Chapter 24 Chapter Twenty-Four

When Arthur Calgary came to Sunny Point it was as thin as when he first came.Serpent Point, he thought as he rang the bell. It's like history repeating itself.It was Hester again who opened the door.Her face also had a provocative look, as well as a tragic look of despair.In the hall behind her, as he had seen before, was the alert, skeptical Kirsty Lindstrom. Then the pattern starts to shake and change.The look of doubt and despair disappeared from Hester's face.Transform into a cute, welcoming smile. "You," she said. "Oh, I'm so glad you're here!" He took her hands.

"I want to see your father, Hester. Is he upstairs in the study?" "Yes. Yes, he was there with Gwenda." Kirsty Lindstrom came up to them. "Why are you here again?" she asked scoldingly. "Look at the trouble you caused last time! Look what's happened to us. Hester's life ruined, Mr. Argyle's life ruined--two lives. Two! Philip Duran Tina and little Tina. It's all your doing—it's all your doing!" "Tina's not dead," said Calgary, "and I've come here to do something well. " "Is there anything you must do?" Kirsty was still standing in his way up the stairs.

"I have to finish what I started," Calgary said. Very gently, he put a hand on her shoulder and pulled her away slightly.He went up the stairs, Hester following him.He turned to Kirsty and said, "You come too, Miss Lindstrom, I want you all to be there." In the study, Leo.Argyle was sitting in a chair by the desk.Gwenda Fern knelt before the fire, peering into the embers, and they looked up in a little surprise. "Sorry for breaking in like this," Calgary said, "but like I just said to these two, I'm going to finish what I started." He looked around. "Is Mrs. Durant still in the room? I want her there."

"She's laying down to rest, I think," Leo said. "She—she couldn't bear it very much." "I still want her here," he looked at Kirsty. "Perhaps you would like to come and find her." "She probably doesn't want to come," Kirsty said sullenly. "Tell her," said Calgary, "that there is something she might like to hear about her husband's death." "Oh, go ahead, Kirsty," said Hester. "Don't be so suspicious, guard us like this, I don't know what Dr. Calgary is going to say, but we should all be there."

"Whatever you want," Kirsty said. She goes out the door. "Sit," Leo said.He pointed to a chair on the other side of the fireplace, and Calgary sat down. "You'll have to forgive me," said Leo, "if I say I wish you had never been here in the first place, Dr. Calgary." "It's not fair," said Hester sharply. "It's not fair to say that." "I know how you feel," Calgary said, "and I think I would feel the same way. Maybe I even felt the same way for a while, but after thinking it over, I still feel the same way. I can't think of any other options I could have."

Kirsty came back into the room. "Here comes Mary," she said. They sat and waited in silence, and Mary Durant entered.Calgary watched her with interest, for this was the first time he had seen her.She looked calm, collected, well-groomed and her hair was well-groomed.But one of her faces was mask-like, expressionless and that of a woman in sleepwalking. Leo made an introduction.She nodded slightly. "It's good of you, Mrs. Durant," said Calgary. "I think you should listen to what I have to say." "As you like," said Mary. "But nothing you say or anything anyone says will bring Philip back from the dead."

She walked a short distance from them and sat down in a chair by the window. Calgary looked around him. "Let me start by saying: I was baffled by your reaction when I first came here when I told you I could clear Jack. I understand now. But what stuck with me the most was this The child"—he looked at Hester—"said to me when I was about to leave. She said that what matters is not justice, but what happens to innocent people. There is a sentence in the latest translation of the Book of Job that describes , a disaster for the innocent. The result of my news is that you all suffer. Innocent people don’t deserve to suffer, they must not, and what I’m here to say now is to end the suffering of the innocent.”

He paused for a minute or two, but no one spoke, and Arthur Calgary continued in his calm, scholarly tone: "When I first came here, it wasn't the wave of joy I thought it would be for you, so to speak. You all accepted that Jack was guilty. You all, if I may say so, were satisfied . . as far as the murder of Mrs. Argyle is concerned, it is the best solution possible." "Isn't that a bit harsh to say?" Leo asked. "No," said Calgary, "it is the truth. Jack being the murderer will be satisfactory to all of you, because it cannot really be done by outsiders, and because you can find the necessary excuses about Jack. He A misfortune, a mental patient, not to be held accountable for his actions, a problem or delinquent boy! All the terms we happily use to exonerate these days. You said his mother, the victim, wouldn't blame him. You said, Mr. Argyle, that you don't blame him. There's only one person who blames him." He looked at Kirsty Lindstrom. "You blamed him. You justly said he was evil. You were right. 'Jack is evil,' you said."

"Perhaps," said Kirsty Lindstrom. "Maybe—yes, maybe I said it. It's true." "Yes, it's true, he's evil. It wouldn't have happened if he wasn't evil. But you know full well," said Calgary, "that my testimony clears him." Kirsty said: "Testimony isn't always trustworthy. You've had concussions. I know all too well what concussions do to people. Their memories are blurry." "So you still think that?" Calgary said. "You think it was Jack who did it, and he managed to make up an alibi? Right?"

"I don't know the details. Yes, of that sort. I still say he did it. All the misery and two lives here--yes, these horrific deaths--all his good, all Jack did it!" Hester cried: "But Kirsty, you always loved Jack." "Maybe," Kirsty said, "yes, maybe. But I still call him evil." "I think you're right on that part," said Calgary, "but you're wrong on the other. Concussion or no concussion, I remember perfectly well. The night Mrs. Argyle died I was in my Picked up Jack for the time stated. There is no chance - I repeat solemnly - no chance that Jack Argyle would have killed his adoptive mother that night. His alibi was correct."

Leo stirred a little uneasily.Calgary went on: "You think I'm repeating? Not quite. There are a few other things to consider, one of which is that I've heard Inspector Housh say that Jack was very smooth and confident in his alibi. He said everything. Straightforward, when, where, almost as if he knew he might be useful. This fits with my conversations about him with Dr. McMaster, who has very extensive experience with ill-defined cases of bad character. He said he Not too surprised that Jack had the seeds of murder in his heart, but he was surprised that he would actually kill. He said the type of murder he would accept is Jack inciting someone to kill. So I asked myself! Did Jack know that it was going to happen that night Murder, did he know he was going to need an alibi? And did he make one for himself on purpose? If so, someone else killed Mrs. Argyle, but—Jack Knowing that she would be killed, it is fair to say that he abetted the killing." He said to Kirsten Lindstrom: "You think so, don't you? You still think so, or do you want to think so? You think it was Jack who killed her, not you . . . Killed her. So you want to pay him all the crimes!" "Me?" Kirsty Lindstrom said. "Me? What are you talking about?" . "I say," said Calgary, "that there's only one person in the room who fits in every way with Jack Argyle's complicity. And that's you, Miss Lindstrom. A middle-aged woman's erotic record. He has that ability on purpose, he has a genius for convincing people." He leaned forward. "He made love to you, didn't he?" he said softly. "He made you believe that he loves you, that he wants to marry you, that he has more control over his mother's money afterward, that you're going to get married and go somewhere. Is that right?" Kirsty stared at him with wide eyes.She didn't speak, she seemed paralyzed. "It was brutal, heartless and murderous," Arthur Calgary said. "He came here that night, desperate for money, and the shadow of arrest and jail hung over him. Mrs. Argyle refused to give him money. When he was rejected by her, he turned to you for help." "You think," said Kirsty Lindstrom, "that I'll give him Mrs. Argyle's money instead of my own money?" "No," said Calgary, "you'd give him your own money, if you had money. But I don't think you have... You have an income from the pension Mrs. Argyle bought for you, But I think he's been sucked out of that income. That's why he was so desperate that night, and when Mrs. Argyle went upstairs to her study to find her husband, you went out to meet him who was waiting outside, and he told you What do you have to do. First you have to give him the money, and kill Mrs. Argyle before it is found stolen. Because she won't hide it being stolen. He says it's easy. You just pull out A couple of drawers make it look like she's been robbed and hit her on the back of the head. There won't be any pain, he said, and she won't feel anything. He'll set up an alibi himself, so you have to be careful Get this done within the time limit, between seven and seven-thirty." "That's not true," Kirsty said.She started shaking. "You're crazy to talk like that." Yet there was no indignation in her voice.Strange enough, just mechanical, tired sounds. "Even if what you say is true," she said, "do you think I'll let him be charged with murder?" "Oh, yes," said Calgary. "After all, he's already told you he's going to have an alibi. You're expecting him to be arrested and exonerated, maybe. That's part of the whole plan." "But when he couldn't prove his innocence," Kirsty said. "Won't I save him?" "Maybe," said Calgary, "maybe—if it weren't for the fact that Jack's wife was here the morning after the murder. You didn't know he was married. The girl You had to say it two or three times before you believed her. Your world shattered. You saw Jack for what he really was - ruthless, sinister, with no special feelings for you. You learned what he had you do Come." Suddenly Kirsty Lindstrom spoke.Words came incoherently. "I love him . . . I love him with all my heart. I'm a fool, a gullible, doting, middle-aged fool. He made me think—he made me believe—that he never liked young girls. He said— I can't tell you all the things he said. I love him. I tell you I love him. And then that ridiculous, contrived little girl comes here, mediocre little thing. I understand that everything is a lie and everything is evil , evil... he is evil, not me." "The night I came here," said Calgary, "you were afraid, weren't you? You were afraid something was about to happen. You were afraid for the others. Hester, you loved her, Leo, You like him. Maybe you sort of see what it might do to them. But you're mostly scared for yourself. And you know you're scared of what the outcome will be... and now you're killing two more people.” "You said I killed Tina and Philip?" "Of course you killed them," Calgary said. "Tina regained consciousness." Kirsty's shoulders drooped in despair. "So she already said I killed her. I don't even think she knew. I was crazy, of course. I was crazy. I was crazy scared. So close—so close." "Shall I tell you what Tina said when she regained consciousness?" Calgary said. "She said 'the coffee cup is empty' and I knew what that meant. You pretended to bring coffee up to Philip Durant, but in reality you had assassinated him and he was coming out of that room when you heard Tina go footsteps in the past. So you turn around and pretend you're going in with the tray. Later, though she was nearly unconscious when she found him dead, she instinctively noticed that the glass that fell to the floor was an empty glass , no shadow of coffee." Hester cried: "But Kirsten couldn't have killed her! Tina went down the stairs and threw herself at Michael. She was perfectly fine." "My dear boy," said Calgary, "people who have been stabbed have walked the whole street before they even knew what was wrong with them! Tina hardly felt the shock. It was like a needle prick, maybe a little. ’” He looked at Kirsty again. "Then," he said, "you sneaked that knife into Michel's pocket. That was the most despicable thing to do." Kirsty threw up her hands imploringly. "I can't—I can't...it's so close...they're all starting to find out. Philip is about to find out, and Tina—I think Tina must have overheard Jack talking to me outside the kitchen that night. Speech. They're all starting to know... I want to be safe. I want to—one can never be safe!" Her hands dropped. "I didn't mean to kill Tina, and Philip—" Mary Durant stood up.She walked over slowly, but her mind was getting deeper and deeper. "You killed Philip?" she said. "You killed Philip." Suddenly, like a tigress, she sprang at the other woman.The quick Gwenda jumped to her feet.Grab her.Calgary joined forces with her to hold her back. "You—you!" cried Mary Durant. Kirsty Lindstrom looked at her. "What's his business?" she asked. "Why does he go around poking around and asking people questions? He's never been threatened, it's never been a matter of death for him, it's just—a pastime." She turned and walked slowly toward the door without looking at them Walk out in one glance. "Stop her," cried Hester. "Oh, we have to stop her." Leo Argyle says: "Let her go, Hester." "But—she will kill herself." "I doubt it," said Calgary. "She has been our faithful friend for so long," Leo said. "Faithful, dedicated - and now!" "You think she'll—turn herself in?" Gwenda said. "It's more likely," said Calgary, "that she'll go to the nearest station and catch a train to London. But, of course, she won't escape. She'll be tracked down." "Our dear Kirsty," said Leo.His voice trembled. "So faithful and kind to all of us." Gwenda took his arm and shook it. "How can you say that, Leo, how can you say that? Think of what she did to us all - she made us all suffer!" "I know," Leo said, "but she suffers herself, you know. I think what we feel in this room is her suffering." "We could suffer forever," Gwenda said, "as far as she is concerned! If it weren't for Dr. Calgary." She turned to him gratefully. "So," said Calgary, "I was able to help, albeit a bit late." "It's too late," Mary said bitterly. "Too late! Sniff, why don't we know—why don't we guess?" She turned accusingly to Hester. "I thought it was you. I always thought it was you." "He doesn't think so," said Hester.She looked at Calgary. Mary Durant said quietly: "I wish I were dead." "My dear boy," said Leo, "I wish I could help you." "No one can help me," said Mary. "It's all Philip's own fault for wanting to stay here, for wanting to get involved in this and get himself killed." She looked at them. "None of you understand." She went out the door. Calgary and Hester follow her.As they passed through the door, Calgary looked back and saw Leo's arms wrapped around Guan Dan's shoulders. "She warned me, you know," said Hester.Her eyes were wide open, with a look of horror. "She told me from the beginning not to trust her, to be as afraid of her as anyone else..." "Forget it, my dear," said Calgary. "This is what you have to do now. Forget, now you are all free. The innocent are no longer under the shadow of evil." "What about Tina? Will she get better? She won't die?" "I don't think she's going to die," Calgary said. "She's in love with Michael, isn't she?" "I suppose it may be," said Hester in surprise. "It never occurred to me. They've always been brother and sister, of course, but they're not really brother and sister." "By the way, Hester, do you know what Tina meant by those words?" "Doves on the mast?" "Pigeons on the mast?" Hester frowned. "Wait a minute. Sounds very familiar, 'Doves on the mast, moaning and moaning as we sail fast,' doesn't it?" "Probably," said Calgary. "It's a song," said Hester. "There's a ballad lullaby. Kirsty used to sing it to us. I only remember a few. 'My love he stood on my left.' And what and what. 'Oh, my dearest maiden, I Not here. I have no place, no dwelling, neither on sea nor shore, but only in your heart.'" "I understand," said Calgary. "Yes, yes, I understand..." "Maybe they'll get married," said Hester, "and when Tina recovers, she can go to Kuwait with him. Tina has always wanted to go somewhere warm. The Persian Gulf is warm, isn't it?" "Almost too warm, I think," Calgary said. "Nothing is too warm for Tina," Hester assured him. "And you'll be happy now, my dear," said Calgary, taking her hand.He tried his best to smile. "You'd marry your young doctor and settle down. And then there'd be no more of these wild fantasies and horrible despair." "Marry Xiao Tang?" Hester said in surprise, "Of course I won't marry Xiao Tang," "but you love him." "No, I don't think so, really... I just thought I loved him. But he doesn't trust me. He doesn't know I'm innocent. He should." She looked at Calgary. "You know! I think I'm going to marry you." "But, Hester, I'm years older than you. You can't really—" "That is—if you want me," said Hester suddenly suspiciously. "Oh, I want you!" said Arthur Calgary.