The A B C Murders / Убийство по алфавиту. Книга для чтения на английском языке

’

Poirot shook his head gravely.

�Pauvre femme[69 - Pauvre femme (фр.) – Бедная женщина],’ he murmured.

Then he glanced at his watch.

�Overton is not, I think, many miles from here. Shall we run over there and have an interview with the niece of the dead woman?’

�Surely you will go first to the shop where the crime took place?’

�I prefer to do that later. I have a reason.’

He did not explain further, and a few minutes later we were driving on the London road in the direction of Overton.

The address which the inspector had given us was that of a good-sized house about a mile on the London side of the village.

Our ring at the bell was answered by a pretty dark-haired girl whose eyes were red with recent weeping.

Poirot said gently:

�Ah! I think it is you who are Miss Mary Drower, the parlourmaid here?’

�Yes, sir, that’s right. I’m Mary, sir.’

�Then perhaps I can talk to you for a few minutes if your mistress will not object.

�The mistress is out, sir. She wouldn’t mind, I’m sure, if you came in here.’

She opened the door of a small morning-room[70 - morning-room – маленькая столовая, примыкающая к кухне]. We entered and Poirot, seating himself on a chair by the window, looked up keenly into the girl’s face.

�You have heard of your aunt’s death, of course?’

The girl nodded, tears coming once more into her eyes.

�This morning, sir.

�The police did not suggest your returning to Andover?’

�They said I must come to the inquest—that’s on Monday, sir. But I’ve nowhere to go there—I couldn’t fancy being over the shop—now—and what with the housemaid being away, I didn’t want to put the mistress out more than may be.’

�You were fond of your aunt, Mary?’ said Poirot gently.

�Indeed I was, sir. Very good she’s been to me always, auntie has. I went to her in London when I was eleven years old, after mother died. I started in service when I was sixteen, but I usually went along to auntie’s on my day out[71 - day out – свободный день прислуги]. A lot of trouble she went through with that German fellow. “My old devil,” she used to call him. He’d never let her be in peace anywhere.