  Mr. Packington mentioned that he might not be home

  THE CASE OF THE MIDDLE-AGED WIFE

  to dinner that evening as he had to see a man on busi

  ness. Mrs. Packington merely nodded absently, and Mr

  Packington left the house congratulating himself of

 
; having escaped the storm.

  The beauty specialist was impressive. Such neglect

  Madam, but why? This should have been taken in han

  years ago. However, it was not too late.

  Things were done to her face; it was pressed

  kneaded and steamed. It had mud applied to it. It ha¢

  creams applied to it. It wts dusted with powder. Ther

  were various finishing touches.

  At last she was given a mirror. "I believe I do 1ool

  younger," she thought to herself.

  The dressmaking seance was equally exciting. Sh

  emerged feeling smart, modish, up-to-date.