Roger Mystery

Chapter 35 The Suspects Gather Together (2)
Poirot read out a list with seriousness.

"Mrs Ackroyd, Miss Flora Ackroyd, Major Brant, Mr Geoffrey Raymond, Mrs Ralph Paton, John Parker, Elizabeth Russell."

He put the list on the table.

"What does that mean?" Raymond asked first.

"I have just read the list of suspects," said Poirot. "Everyone here has a chance of murdering Mr. Ackroyd—"

Mrs. Ackroyd jumped up with an exclamation, a groan in her throat.

"I don't like this," she wailed, "I don't like this, I want to go home."

"You must hear me out before you go home, ma'am," Poirot said sternly.

He paused for a moment, then cleared his throat again.

"I'll start from the beginning. After receiving Miss Aykroyd's commission, I went to Finley Manor with the kind Dr. Sheppard. We went to the terrace and looked at the shoe prints on the windowsill. Then Raglan The inspector took me again to the lane leading to the driveway. A small gazebo caught my eye, and after careful searching I found two things—a small piece of starched silk and an empty goose feather No matter. That piece of silk immediately reminded me of a maid's apron. When Inspector Raglan showed me the list of servants in the mansion, I noticed one of the maids--the parlor-maid, Ursula Bonn-- There is no real alibi. According to her own account, she was in the bedroom between 09:30 and [-]. But suppose she was in the gazebo? Then she must have run to meet someone. According to From Dr. Shepherd's testimony, we know that a stranger did come that night—the stranger he met at the gate of the manor. At first glance the matter was settled, and the stranger had gone to see Ursula Bonn in the gazebo. Judging from that quill, he did go to the bower too. I thought right away that the man was a drug addict - and he picked it up on the other side of the Atlantic, where 'white powder' is more popular than here Much. The people Dr. Shepard encountered had American accents, which also fit my hypothesis."

"But I've hit a snag on one of the sessions - the timing is out of line. There's no way Ursula Bonn could have been in the gazebo before 09:30, and the man must have arrived at the gazebo just after nine o'clock. Of course, I can assume that he waited there for half an hour. Otherwise there is only one possibility: that two groups of unrelated people met successively in the gazebo that night. Starting from this line of thought, I immediately found that A few obvious facts. I learned that the housekeeper, Miss Russell, had seen Dr. Shepherd that morning, and had shown great interest in the methods of drug rehabilitation. From the quill, I deduced that the man had gone to Finley Park to find Miss Russell, not Ursula Boone. So who did Ursula Boone meet at the gazebo? The mystery was soon solved. First I found a wedding ring - engraved 'R' on the inside 'Gift' and date; then I learned that Ralph Paton was seen on the path leading to the gazebo at about 25:[-], and I heard that the same afternoon there was a secret conversation in the grove near the village— —The protagonists are Ralph Paton and a certain girl. Interlock the facts in the following order: a secret marriage; news of the engagement revealed on the day of the murder; a violent quarrel in the woods; "

"So I stumbled across the point that both Ralph Paton and Ursula Bonn (or Ursula Paton) had very strong motives to get rid of Mr Ackroyd. It was surprisingly clear: the man who was with Mr Ackroyd in the study at 09:30 could not be Ralph Paton."

"Then the most interesting question in the case arises: Who was the man in the room with Mr Aykroyd at 09:30? It wasn't Ralph Paton, who was meeting his wife in the gazebo; it wasn't Charles. Kent, he's long since left Finley Park. So who is it? I'm going to ask the smartest—and boldest—question: Was there anyone with Mr Ackroyd at all?"

Poirot leaned forward, uttered these last words triumphantly, and then drew back again, as if using a deadly trump card.

However, Raymond, far from being unmoved, raised objections.

"Perhaps you suspect me of lying, M. Poirot, but I am not the only witness--only the specifics are different. Don't forget that Major Brant also heard Mr. Ackroyd talking to others. He was outside On the terrace, of course, it was impossible to hear everything clearly, but he did hear voices."

Poirot nodded.

"I haven't forgotten," he replied calmly, "but according to Major Brant's impression, it was you who spoke to Mr. Ackroyd at that time."

Raymond was stunned, but he soon recovered.

"Now Brant knows he was wrong," he said.

"Indeed." Brant agreed.

"But it's not for nothing that he has this impression." Poirot pondered, "Oh! No, no," he raised his hand to stop what Raymond had just said, "I understand the reason you want to say— — but that is not enough, another answer must be found. Let me put it this way, from the beginning of my involvement in the case, a mystery has been lingering in my mind — those few words that Mr. Raymond overheard are quite special. Strange Yes, no one questioned this—no one noticed the mystery in those few words."

He paused for a moment, then softly repeated what Raymond had heard:
"...Recently, you have been asking for money too frequently, so it is no longer possible for me to continue to satisfy your request. Don't you all hear the weirdness?"

"I don't think so," Raymond said. "He often dictated letters to me in almost exactly the same tone and words."

"Exactly," said Poirot loudly, "that's what I meant. Could anyone use that tone in a conversation? It could never have been a real conversation. So if he was reading a letter -"

"You mean he's reading a letter aloud," said Raymond unhurriedly. "Even so, he must be reading it to someone."

"Why? There is no evidence that anyone else was in the room. Please note that you have only heard the voice of Mr. Ackroyd himself."

"Of course no one would read a letter of that sort aloud to himself—unless he's—well... out of his head."

"You have forgotten something," said Poirot mildly. "A stranger called on Mr. Ackroyd last Wednesday."

Everyone stared at him.

"That's right," Poirot nodded affirmatively. "It's Wednesday. The young man is not important per se, but I'm interested in the company he works for."

"Dictaphone Company!" gasped Raymond. "I see. You mean Dictaphone?"

Poirot nodded.

"Remember, Mr. Aykroyd had promised to buy a dictaphone. Out of curiosity, I consulted the company and was told that Mr. Aykroyd had bought a dictaphone from their salesman. The tape recorder. As to why he kept it secret from you, I don't know."

"He must have been trying to surprise me," muttered Raymond. "He's got this boyish habit of covering himself up for a day or two and then taking it out to startle me. Yes, that means Makes sense, you're quite right—nobody chats like that."

"This also explains why Major Brant thought you were in the study," said Poirot. "What he heard was actually a fragment of the letter being read aloud, and he subconsciously deduced that it was Mr. Ackroyd who was speaking to you." You dictate a letter. But his attention is being drawn to something else - he catches sight of a figure in white. He thinks it is Miss Ackroyd. Of course it is Ursula Bonn's white apron as she slipped away to the gazebo."

Raymond finally recovered from the shock.

"At any rate," he said, "although your discovery is remarkable (I'm sure I never thought of that level), the core of the case remains unshakeable. Mr Ackroyd was alive at 09:30 because he was Speaking into the dictaphone. And Charles Kent had indeed left the estate by then. As for Ralph Paton—”

He hesitated, looking at Ursula.

Ursula's face changed suddenly, but her attitude remained firm.

"Ralph and I parted before nine-forty-five, and he never came near the house, I can vouch for that. Besides, he had no desire to go back, and the last person in the world he wanted to face was Mr. Ackroyd." , he was terribly frightened."

"It's not that I doubt your testimony," Raymond explained, "I've always believed Captain Peyton was innocent. But once it comes to court—he'll have to answer those questions again. The odds are against him, but he If you are willing to come out and meet—”

Poirot interrupted him.

"Is this your suggestion? You think he should come forward?"

"Of course. If you knew where he was—"

"You still don't seem to trust my abilities. As I said, I know everything: the truth about the phone call, the shoe prints on the windowsill, where Ralph Paton hid—"

"Where is he?" demanded Major Brant sharply.

"Not very far." Poirot smiled.

"In Cranchester?" I asked.

Poirot turned and looked at me.

"You always ask, and you can't do without Cranchester. He's--there!"

He exaggeratedly pointed with his index finger, and everyone turned their heads to look.

Ralph Paton was standing at the door.

(End of this chapter)