The Murder of Roger Ackroyd / Убийство Роджера Экройда

‘You’re quite sure about it, sir. You identify it positively?’

‘Absolutely. No doubt whatever.’

‘Where was this – er – curio usually kept? can you tell me that, sir?’

It was the secretary who answered.

‘In the silver table in the drawing-room.’

‘What?’ I exclaimed.

The others looked at me.

‘Yes, doctor?’ said the inspector encouragingly. ‘It’s nothing,’ said the inspector again, still encouragingly.

‘It’s so trivial,’ I explained apologetically. ‘Only that when I arrived last night for dinner I heard the lid of the silver table being shut down in the drawing-room.

I saw profound scepticism and a trace of suspicion on the inspector’s countenance.

‘How did you know it was the silver table lid?’

I was forced to explain in detail – a long, tedious explanation which I would infinitely rather not have had to make.

The inspector heard me to the end.

‘Was the dagger in its place when you were looking over the contents?’ he asked.

‘I don’t know,’ I said.

‘We’d better get hold of the housekeeper,’ remarked the inspector, and pulled the bell.

A few minutes later Miss Russell, summoned by Parker, entered the room.

‘I don’t think I went near the silver table,’ she said, when the inspector had posed his question. ‘I was looking to see that all the flowers were fresh. oh! yes, I remember now. The silver table was open – which it had no business to be, and I shut the lid down as I passed.

She looked at him aggressively.

‘I see,’ said the inspector. ‘Can you tell me if this dagger was in its place then?’

Miss Russell looked at the weapon composedly.

‘I can’t say I’m sure,’ she replied. ‘I didn’t stop to look. I knew the family would be down any minute, and I wanted to get away.’

‘Thank you,’ said the inspector.

There was just a trace of hesitation in his manner, as though he would have liked to question her further, but Miss Russell clearly accepted the words as a dismissal, and glided from the room.

‘Rather a Tartar, I should fancy, eh?’ said the inspector, looking after her. ‘Let me see. This silver table is in front of one of the windows, I think you said, doctor?’

Raymond answered for me.

‘Yes, the left-hand window.’

‘And the window was open?’

‘They were both ajar.’

‘Well, I don’t think we need go into the question much further.