فصل 07 - 05

V

At dinner that night, Joanna said to Partridge that she hoped her tea party had been a success.

Partridge’s face went red. ‘Thank you, but Agnes didn’t come after all.’

‘Oh, I’m sorry.’

‘It didn’t matter to me,’ said Partridge. ‘It wasn’t me who asked her!’

‘Perhaps she was ill,’ Joanna said. ‘Did you phone her to find out?’

‘No, I did not,’ Partridge replied. ‘If Agnes likes to behave rudely, that’s her problem, but I shall tell her exactly what I think when we meet.’ And she went out of the room, stiff with hurt pride.

Joanna and I laughed, then began talking of the anonymous letters and wondered how Superintendent Nash and Inspector Graves were getting on.

‘It’s a week today exactly’, said Joanna, ‘since Mrs Symmington’s suicide. They must have got on to something by now. Fingerprints, or writing or something.’

But I was thinking about something else and a strange sense of uneasiness was growing in my mind. It was connected with the phrase that Joanna had used, ‘a week exactly’.

And Joanna noticed suddenly that I wasn’t listening to her. ‘What’s the matter, Jerry?’

I did not answer because my mind was busy putting things together. Mrs Symmington’s suicide. She was alone in the house that afternoon. Alone in the house because the maids were having their day off. A week ago exactly.

‘Joanna, servants have days off once a week, don’t they?’

‘Yes.’

I crossed the room and rang the bell. Partridge came in. ‘Tell me,’ I said, ‘this Agnes Woddell. Is she a servant in someone’s house?’

‘Yes, Sir. At Mr Symmington’s.’

I looked at the clock. It was half-past ten. ‘Would she be back there now, do you think?’

‘Yes, Sir. The servants have to be in by ten.’

I went out into the hall and picked up the telephone. Joanna and Partridge followed me.

‘Sorry to ring you up,’ I said when Elsie Holland answered. ‘This is Jerry Burton speaking. Has your servant Agnes come in?’ Miss Holland sounded very surprised. ‘Agnes? Of course she’ll be in by now.’

I felt like a fool, but I went on. ‘Do you mind just checking that she has come in?’

Luckily a governess is used to doing things when told. Elsie Holland put down the receiver and went away.

Two minutes later I heard her voice. ‘Are you there, Mr Burton?’

‘Yes.’

‘Agnes isn’t in yet.’

I knew then that I had been right. I heard a noise of voices from the other end of the line, then Symmington himself spoke. ‘Hello, Burton, what’s the matter?’

‘Your servant Agnes isn’t back yet?’

‘No. There’s not been an accident, has there?’

‘Not an accident,’ I said.

‘Do you mean you think something has happened to the girl?’

‘I shouldn’t be surprised,’ I told him.