Chapter 13 Chapter 1 Mrs Babington

Mrs. Babington moved into a small fisherman's house.The house is not far from the harbour.She is waiting for her sister to return from Japan in about six months.Before her younger sister arrived, she had no plans for her future life.The country house happened to be unoccupied, so she rented it for six months.The sudden loss of her husband so distraught her that she had to leave Leomouth.Stephen Babington lived seventeen years in Peter Rock, Leomouth.On the whole, they passed seventeen years of happiness and peace.The only regret is the death of her son Robin.Among the other children, Edward was in Ceylon, Lloyd was in South Africa, and Stephen was third mate on the steamer Angola.They wrote frequently, and each letter was filled with enthusiasm.But they could neither provide a home for their mother nor return to be with her.

So Margaret Babington was very lonely...not that she spent much time alone thinking.She was still active in her parish (the new vicar was not yet married), and she spent a great deal of time working on the small plot in front of the villa.She is a woman who loves flowers and flowers are part of her life. One afternoon, while she was at work, she heard the door lock click and looked up to see Sir Charles Cartwright and Eggy Lytton Gore standing in the doorway. Margaret was not surprised to see Eggy girl.She knew that the girl and her mother were coming back soon. But seeing Sir Charles startled her.She had heard rumors repeatedly that he had left the neighborhood for good.Transcripts from other newspapers recounted his movements in the South of France.A sign has been placed in the garden of Crow's Nest saying "For Sale".No one expected Sir Charles to return.However, he did come back.

Mrs. Babington tossed her disheveled hair back from her sweaty forehead, and looked remorseful at the sight of the dirt on her hands. "I can't shake hands," she said. "I know I ought to work in the garden with gloves on. Sometimes I work with them on, and then take them off. It's much easier to work with bare hands." She brings the guests into the house.The chairs and sofas in the small living room are all wrapped in printed cotton, which looks very comfortable.There are several photos, and several pots of chrysanthemums. "It was a surprise to see you, Sir Charles. I thought you had given up Crow's Nest for good."

"I used to think that way," the actor confessed, "but sometimes, Mrs. Babington, we just can't escape our fate." Mrs. Babington didn't answer, she turned to Testicles.The girl said first: "You see, Mrs. Babington, this is not an ordinary visit. Sir Charles and I have something very important to tell you. It's just that I... am sorry to bother you." Mrs. Babington looked from the girl to Sir Charles.Her face was blue and her brows were furrowed. "First," said Sir Charles, "I should like to ask whether you have had any news from the sanitarium office?"

Mrs. Babington nodded. "I know . . . well, maybe I should go first." "Do you mean what you discovered? How did you discover it?" "Yes, that must have been very distressing to you." There was sympathy in his voice, and her tone softened. "Perhaps, I don't care as much as I think. To some people, an autopsy is a very scary thing, but I don't. It's not the body that matters. My dear husband rests in the ground, where, No one would disturb his peace, no. The important thing is that I was shocked by the idea - a terrible idea. That Stephen Babington did not die a natural death. It seems impossible, not at all natural. die."

"I suppose he must have looked that way to you. First of all, that's how I see it, and that's how we all see it." "What do you mean 'first', Sir Charles?" "Mrs. Babington, I began to suspect on the night of your husband's death. However, like you, my thoughts seemed impossible, so I put them aside." "I thought so too." Eggy said. "Do you think so too?" Mrs. Babington looked at her strangely. "You think someone murdered Stephen?" There was such intense doubt in her voice that neither visitor knew how to begin their inquiry.At last it was Sir Charles who opened the conversation.

"You know, Mrs. Babington, that I was abroad. When I was in the South of France, I read in the papers that my friend Bartholomew Strange died under almost exactly the same circumstances. Dropped it. I also had a letter from Miss Lytton Gore." Eggy girl nodded. "You know, I was there that day, with him. Mrs. Babington, it's exactly the same, exactly. He had a little wine and his face changed. And then...then...well, keep up Exactly the same time. He died in two or three minutes." Mrs. Babington shook her head slowly. "I don't understand, Stephen! And Sir Bartholomew--a good, wise doctor! Who would kill them both? There must be a mistake."

"You must remember that it has been proved that Sir Bartholomew was poisoned," said Sir Charles. "That must have been done by a psychopath." Sir Charles continued: "Mrs. Babington, I want to get to the bottom of it. I want to get to the bottom of it. I feel that time is running out. Once word of the in-depth investigation gets out, it will alarm the criminals. To cut a long story short, I'm imagining what the autopsy on your husband will reveal. I Here's what to think: He died of nicotine poisoning too. First question is, do you know what pure nicotine is for, too?"

"I spray roses with a nicotine solution all the time. I didn't know that anyone would think it was poisonous." "I can imagine (I read about it last night) that in both cases the pure alkaloid was used. Nicotine poisoning is very unusual." Mrs. Babington shook her head. "I don't know anything about nicotine poisoning, except that heavy smokers get sick from it." "Does your husband smoke?" "yes." "Now tell me, Mrs. Babington, that you express great astonishment at the thought of getting rid of your husband. Does this mean that, as far as you know, he has no enemies?"

"I'm sure he has no haters. Everyone loves him. Sometimes, people try to scam him." She smiled through her tears and said, "He's getting old, you know, and doesn't like innovation, but everybody likes him. You can't hate him, Sir Charles." "Mrs. Babington, I don't think your husband will leave much money, does he?" "No. Almost nothing. Stephen is a bad saver. He spends too much. I used to scold him about it." "I suppose he won't inherit anything from anybody? He won't be the heir to something?" "Oh no. Stephen doesn't have many relatives. He has a sister who married a Luxembourg clergyman. They are hard-pressed. All his uncles and uncles and aunts are dead."

"Then it seems to say that no one is going to make money out of Babington's death, does it?" "Yes, indeed." "Let's go back to the question of whether he had enemies. You say your husband didn't have enemies, but he probably did when he was young." Mrs. Babington looked puzzled. "It should be said that this is very unlikely. Stephen has nothing to do with the world and is very popular." "I don't want to be alarmist." Sir Charles coughed nervously. "Uh...Let's put it this way, when he fell in love with you, were there any suitors who were lovelorn around you?" Mrs. Babington's eyes twinkled with pleasure. "Stephen was my father's curate. He was the first lad I met since I came home from school and I fell in love with him and he loved me. We were in love for four years. Then he settled in Kent We are married. Sir Charles, our love story is very simple, but we are very happy." Sir Charles nodded.Mrs. Babington's modesty was charming. Dandan girl takes on the role of interrogator. "Mrs. Babington, did your husband see any of the guests that evening before dinner at Sir Charles's?" Mrs. Babington looked a little puzzled. "Here, there are you, your mother, and Little Mandes." "Yes. Anyone else?" "Five years ago, at a show in London, we would both meet Angela Sutcliffe. Stephen and I were thrilled at the thought of meeting her." "Did you really never see her before this?" "No. We never saw any actors at that time—actors or actresses, until Sir Charles moved here," added Mrs. Babington. "That was exciting. I don't think Sir Charles would Knowing how important this is to us is the adventure of our lives." "Haven't you seen the Captain and Mrs. Dax then?" "Is that the little man and the smartly dressed woman?" "yes." "I hadn't seen them before the party, nor the other woman—the one who wrote the script. Poor woman, I think she's rather withdrawn." "Are you sure you've never seen those guests before?" "Pretty sure, just not. I'm sure Stephen hasn't seen them either. You know, whatever we do, we're in this together." "Did Mr. Babington tell you anything? Didn't he say anything?" Eggy girl didn't relax and continued to ask, "He didn't mention the person you are going to meet, and he didn't talk about it when you met. Are they?" "Not a word was said before the party. He was just looking forward to the good night. When we got there...well, it wasn't long..." Her face twitched suddenly. Sir Charles interrupted hastily: "You must forgive us for troubling you like this. But, you see, if we try we shall find something. There must be some reason for this senseless murder." "I see," said Mrs. Babington. "If it's a murder, there must be some reason... but I don't know, and I can't imagine what it might be." After a silence, Sir Charles said: "Can you give us a brief biography of your husband?" Mrs. Babington had a particularly good memory for dates.Sir Charles recorded the result as follows: "Stephen Babington, born in Islington, Devon, in 1868, educated at St Paul's and Oxford, deacon of Hoxton in 1891, Obtained the priesthood in two years; from 1894 to 1899, served as assistant to the pastor Vernon Lorimer in Islington, Surrey; in 1899, with Margaret Lowry married Moore, settled in Gilling, Kent, and moved to Peter Rock, Leomouth in 1916." "We will be useful in our cases," said Sir Charles. "It seems to me that Mr. Babington's experience as Vicar of St. Mary's, Gilling, is the situation we most need to know. His early life Too far away from the guests who came to my house that night." Mrs. Babington trembled all over. "Really think... that one of them...?" "I don't know what to think," said Sir Charles. "Bartholomew discovered something, or guessed something, and he was killed in the same way, five of them..." "There are seven people." Eggy said. "Seven of them showed up twice. One of them must be guilty" "Why?" cried Mrs. Babington. "Why? What was the motive of the man who killed Stephen?" Sir Charles said: "That's exactly what we're trying to figure out."