Chapter 19 Chapter Nineteen Three Discussions

Moira returned in a few minutes. "I found her," she said, "and I asked her to meet me at the little pavilion by the river. She must have thought it strange, but she said she would come." "Excellent," said Bobby, "and where exactly is this pavilion?" Moira described it carefully and told the way to get there. "Well," said Bobby, "you go first, and I'll be there next." When they had settled, Bobby stayed to speak to Mr. Askew. "Strange thing," he said cautiously. "This lady, Mrs. Nicholson, I used to work for one of her uncles, who was a Canadian gentleman."

Bobby felt that Moira's visit might cause gossip, and the last thing he wanted was to spread such gossip, which might reach Dr. Nicholson's ears. "It's kind of weird, isn't it?" said Mr. Askew. "It strikes me deeply." "Yes," said Bobby, "she recognized me, and came to find out what I was doing now. She's a pretty, funny-talking lady." "It's interesting indeed. She can't be doing well in Grange House." "Looks like I'm not alone in my imagination," agreed Bobby. Bobby felt that he had achieved his goal, so he pretended to be wandering around, wandered out of the village, and walked in the direction Moira indicated.

When he arrived at the appointed place without incident, he found Moira waiting for him there.Frankie has yet to show up. Moira looked plainly inquiring, and Bobby felt he had the difficult task of explaining things. "I've got to tell you something terrible," he said, and stopped in embarrassment. "yes?" "Come on," gushed Bobby, "I'm not a driver, really, though I do work in a London garage. My name isn't Hawkins, I'm Jones—Bobby Jones, March Bolt, born in Wales." Moira listened intently, but it was clear she had nothing to say when March Bolt was mentioned.Bobby gritted his teeth and cut to the chase with courage.

"Attention, I'm afraid I'm going to surprise you. Your friend Alan Carstairs, he's, well, he's dead." He sensed her surprise and quickly looked away from her face.Does she really care?Had she ever loved this man? She was silent for a while, then said in a low, thoughtful tone, "So that's why he didn't come back? I've always wondered." Bobby stole a risky glance at her.His emotions came up.She seemed sad and brooding, but nothing more. "Tell me about it?" she said. Bobby did as she asked. "He fell off a cliff in Marchbolt, where I live. The doctor and I just happened to find him." He paused and added, "He's got a picture of you in his pocket." .”

"Really?" She made a sweet smile, but a little sad. "My dear Ellen, he is very faithful." There was another silence between the two.Moira later asked: "When did this happen?" "About a month ago. October 3rd to be exact." "That must have happened just after he came here." "Yes. Did he mention going to Wales?" Moira shook her head. "You don't know anybody named Evans?" Bobby asked. "Evans?" Moira frowned and thought hard, "No, I don't think I know him. The name is very common. Of course, I can't remember. Who is he?"

"That's just what we don't know. Oh! Here comes Frankie." Frankie was hurrying along the path.She saw Bobby sitting with Mrs Nicholson talking, with a conflicted expression on his face. "Hi, Frankie," said Bobby, "I'm so glad you're here. We're going to have a big party. Let's start with that, Mrs. Nicholson is the one in that picture." "Oh!" said Frankie impassively. She looked at Moira and burst out laughing. . "Honey," she said to Bobby, "now I understand why you were taken aback at seeing Mrs. Cayman at the hearing!"

"Exactly," said Bobby. He is so stupid.Yet at that moment, how could he have imagined that a period of time could turn a Moira Nicholson into an Amelia Cayman? "My God, I'm so stupid!" he sighed. Moira looked puzzled. "There's so much amazing stuff to say," said Bobby, "I just don't know how to put it." He recounted the Caymans' certification of the deceased. "But I won't borrow it," said Moira, puzzled. "Whose body is it, her brother or Ellen Carstairs?" "That's where crime comes into play," Bobby said.

"Then," went on Frankie, "Bobby was poisoned." "Eight pills of morphine," Bobby reminded. "Don't start with that," said Frankie. "You can talk for hours on this subject, and it's really annoying. Let me explain." She took a long breath. "The thing is," she said, "the two Caymans came to see Bobby after the hearing and asked him what his brother (assuming he had) said before he died, and Bobby said no. But then he Recalls what the deceased said about Evans, so he wrote them and told them. A few days later, he got another letter from Peru or something offering him a job. When he didn't want to take the At work, the next thing that happens is someone pours a lot of morphine..."

"Eight," said Bobby again. "Put it in his beer. It's only because of his marvelous stomach that he wasn't killed. Then we knew right away that Pritchard, or Carstairs, must have been thrown off a cliff." of." "For what?" Moira asked. "You don't understand? We think it's perfectly clear. My uncle didn't make it very clear. Anyway, we concluded that he was pushed off the cliff, and that Roger Bassington-French was probably the one who pushed him." .” "Roger?" Moira's tone was tinged with interest. "We did a detailed study of the situation. You see, he was there, and your picture got out of the way, and he seemed to be the only one who could have taken it."

"I see." Moira mused. "And then," went on Frankie, "I happened to have an accident here. Amazing accident, wasn't it?" She gave Bobby a stern warning look, "so I called Bobby, Suggest that he come here and act as my driver so we can investigate the matter." "So now you see how it happened," said Bobby, picking up on Frankie's clever falsehood, "and the final climax was last night when I wandered into the grounds of the Grange House and just happened to meet you— The figure in that enigmatic photograph." "You recognized me extremely quickly." Moira smiled slightly.

"That's right," said Bobby, "I'll recognize that picture everywhere I go." For no particular reason, Moira blushed suddenly. Then something seemed to shake her, and she looked them both sharply. "Are you telling the truth?" she asked. "Is it true that you came here because of a car accident? Maybe you came because...because..." Her voice trembled involuntarily. "Doubt my husband? " Bobby and Frankie looked at each other.Then Bobby said, "I swear to you on my honor, I never heard of your husband before we came here." "Oh, I see," she turned to Frankie, "I'm sorry, Miss Frances, but, lo and behold, I remembered the night we came to dinner. Jasper kept asking you about your The thing about getting into a car accident. I don't know why. But I think now, maybe he did that because he suspected the car accident was fake." "Well, if you really want to know, the accident was fake," said Frankie. "Honestly: I feel better now: the accident was very carefully disguised from beginning to end, but it has nothing to do with your husband. It's because we want to...how should I say it? Ask Roger Bassington-French." "Roger?" Moira frowned, smiled confusedly, and then said frankly, "That seems ridiculous." "Facts are facts," said Bobby. "Rogel... oh, no." Moira shook her head, "He may be weak or dissolute, he may be in debt, or hang out with bad guys, but pushing people off a cliff...impossible, I just can't imagine him doing that." "Actually," said Frankie, "I can't really imagine it either." "But he must have taken the photograph," said Bobby firmly. "Listen, Mrs. Nicholson, and I'll repeat the facts." He spoke very slowly and carefully.When he was done, Moira nodded understandingly. "I see what you're saying. It's a strange thing." She asked unexpectedly after a pause. "Why don't you ask him?"