Chapter 12 Chapter Twelve Anne Meredith

Mrs. Oliver managed to get out of the driver's seat of the tandem.Manufacturers of newer cars said there was only room for slender knees under the steering wheel; and it was fashionable to sit lower.That being the case, if a huge middle-aged woman wants to step out of the driver's seat, she will have to writhe desperately for a long time.Second, a few maps, a tote bag, three novels, and a large bag of apples piled up next to the driver's seat.Mrs. Oliver is partial to apples. It is said that when she conceived the intricate plot of "Murder in the Drainpipe", she once ate five pounds of apples in a row. Sudden shock and stomach pain, sober.

Mrs. Oliver raised her knee decisively, slammed on a stubborn car door, stepped suddenly on the pavement outside Winton House, and scattered apple cores everywhere. With a deep sigh, she pushed back her country hat at an unfashionable angle, looked approvingly at her tweed suit, and wrinkled when she realized that she had left her London patent leather shoes in a state of absent-mindedness. Frowning; she pushed open the door of Vinton House, and walked down the flagstone path to the front door.She rang the bell, and happily knocked on the door--a rather quaint knocker shaped like a toad's head.Nothing happened, she did it again.

Mrs. Oliver waited another minute and a half, then walked briskly around the side of the house to explore. There was an old-fashioned little garden, with Mike's Day daisies and sparse chrysanthemums behind the cottage, and fields beyond.There is a river beyond the field.It's October, and the sun is pretty warm. The two girls walked across the field to the villa.As they entered the garden through the gate, the one in the lead stopped suddenly.Mrs. Oliver stepped forward to meet her. "Hello, Miss Meredith. Do you remember me?" "Oh—oh, of course." Anne Meredith held out her hand hastily.Her eyes were wide open, as if panicked.Then she pulled herself together.

"This is Miss Davis, my friend who lives with me. Rhoda, this is Mrs. Oliver." The other girl was tall, dark, and seemed to be in good spirits.She said excitedly, "Oh, you're Mrs. Oliver? Ariadne Oliver?" "Yes," said Mrs. Oliver, and to Anne, "now let's sit down somewhere, my child, and I have a lot to tell you. "Of course. We were having tea—" "You might as well wait a while for your tea," said Mrs. Oliver. Anne led her through a small group of canvas and basket chairs, all of which were rather worn.Mrs. Oliver took care to choose the sturdiest looking one, having had much embarrassing experience with flimsy summer furniture.She said briskly, "Here, boy, let's stop making insinuations. We're talking about the murder that night. We've got to get on with something."

"Do something?" Annie asked. Mrs. Oliver said, "Of course I don't know what you're thinking. I'm a hundred per cent sure who did it. Doctor—what's his last name? Roberts. That's right! Roberts. Welsh I never believed in the Welsh! I had a Welsh nurse who took me to Harrow Gate one day and went home by herself and completely forgot about me. Very unreliable. But we Don't talk about her. Roberts did it—that's the goal, and we've got to focus our brains and prove he did it." Rhoda Davis burst out laughing, then blushed. "I beg your pardon. You—you are nothing like I thought you were."

Mrs. Oliver said quietly, "You're probably disappointed. I'm used to it. It's all right. We've got to prove Roberts did it!" "How to prove it?" said Anne. Rhoda Davis cried, "Oh, Annie, don't be so downcast. I think Mrs. Oliver is wonderful. Of course she knows these things. She'll do it like Sven Hesson." Mrs. Oliver blushed a little at the mention of her famous Finnish detective and said, "It must be done, boy, and I'll tell you why. You don't want people to think you did it, do you?" "Why do they think it's me?" Annie said bloody.

Mrs. Oliver said, "You know human nature! Three innocent people are as suspicious as a criminal." Miss Anne Meredith said slowly: "I still don't understand why you came to me, Mrs. Oliver?" "Because I don't think the other two are important! Mrs. Lorrimer is the kind of woman who plays cards at the bridge club all day. That kind of person must be hard-coated; they can take care of themselves. Besides, she's old. Does anyone think she committed crimes?" It doesn't matter at all. It's different with a girl. You've got most of your life to live."

"Where's Major Desper?" Anne asked. Mrs. Oliver said: "Bah! He's a man! I never bothered about men. Men take care of themselves; very well. Besides, Major Despard likes a dangerous life. He didn't go to the Irawaddy-- Or Limpopo...you know what I mean--men like African rivers to explore. Back home for fun. No, I don't bother with those two." Annie said slowly, "It's very kind of you." Rhoda said, "It's a cruel thing. It's done an awful lot to Annie, Mrs. Oliver. She's frighteningly sensitive. I think you're right. It's better to do something than to sit here and think about it."

Mrs. Oliver said, "Of course. To tell you the truth. I've never had a real murder before. And to be honest, I don't believe a real murder is my cup of tea. I'm used to adulteration—you know me." Meaning. But I don't want to let three men have the fun of the case. I've always said that if Scotland Yard was headed by a woman—" Rhoda opened her mouth, leaned forward and said, "Oh? If you were the director of Scotland Yard, what would you do?" "I arrest Dr. Roberts immediately—" "Oh?" Mrs. Oliver retracted the dangerous argument: "I'm not a director of Scotland Yard, however. I'm a civilian—"

Luda flattered, "Oh, you're not." Mrs. Oliver went on: "Here, we're three commoners--all women. Let's get together and see what we can do." Anne Meredith nodded thoughtfully, then said, "What makes you think Dr. Roberts did it?" Mrs. Oliver answered immediately, "That's the sort of man he is." Annie hesitated. "You don't think—Doctor—I mean that poisons and such would be more convenient for him." "No. With any kind of poison--drugs--the doctor would be suspected. You see boxes of dangerous medicines are always left on cars all over London to be stolen. No, because He's a doctor and he's going to be very careful not to use medicines."

Annie said dubiously, "I see." Then she said, "Why do you think he killed Mr. Shaitana? What's your idea?" "Concepts? I have a lot of concepts. That's where the difficulty lies. It's always been my difficulty. I can't think of six good reasons for murder at once. The problem is I can't know which one is right. First, Shata Maybe Mr. Narrative was a usurer. He seemed to have a lot of money. Roberts got stuck with him and couldn't raise the money to pay his debts, so he killed him. Maybe Shaitana killed his daughter or his sister. Maybe Roberts Bigamy, Shaitana knows. Maybe Roberts married Shaitana's cousin and wants her to inherit Shaitana's money. Oh—how many reasons have I given?" "Four," said Rhoda. "Oh--and here's a really good reason--maybe Shatana knows something about Roberts' past. Boy, you probably haven't noticed that Shatana said something weird at the dinner party and then Quirky stop." Annie bent over to tease a caterpillar."I can't remember," she said. "What did he say?" Rhoda asked. "About—what was it—accidents and poisons and all. Don't you remember?" Anne's left hand was pressing the woven flower branches on the chair. "I remember saying something like that," she said calmly. Rhodea said suddenly, "Honey, you should wear a coat. Remember, it's not summer. Go get one." Annie shook her head, "I feel very warm." But she trembled slightly when she spoke. Mrs. Oliver went on: "You see my theory. I bet one of the doctor's patients took poison by accident. It was the doctor's work. I bet he killed a lot of people that way." Anne's cheeks suddenly flushed."Do doctors often want to poison large numbers of patients? Wouldn't that have a tragic impact on their business?" she said. Mrs. Oliver said vaguely, "Of course there must be a reason." Annie said crisply: "I think the idea is ridiculous. It's ridiculously exciting and romantic." Rhoda exclaimed apologetically, "Oh, Anne!" She looked at Mrs. Oliver.Her eyes were very like those of an intelligent spaniel, and seemed to express something.Those eyes said, "Please try to understand. Please try to understand." Ruda said seriously, "Mrs. Oliver, I think that's a wonderful idea. Doctors can have something that's not easy to trace, can't they?" "Oh!" exclaimed Annie. The other two turned to look at her. She said, "Another incident came to mind. Mr. Shaitana said that the doctor had a chance to tamper with the lab. He must have something in store." Mrs. Oliver shook her head. "It wasn't Mr. Shaitana. It was Major Despard." At the sound of footsteps along the garden path, she looked back. She exclaimed, "Hey, Cao Cao Cao Cao is here!" Major Desper came round the corner.