Страница 40 из 44
Jim said, ‘How on earth-’ and then stopped.
Miss Silver went on looking at the address. A
She lifted her eyes very gravely to Jim’s face and said, ‘I think we must ring up the hotel.’
Jim said in a stumbling voice, ‘What does it mean?’
Miss Silver said, ‘It means we have A
‘You think that is her name?’
‘I should say so. It looks to me as if the murdered girl was staying in the same hotel, and as if A
‘I don’t see how that could have been.’
‘We ca
Jim came to stand beside her. He could not hear what was said at the desk of the hotel. There was a ru
‘You had a Miss A
Miss Silver gave him a nod. Yes, they had had a Miss A
Miss Silver continued, ‘Did you also have a Mrs Fancourt staying in the hotel?’
No, there had been no Mrs Fancourt.
It was a blow. If she had not been staying at the same hotel, how had the two girls met? There was just one more chance. Miss Silver took it. She had not a great deal of hope, but she would ask the question. She asked it. ‘Did you perhaps have a Miss A
More to her surprise than she would have been ready to admit, the voice at the other end of the line immediately replied in quite an animated ma
‘Oh, yes, she was here. And she left on the same day as Miss Forest did. That was one reason why we did not think very seriously about Miss Forest leaving us. She had made friends with Miss Borrowdale, and we took it for granted that they had gone away together. I hope there is nothing wrong?’
Miss Silver replied in a grave voice.
‘I hope not. I am ringing up for Mr Fancourt.’
She put a few more questions, then replaced the receiver and turned round.
‘They were both staying at the Hood.’
‘How? Why?’
‘I do not know. There are several ways that it could have happened. A
‘I can’t think how she came to be in the hotel at all. I sent her to the Birdstocks to wait until she heard from Lilian.’
Miss Silver was silent for a moment. Then she said, ‘If she was the girl who visited Mrs Birdstock and received your aunt’s letter-and I think she must have been-she was a free agent then. Had she a foreign accent?’
Jim considered.
‘No-not noticeably.’
There were a few minutes’ silence. Then Miss Silver took up the telephone again.
‘I think we should let Inspector Abbott know,’ she said.
CHAPTER 48
A
She remembered everything with astonishing clarity. Coming to the hotel. The chambermaid who came to her room-a pale girl, rather pretty. She remembered what she had for di
It was extraordinary how clear it all was. The girl who was dead in the cellar was alive again. Her voice rang in A
Just as she reached the door Ross turned round. He said,
‘Where are you off to? Breakfast will be ready in five minutes.’ A
In her room she sat down on her bed and went on remembering. That poor child-her ignorance, her folly, and the last glimpse she had of her lying dead at the foot of the steps in a strange house. She had poured the whole thing out. ‘My name is A